Improved Methodologies for Time-Resolved Heat Transfer Measurements, Demonstrated on an Unshrouded Transonic Turbine Casing

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Collins ◽  
Kam Chana ◽  
Thomas Povey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Temperature Cycling ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
High Frequency Response ◽  
High Thermal Load ◽  
Turbine Casing ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd

The high pressure (HP) rotor tip and over-tip casing are often life-limiting features in the turbine stages of current gas turbine engines. This is due to the high thermal load and high temperature cycling at both low and high frequencies. In the last few years, there have been numerous studies of turbine tip heat transfer. Comparatively fewer studies have considered the over-tip casing heat transfer. This is in part, no doubt, due to the more onerous test facility requirements to validate computational simulations. Because the casing potential field is dominated by the passing rotor, to perform representative over-tip measurements a rotating experiment is an essential requirement. This paper details the measurements taken on the Oxford turbine research facility (OTRF), an engine-scale rotating turbine facility which replicates engine-representative conditions of Mach number, Reynolds number, and gas-to-wall temperature ratio. High density arrays of miniature thin-film heat-flux gauges were used with a spatial resolution of 0.8 mm and temporal resolution of ∼120 kHz. The small size of the gauges, the high frequency response, and the improved processing methods allowed very detailed measurements of the heat transfer in this region. Time-resolved measurements of TAW and Nu are presented for the casing region (−30% to +125% CAX) and compared to other results in the literature. The results provide an almost unique data set for calibrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools for heat transfer prediction in this highly unsteady environment dominated by the rotor over-tip flow.

Improved Methodologies for Time Resolved Heat Transfer Measurements, Demonstrated on an Unshrouded Transonic Turbine Casing

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Collins ◽  
Kam Chana ◽  
Thomas Povey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Processing Technique ◽  
Temperature Cycling ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Transonic Turbine

The HP rotor tip and over-tip casing are often life-limiting features in the turbine stages of current gas turbine engines. This is due to the high thermal load, and high temperature cycling both at low and high frequency. In the last few years there have been numerous studies of turbine tip heat transfer. Comparatively fewer studies have considered the over-tip casing heat transfer. This is in part, no doubt, due to the more onerous test facility requirements to validate computational simulations. Because the casing potential field is dominated by the passing rotor, to perform representative over-tip measurements a rotating experiment is an essential requirement. In this paper we describe improved methodologies for time resolved heat transfer measurements. Specifically we show that: 1. Changes in driving temperature (within limits) can be accounted for in both time-resolved and steady heat transfer measurement processing. This allows useful data to be extracted even under varying inlet temperature. 2. Superposition of several runs with different starting wall temperatures can be used to improve the accuracy of time resolved regressions by extending the wall temperature range over which the unsteady regressions are conducted. 3. A new time-resolved data processing technique that can be applied to data sets involving changes in wall temperature has been developed and is applied to experimental measurements to compute time resolved TAW and Nu. These improvements are demonstrated using unsteady heat transfer measurements conducted on the stationary casing above an unshrouded transonic turbine. The measurements were taken in the Oxford Turbine Research Facility (OTRF), an engine-scale rotating turbine facility which replicates engine-representative conditions of Mach number, Reynolds number, and gas-to-wall temperature ratio. High density arrays of miniature thin-film heat-flux gauges were used with a spatial resolution of 0.8 mm and temporal resolution of ∼120 kHz. The small size of the gauges, the high frequency response, and the improved processing methods allowed very detailed measurements of the heat transfer in this region. Time-resolved measurements of TAW and Nu are presented for the casing region (−30 % to +125% CAX) and compared to other results in the literature. The results provide an almost unique data set for calibrating CFD tools for heat transfer prediction in this highly unsteady environment dominated by the rotor over-tip flow.

Experimental Investigation of Vane Clocking in a One and 1/2 Stage High Pressure Turbine

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Haldeman ◽  
Michael G. Dunn ◽  
John W. Barter ◽  
Brian R. Green ◽  
Robert F. Bergholz
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Vane Clocking

Aerodynamic measurements were acquired on a modern single-stage, transonic, high-pressure turbine with the adjacent low-pressure turbine vane row (a typical civilian one and one-half stage turbine rig) to observe the effects of low-pressure turbine vane clocking on overall turbine performance. The turbine rig (loosely referred to in this paper as the stage) was operated at design corrected conditions using the Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory Turbine Test Facility (TTF). The research program utilized uncooled hardware in which all three airfoils were heavily instrumented at multiple spans to develop a full clocking dataset. The low-pressure turbine vane row (LPTV) was clocked relative to the high-pressure turbine vane row (HPTV). Various methods were used to evaluate the influence of clocking on the aeroperformance (efficiency) and the aerodynamics (pressure loading) of the LPTV, including time-resolved and time-averaged measurements. A change in overall efficiency of approximately 2–3% due to clocking effects is demonstrated and could be observed using a variety of independent methods. Maximum efficiency is obtained when the time-average surface pressures are highest on the LPTV and the time-resolved surface pressure (both in the time domain and frequency domain) show the least amount of variation. The overall effect is obtained by integrating over the entire airfoil, as the three-dimensional effects on the LPTV surface are significant. This experimental data set validates several computational research efforts that suggested wake migration is the primary reason for the perceived effectiveness of vane clocking. The suggestion that wake migration is the dominate mechanism in generating the clocking effect is also consistent with anecdotal evidence that fully cooled engine rigs do not see a great deal of clocking effect. This is consistent since the additional disturbances induced by the cooling flows and/or the combustor make it extremely difficult to find an alignment for the LPTV given the strong 3D nature of modern high-pressure turbine flows.

Comparison of Time-Resolved Turbine Rotor Blade Heat Transfer Measurements and Numerical Calculations

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Abhari ◽  
G. R. Guenette ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
M. B. Giles
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Rotor Blade ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Time History ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Numerical Calculations ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Turbine Rotor Blade ◽  
History Of

Time-resolved turbine rotor blade heat transfer data are compared with ab initio numerical calculations. The data was taken on a transonic, 4-to-1 pressure ratio, uncooled, single-stage turbine in a short duration turbine test facility. The data consists of the time history of the heat transfer distribution about the rotor chord at midspan. The numerical calculation is a time accurate, 2-D, thin shear layer, multiblade row code known as UNSFLO. UNSFLO uses Ni’s Lax-Wendroff algorithm, conservative boundary conditions, and a time tilting algorithm to facilitate the calculation of the flow in multiple blade rows of arbitrary pitch ratio with relatively little computer time. The version used for this work had a simple algebraic Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model. The code is shown to do a good job of predicting the quantitative time history of the heat flux distribution. The wake/boundary layer and transonic interaction regions for suction and pressure surfaces are identified and the shortcomings of the current algebraic turbulence modelling in the code are discussed. The influence of hardware manufacturing tolerance on rotor heat transfer variation is discussed. A physical reasoning explaining the discrepancies between the unsteady measurement and the calculations for both the suction and pressure surfaces are given, which may be of use in improving future calculations and design procedures.

Comparison of Time-Resolved Turbine Rotor Blade Heat Transfer Measurements and Numerical Calculations

1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 818-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Abhari ◽  
G. R. Guenette ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
M. B. Giles
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Rotor Blade ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Time History ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Numerical Calculations ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Turbine Rotor Blade ◽  
History Of

Time-resolved turbine rotor blade heat transfer data are compared with ab initio numerical calculations. The data were taken on a transonic, 4-to-1 pressure ratio, uncooled, single-stage turbine in a short-duration turbine test facility. The data consist of the time history of the heat transfer distribution about the rotor chord at midspan. The numerical calculation is a time accurate, two-dimensional, thin shear layer, multiblade row code known as UNSFLO. UNSFLO uses Ni’s Lax-Wendroff algorithm, conservative boundary conditions, and a time tilting algorithm to facilitate the calculation of the flow in multiple blade rows of arbitrary pitch ratio with relatively little computer time. The version used for this work had a simple algebraic Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model. The code is shown to do a good job of predicting the quantitative time history of the heat flux distribution. The wake/boundary layer and transonic interaction regions for suction and pressure surfaces are identified and the shortcomings of the current algebraic turbulence modeling in the code are discussed. The influence of hardware manufacturing tolerance on rotor heat transfer variation is discussed. A physical reasoning explaining the discrepancies between the unsteady measurement and the calculations for both the suction and pressure surfaces are given, which may be of use in improving future calculations and design procedures.

Aerodynamic Performance Measurement in a Fully Scaled Transient Turbine Test Facility

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Atkins ◽  
R. W. Ainsworth ◽  
N. W. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Steady Flow ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Unsteady Aerodynamics ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Performance Measurements ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Simultaneous Study ◽  
Practical Performance

The practical performance, both the efficiency and durability, of a High-Pressure (HP) turbine depends on many interrelated factors, including both the steady and unsteady aerodynamics and the heat transfer characteristics. The aerodynamic performance of new turbine designs has traditionally been tested in large scale steady flow rigs, but the testing is adiabatic, and the measurement of heat transfer is very difficult. This paper presents the results of turbine aerodynamic performance measurements at the Oxford Rotor Facility (ORF). Transient test facilities such as the Oxford Rotor allow the simultaneous study of turbine performance and heat transfer. The transient operation gives engine representative Mach number, Reynolds number and gas-to-wall temperature ratios, which are key to the aerothermodynamics of a highly-loaded, transonic, HP turbine stage. Time resolved experimental results are presented together with numerical CFD predictions over a 3% range of non-dimensional speed. The precision uncertainty of the measurements has been resolved to a level comparable with the state of the art in steady flow testing, in the region of ±0.3%.

An Experimental Study of Film Cooling in a Rotating Transonic Turbine

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Abhari ◽  
A. H. Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Turbine Stage ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Pressure Surface ◽  
Transonic Turbine ◽  
Percent Decrease ◽  
Time Resolved Measurements

Time-resolved measurements of heat transfer on a fully cooled transonic turbine stage have been taken in a short duration turbine test facility, which simulates full engine nondimensional conditions. The time average of this data is compared to uncooled rotor data and cooled linear cascade measurements made on the same profile. The film cooling reduces the time-averaged heat transfer compared to the uncooled rotor on the blade suction surface by as much as 60 percent, but has relatively little effect on the pressure surface. The suction surface rotor heat transfer is lower than that measured in the cascade. The results are similar over the central 3/4 of the span, implying that the flow here is mainly two dimensional. The film cooling is shown to be much less effective at high blowing ratios than at low ones. Time-resolved measurements reveal that the cooling, when effective, both reduced the dc level of heat transfer and changed the shape of the unsteady waveform. Unsteady blowing is shown to be a principal driver of film cooling fluctuations, and a linear model is shown to do a good job in predicting the unsteady heat transfer. The unsteadiness results in a 12 percent decrease in heat transfer on the suction surface and a 5 percent increase on the pressure surface.

Experimental Investigation of Vane Clocking in a One and One-Half Stage High Pressure Turbine

2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 512-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Haldeman ◽  
Michael Dunn ◽  
John W. Barter ◽  
Brian R. Green ◽  
Robert F. Bergholz
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Vane Clocking

Aerodynamic measurements were acquired on a modern single-stage, transonic, high-pressure turbine with the adjacent low-pressure turbine vane row (a typical civilian one and one-half stage turbine rig) to observe the effects of low-pressure turbine vane clocking on overall turbine performance. The turbine rig (loosely referred to in this paper as the stage) was operated at design corrected conditions using the Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory Turbine Test Facility. The research program utilized uncooled hardware in which all three airfoils were heavily instrumented at multiple spans to develop a full clocking dataset. The low-pressure turbine vane row (LPTV) was clocked relative to the high-pressure turbine vane row (HPTV). Various methods were used to evaluate the influence of clocking on the aeroperformance (efficiency) and the aerodynamics (pressure loading) of the LPTV, including time-resolved and time-averaged measurements. A change in overall efficiency of approximately 2–3% due to clocking effects is demonstrated and could be observed using a variety of independent methods. Maximum efficiency is obtained when the time-average surface pressures are highest on the LPTV and the time-resolved surface pressure (both in the time domain and frequency domain) show the least amount of variation. The overall effect is obtained by integrating over the entire airfoil, as the three-dimensional (3D) effects on the LPTV surface are significant. This experimental data set validates several computational research efforts that suggested wake migration is the primary reason for the perceived effectiveness of vane clocking. The suggestion that wake migration is the dominate mechanism in generating the clocking effect is also consistent with anecdotal evidence that fully cooled engine rigs do not see a great deal of clocking effect. This is consistent since the additional disturbances induced by the cooling flows and∕or the combustor make it extremely difficult to find an alignment for the LPTV given the strong 3D nature of modern high-pressure turbine flows.

scholarly journals An Experimental Study of Film Cooling in a Rotating Transonic Turbine

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza S. Abhari ◽  
A. H. Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Turbine Stage ◽  
Unsteady Heat Transfer ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Pressure Surface ◽  
Transonic Turbine ◽  
Time Resolved Measurements

Time-resolved measurements of heat transfer on a fully cooled transonic turbine stage have been taken in a short duration turbine test facility which simulates full engine non-dimensional conditions. The time average of this data is compared to uncooled rotor data and cooled linear cascade measurements made on the same profile. The film cooling reduces the time-averaged heat transfer compared to the uncooled rotor on the blade suction surface by as much as 60%, but has relatively little effect on the pressure surface. The suction surface rotor heat transfer is lower than that measured in the cascade. The results are similar over the central 3/4 of the span implying that the flow here is mainly two-dimensional. The film cooling is shown to be much less effective at high blowing ratios than at low ones. Time-resolved measurements reveal that the cooling, when effective, both reduced the d.c. level of heat transfer and changed the shape of the unsteady waveform. Unsteady blowing is shown to be a principal driver of film cooling fluctuations, and a linear model is shown to do a good job in predicting the unsteady heat transfer. The unsteadiness results in a 12% decrease in heat transfer on the suction surface and a 5% increase on the pressure surface.

Impact of Rotor–Stator Interaction on Turbine Blade Film Cooling

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Abhari
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Numerical Code ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Injection Model ◽  
Rotor Stator Interaction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
State Case

The goal of this study is to quantify the impact of rotor–stator interaction on surface heat transfer of film cooled turbine blades. In Section I, a steady-state injection model of the film cooling is incorporated into a two-dimensional, thin shear layer, multiblade row CFD code. This injection model accounts for the penetration and spreading of the coolant jet, as well as the entrainment of the boundary layer fluid by the coolant. The code is validated, in the steady state, by comparing its predictions to data from a blade tested in linear cascade. In Section II, time-resolved film cooled turbine rotor heat transfer measurements are compared with numerical predictions. Data were taken on a fully film cooled blade in a transonic, high pressure ratio, single-stage turbine in a short duration turbine test facility, which simulates full-engine nondimensional conditions. Film cooled heat flux on the pressure surface is predicted to be as much as a factor of two higher in the time average of the unsteady calculations compared to the steady-state case. Time-resolved film cooled heat transfer comparison of data to prediction at two spanwise positions is used to validate the numerical code. The unsteady stator–rotor interaction results in the pulsation of the coolant injection flow out of the film holes with large-scale fluctuations. The combination of pulsating coolant flow and the interaction of the coolant with this unsteady external flow is shown to lower the local pressure side adiabatic film effectiveness by as much as 64 percent when compared to the steady-state case.

Simultaneous Heat Flux and Velocity Measurements in a Transonic Turbine Cascade

2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 502-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Holmberg ◽  
T. E. Diller
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Frequency Domain Analysis ◽  
Turbine Cascade ◽  
Velocity Measurements ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
High Frequency Response

The gas turbine engine combustor generates turbulence that increases heat transfer on downstream turbine blades, but the mechanisms of that heat transfer are not fully understood. In this work, simultaneous time-resolved surface heat flux and velocity measurements have been made at three locations on the pressure surface of a high-turning transonic airfoil. Grids were used upstream of the linear turbine cascade to produce free-stream turbulence with two different inlet length scales, but the same turbulence intensity. High-frequency response instrumentation was used to obtain both steady and unsteady measurements. Results show that the time-averaged heat transfer is larger for the flow with the smaller integral length scale. Frequency-domain analysis demonstrates coherence between the fluctuations of heat flux and velocity over a broad range of frequencies. This is a direct indication that free-stream turbulent eddies penetrate completely through the boundary layer to the surface.

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