The Effect of External Casing Impingement Cooling Manifold Standoff Distance on Casing Contraction for Thermal Control of Blade Tip Clearance

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Myeonggeun Choi ◽  
David R. H. Gillespie ◽  
Leo V. Lewis

Thermal closure of the engine casing is widely used to minimize undesirable blade tip leakage flows thus improving jet engine performance. This may be achieved using an impingement cooling scheme on the external casing wall, provided by manifolds attached to the outside of the engine. The assembly tolerance of these components leads to variation in the standoff distance between the manifold and the casing, and its effects on casing contraction must be understood to allow build tolerance to be specified. For cooling arrangements with promising performance, the variation in closure with standoff distance of z/d = 1–6 were investigated through a mixture of extensive numerical modeling and experimental validation. A cooling manifold, typical of that adopted by several engine companies, incorporating three different arrays of short cooling holes (chosen from previous study by Choi et al. (2016, “The Relative Performance of External Casing Impingement Cooling Arrangements for Thermal Control of Blade Tip Clearance,” ASME J. Turbomach., 138(3), p. 031005.)) and thermal control dummy flanges were considered. Typical contractions of 0.5–2.2 mm are achieved from the 0.02–0.35 kg/s of the current casing cooling flows. The variation in heat transfer coefficient observed with standoff distance is much lower for the sparse array investigated compared to previous designs employing arrays typical of blade cooling configurations. The reason for this is explained through interrogation of the local flow field and resultant heat transfer coefficient. This implies that acceptable control of the circumferential uniformity of case cooling can be achieved with relatively large assembly tolerance of the manifold relative to the casing.

Author(s):  
Myeonggeun Choi ◽  
David R. H. Gillespie ◽  
Leo V. Lewis

Thermal closure of the engine casing is widely used to minimize undesirable blade tip leakage flows thus improving jet engine performance. This may be achieved using an impingement cooling scheme on the external casing wall, provided by manifolds attached to the outside of the engine. The assembly tolerance of these components leads to variation in the standoff distance between the manifold and the casing and its effects on casing contraction must be understood to allow build tolerance to be specified. For cooling arrangements with promising performance, the variation in closure with standoff distance of z/d = 1–6 were investigated. A cooling manifold, typical of that adopted by several engine companies, incorporating three different arrays of short cooling holes (chosen from previous study by Choi et al. (2016)) and thermal control dummy flanges were considered. A series of heat transfer tests using a transient liquid crystal technique were undertaken to measure spatially resolved heat transfer coefficient of a baseline sparse jet array. The experimental heat transfer results validated the extensive numerical predictions using RANS realizable k-epsilon turbulence model. The associated casing contraction was inferred from a finite element analysis using these distributions as the external casing thermal boundary condition. The flow in the system can be modulated to match the closure at different engine operating conditions, the relationship between thermal closure and coolant mass flow rates, inferred from the averaged jet Reynolds numbers assuming uniform distribution between cooling holes was predicted. Typical contractions of 0.5–2.2mm are achieved from the 0.02–0.35kg/s of the current casing cooling flows. The variation in heat transfer coefficient observed with standoff distance is much lower for the sparse array investigated compared to a previous designs employing arrays typical of blade cooling configurations. The reason for this is explained through interrogation of the local flow field and resultant heat transfer coefficient. This implies acceptable control of the circumferential uniformity of case cooling can be achieved with relatively large assembly tolerance of the manifold relative to the casing.


Author(s):  
Zhaofang Liu ◽  
Zhao Liu ◽  
Zhenping Feng

This paper presents an investigation on the hot streak migration across rotor blade tip clearance in a high pressure gas turbine with different tip clearance heights. The blade geometry is taken from the first stage of GE-E3 turbine engine. Three tip clearances, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of the blade span with a flat tip were investigated, respectively, and the uniform and nonuniform inlet temperature profiles were taken as the inlet boundary conditions. A new method for heat transfer coefficient calculation recommended by Maffulli and He has been adopted. By solving the unsteady compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, the time dependent solutions were obtained. The results indicate that the large tip clearance intensifies the leakage flow, increases the hot streak migration rate, and aggravates the heat transfer environment on the blade tip. However, the reverse secondary flow dominated by the relative motion of casing is insensitive to the change of tip clearance height. Attributed to the high-speed rotation of rotor blade and the low pressure difference between both sides of blade, a reverse leakage flow zone emerges over blade tip near trailing edge. Because it is possible for heat transfer coefficient distributions to be greatly different from heat flux distributions, it becomes of great concern to combine both of them in consideration of hot streak migration. To eliminate the effects of blade profile variation due to twist along the blade span on the aerothermal performance in tip clearance, the tested rotor (straight) blade and the original rotor (twisted) blade of GE-E3 first stage with the same tip profile are compared in this paper.


Author(s):  
Shijie Jiang ◽  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Jun Li

The first stage of GE-E3 turbine is employed to investigate effect of casing purge flow upstream rotor blade tip. Three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and standard k-ω model are solved to obtain tip heat transfer simulations. The results reveal that: heat transfer coefficient of blade tip surface can be significantly reduced when casing purge flow is set. Tip averaged heat transfer coefficient of cases with and without swirly velocity casing purge flow decrease 3.5% and 3.4% compared with the case without casing purge flow. Compared with case which blowing ratio equals to 0.5, it can be found that averaged tip heat transfer coefficient of cases which blowing ratio equals to 1.0 and 1.5 decrease 2.3% and 1.8%, respectively. Setting blowing ratio as 1.0 can best cool tip surface without wasting cold air resources. Increasing rotating speed can induce cold air entering tip trailing region and improve local cooling effect. Flow structure inside the tip clearance are also revealed and discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Myeonggeun Choi ◽  
David M. Dyrda ◽  
David R. H. Gillespie ◽  
Orpheas Tapanlis ◽  
Leo V. Lewis

As a key way of improving jet engine performance, a thermal tip clearance control system provides a robust means of manipulating the closure between the casing and the rotating blade tips, reducing undesirable tip leakage flows. This may be achieved using an impingement cooling scheme on the external casing. Such systems can be optimized to increase the contraction capability for a given casing cooling flow. Typically, this is achieved by changing the cooled area and local casing features, such as the external flanges or the external cooling geometry. This paper reports the effectiveness of a range of impingement cooling arrangements in typical engine casing closure system. The effects of jet-to-jet pitch, number of jets, and inline and staggered alignment of jets on an engine representative casing geometry are assessed through comparison of the convective heat transfer coefficient distributions as well as the thermal closure at the point of the casing liner attachment. The investigation is primarily numerical, however, a baseline case has been validated experimentally in tests using a transient liquid crystal technique. Steady numerical simulations using the realizable k–ε, k–ω SST, and EARSM turbulence models were conducted to understand the variation in the predicted local heat transfer coefficient distribution. A constant mass flow rate was used as a constraint at each engine condition, approximately corresponding to a constant feed pressure when the manifold exit area is constant. Sets of local heat transfer coefficient data generated using a consistent modeling approach were then used to create reduced order distributions of the local cooling. These were used in a thermomechanical model to predict the casing closure at engine representative operating conditions.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 803-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuye Teng ◽  
Je-Chin Han ◽  
G. M. S. Azad

Measurements of detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions on a turbine blade tip were performed in a large-scale, low-speed wind tunnel facility. Tests were made on a five-blade linear cascade. The low-speed wind tunnel is designed to accommodate the 107.49 deg turn of the blade cascade. The mainstream Reynolds number based on cascade exit velocity was 5.3×105. Upstream unsteady wakes were simulated using a spoke-wheel type wake generator. The wake Strouhal number was kept at 0 or 0.1. The central blade had a variable tip gap clearance. Measurements were made at three different tip gap clearances of about 1.1 percent, 2.1 percent, and 3 percent of the blade span. Static pressure distributions were measured in the blade mid-span and on the shroud surface. Detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions were measured on the blade tip surface using a transient liquid crystal technique. Results show that reduced tip clearance leads to reduced heat transfer coefficient over the blade tip surface. Results also show that reduced tip clearance tends to weaken the unsteady wake effect on blade tip heat transfer.


Author(s):  
Myeonggeun Choi ◽  
David M. Dyrda ◽  
David R. H. Gillespie ◽  
Orpheas Tapanlis ◽  
Leo V. Lewis

As a key way of improving jet engine performance, a thermal tip clearance control system provides a robust means of manipulating the closure between the casing and the rotating blade tips, reducing undesirable tip leakage flows. This may be achieved using an impingement cooling scheme on the external casing. Such systems can be optimized to increase the contraction capability for a given casing cooling flow. Typically this is achieved by changing the cooled area, local casing features such as the external flanges, or the external cooling geometry. This paper reports the effectiveness of a range of impingement cooling arrangements in typical engine casing closure system. The effects of jet-to-jet pitch, number of jets, inline and staggered alignment of jets, on an engine representative casing geometry are assessed through comparison of the convective heat transfer coefficient distributions as well as the thermal closure at the point of the casing liner attachment. The investigation is primarily numerical, however, a baseline case has been validated experimentally in tests using a transient liquid crystal technique. Steady numerical simulations using the realizable k-ε, k-ω SST and EARSM turbulence models were conducted to understand the variation in the predicted local heat transfer coefficient distribution. Constant mass flow rate was used as a constraint at each engine condition, this approximately pertaining to a constant feed pressure when the manifold exit area is constant. Sets of local heat transfer coefficient data generated using a consistent modelling approach were then used to create reduced order distributions of the local cooling. These were used in a thermo-mechanical model to predict the casing closure at engine representative operating conditions.


Author(s):  
Gm S. Azad ◽  
Je-Chin Han ◽  
Robert J. Boyle

Experimental investigations are performed to measure the detailed heat transfer coefficient and static pressure distributions on the squealer tip of a gas turbine blade in a five-bladed stationary linear cascade. The blade is a 2-dimensional model of a modern first stage gas turbine rotor blade with a blade tip profile of a GE-E3 aircraft gas turbine engine rotor blade. A squealer (recessed) tip with a 3.77% recess is considered here. The data on the squealer tip are also compared with a flat tip case. All measurements are made at three different tip gap clearances of about 1%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of the blade span. Two different turbulence intensities of 6.1% and 9.7% at the cascade inlet are also considered for heat transfer measurements. Static pressure measurements are made in the mid-span and near-tip regions, as well as on the shroud surface opposite to the blade tip surface. The flow condition in the test cascade corresponds to an overall pressure ratio of 1.32 and an exit Reynolds number based on the axial chord of 1.1×106. A transient liquid crystal technique is used to measure the heat transfer coefficients. Results show that the heat transfer coefficient on the cavity surface and rim increases with an increase in tip clearance. The heat transfer coefficient on the rim is higher than the cavity surface. The cavity surface has a higher heat transfer coefficient near the leading edge region than the trailing edge region. The heat transfer coefficient on the pressure side rim and trailing edge region is higher at a higher turbulence intensity level of 9.7% over 6.1% case. However, no significant difference in local heat transfer coefficient is observed inside the cavity and the suction side rim for the two turbulence intensities. The squealer tip blade provides a lower overall heat transfer coefficient when compared to the flat tip blade.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Jiang ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
L. He ◽  
S. Lu ◽  
L. Wang ◽  
...  

Determination of a scalable Nusselt number (based on “adiabatic heat transfer coefficient”) has been the primary objective of the most existing heat transfer experimental studies. Based on the assumption that the wall thermal boundary conditions do not affect the flow field, the thermal measurements were mostly carried out at near adiabatic condition without matching the engine realistic wall-to-gas temperature ratio (TR). Recent numerical studies raised a question on the validity of this conventional practice in some applications, especially for turbine blade. Due to the relatively low thermal inertia of the over-tip-leakage (OTL) flow within the thin clearance, the fluids' transport properties vary greatly with different wall thermal boundary conditions and the two-way coupling between OTL aerodynamics and heat transfer cannot be neglected. The issue could become more severe when the gas turbine manufacturers are making effort to achieve much tighter clearance. However, there has been no experimental evidence to back up these numerical findings. In this study, transient thermal measurements were conducted in a high-temperature linear cascade rig for a range of tip clearance ratio (G/S) (0.3%, 0.4%, 0.6%, and 1%). Surface temperature history was captured by infrared thermography at a range of wall-to-gas TRs. Heat transfer coefficient (HTC) distributions were obtained based on a conventional data processing technique. The profound influence of tip surface thermal boundary condition on heat transfer and OTL flow was revealed by the first-of-its-kind experimental data obtained in the present experimental study.


2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gm. S. Azad ◽  
Je-Chin Han ◽  
Shuye Teng ◽  
Robert J. Boyle

Heat transfer coefficient and static pressure distributions are experimentally investigated on a gas turbine blade tip in a five-bladed stationary linear cascade. The blade is a two-dimensional model of a first-stage gas turbine rotor blade with a blade tip profile of a GE-E3 aircraft gas turbine engine rotor blade. The flow condition in the test cascade corresponds to an overall pressure ratio of 1.32 and exit Reynolds number based on axial chord of 1.1×106. The middle 3-blade has a variable tip gap clearance. All measurements are made at three different tip gap clearances of about 1, 1.5, and 2.5 percent of the blade span. Heat transfer measurements are also made at two different turbulence intensity levels of 6.1 and 9.7 percent at the cascade inlet. Static pressure measurements are made in the midspan and the near-tip regions as well as on the shroud surface, opposite the blade tip surface. Detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions on the plane tip surface are measured using a transient liquid crystal technique. Results show various regions of high and low heat transfer coefficient on the tip surface. Tip clearance has a significant influence on local tip heat transfer coefficient distribution. Heat transfer coefficient also increases about 15–20 percent along the leakage flow path at higher turbulence intensity level of 9.7 over 6.1 percent. [S0889-504X(00)00404-9]


Author(s):  
Godwin Ita Ekong ◽  
Christopher A. Long ◽  
Peter R. N. Childs

Compressor tip clearance for a gas turbine engine application is the radial gap between the stationary compressor casing and the rotating blades. The gap varies significantly during different operating conditions of the engine due to centrifugal forces on the rotor and differential thermal expansions in the discs and casing. The tip clearance in the axial flow compressor of modern commercial civil aero-engines is of significance in terms of both mechanical integrity and performance. In general, the clearance is of critical importance to civil airline operators and their customers alike because as the clearance between the compressor blade tips and the casing increases, the aerodynamic efficiency will decrease and therefore the specific fuel consumption and operating costs will increase. This paper reports on the development of a range of concepts and their evaluation for the reduction and control of tip clearance in H.P. compressors using an enhanced heat transfer coefficient approach. This would lead to improvement in cruise tip clearances. A test facility has been developed for the study at the University of Sussex, incorporating a rotor and an inner shaft scaled down from a Rolls-Royce Trent aero-engine to a ratio of 0.7:1 with a rotational speed of up to 10000 rpm. The idle and maximum take-off conditions in the square cycle correspond to in-cavity rotational Reynolds numbers of 3.1×106 ≤ Reφ ≤ 1.0×107. The project involved modelling of the experimental facilities, to demonstrate proof of concept. The analysis shows that increasing the thermal response of the high pressure compressor (HPC) drum of a gas turbine engine assembly will reduce the drum time constant, thereby reducing the re-slam characteristics of the drum causing a reduction in the cold build clearance (CBC), and hence the reduction in cruise clearance. A further reduction can be achieved by introducing radial inflow into the drum cavity to further increase the disc heat transfer coefficient in the cavity; hence a further reduction in disc drum time constant.


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