The Development and Mechanisms of the High Pressure Turbine Vane Wake Vortex

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dun Lin ◽  
Xinrong Su ◽  
Xin Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Shock Wave ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Vortex Shedding ◽  
Wave Interaction ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Wake Vortex ◽  
Pressure Waves ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Turbine Vane

The wake vortex is an important origin of unsteadiness and losses in turbines. In this paper, the development and underlying mechanisms of the shedding vortex of a high-pressure transonic turbine vane are studied and analyzed using the delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The goal is to understand the unsteadiness related to the wake vortex shedding and the wake evolution and mixing. Special attention is paid to the development of the wake vortex and the mechanisms behind the length characteristics. Interactions of the wake vortex with the shock wave and pressure waves are also discussed. First, the DDES simulation results are compared with published experimental data, Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes, and large eddy simulation (LES) simulations. Then, the development of the vane wake vortex, especially the different length characteristics from the cylinder vortex, is discussed. The reason of stronger pressure-side vortex shedding compared to suction-side vortex shedding is revealed. Wake-shock wave interaction and wake-pressure wave interaction are also investigated. The pressure waves are found to have a stronger effect than the shock wave on the spanwise motion and the dissipation of the wake vortex. An analysis of the losses through the turbine vane passage is carried out to evaluate the contributions of thermal and viscous irreversibilities. Losses analysis also confirms the strong interaction between the wake vortex and pressure waves. After that, POD study of the wake behavior was carried out. The results indicate that the shedding vortex is dominant in the unsteady flow. The phase relation between the pressure side wake vortex (PSVP) and the suction side wake vortex (SSVP) is confirmed.

DDES Analysis of Wake Vortex Related Unsteadiness and Losses in the Environment of High-Pressure Turbine Stage

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dun Lin ◽  
Xinrong Su ◽  
Xin Yuan
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Boundary Layer Transition ◽  
Wake Vortex ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Detached Eddy Simulation ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Layer Transition ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation

In this work, the flows inside the high pressure turbine (HPT) vane and stage are studied with the help of a high-fidelity delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) code. This work intends to study the fundamental nozzle/blade interaction with special attention paid to the development and transportation of the vane wake vortex. There are two motivations for this work. On the one hand, the high pressure turbine operates at both transonic Mach numbers and high Reynolds numbers, which imposes a great challenge to modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD), especially for scale-resolved simulation methods. An accurate and efficient high-fidelity CFD solver is very important for a thorough understanding of the flow physics and the design of more efficient HPT. On the other hand, the periodic wake vortex shedding is an important origin of turbine losses and unsteadiness. The wake and vortex not only cause losses themselves, but also interact with the shock wave (under transonic working condition), pressure waves, and have a strong impact on the downstream blade surface (affecting boundary layer transition and heat transfer). Built on one of our previous DDES simulations of a HPT vane VKI LS89, this work further investigates the development and length characteristics of the wake vortex, provides explanations of the length characteristics and reveals the transportation of the wake vortex into the downstream rotor passage along with its impact on the downstream aero-thermal performance.

Evaluation of Superposition Predictions for Showerhead Film Cooling on a Vane

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua B. Anderson ◽  
James R. Winka ◽  
David G. Bogard ◽  
Michael E. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Momentum Flux ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Edge Region ◽  
Current Investigation ◽  
Engine Design ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

The leading edge of a turbine vane is subject to some of the highest temperature loading within an engine, and an accurate understanding of leading edge film coolant behavior is essential for modern engine design. Although there have been many investigations of the adiabatic effectiveness for showerhead film cooling of a vane leading edge region, there have been no previous studies in which individual rows of the showerhead were tested with the explicit intent of validating superposition models. For the current investigation, a series of adiabatic effectiveness experiments were performed with a five-row and three-row showerhead. The experiments were repeated separately with each individual row of holes active. This allowed evaluation of superposition methods on both the suction side of the vane, which was moderately convex, and the pressure side of the vane, which was mildly concave. Superposition was found to accurately predict performance on the suction side of the vane at lower momentum flux ratios, but not at higher momentum flux ratios. On the pressure side of the vane the superposition predictions were consistently lower than measured values, with significant errors occurring at the higher momentum flux ratios. Reasons for the under-prediction by superposition analysis are presented.

The Effects of Varying the Combustor-Turbine Gap

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Cardwell ◽  
N. Sundaram ◽  
K. A. Thole
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Thermal Expansion ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Momentum Flux ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Coverage Area ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

To protect hot turbine components, cooler air is bled from the high pressure section of the compressor and routed around the combustor where it is then injected through the turbine surfaces. Some of this high pressure air also leaks through the mating gaps formed between assembled turbine components where these components experience expansions and contractions as the turbine goes through operational cycles. This study presents endwall adiabatic effectiveness levels measured using a scaled up, two-passage turbine vane cascade. The focus of this study is evaluating the effects of thermal expansion and contraction for the combustor-turbine interface. Increasing the mass flow rate for the slot leakage between the combustor and turbine showed increased local adiabatic effectiveness levels while increasing the momentum flux ratio for the slot leakage dictated the coverage area for the cooling. With the mass flow held constant, decreasing the combustor-turbine interface width caused an increase in uniformity of coolant exiting the slot, particularly across the pressure side endwall surface. Increasing the width of the interface had the opposite effect thereby reducing coolant coverage on the endwall surface.

Delayed Detached-Eddy Simulations of a High Pressure Turbine Vane

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dun Lin ◽  
Xinrong Su ◽  
Xin Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Shock Waves ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pressure Waves ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Isothermal Boundary ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Exit Mach Number

The flow in a generic, high-pressure turbine vane was simulated using an in-house DDES code. Two different operating conditions were simulated with one leading to a shock wave while the other does not. One case was used to validate the capability of the DDES method to capture shock waves and other flow structures using an inlet Reynolds number of 271,000 and an exit Mach number of 0.840. The test conditions for the other case were an inlet Reynolds number of 265,000 and an exit Mach number of 0.927, which is representative of a transonic, high pressure turbine vane which was used to further investigate the flow field. The DDES simulations from the first case are compared with published experimental data, RANS simulations and LES simulations. Then, DDES results for two cases with adiabatic and isothermal boundary conditions are compared. The numerical simulations with the isothermal boundary condition are further used to study the flow phenomena with wake vortices, shock waves, pressure waves, wake-shock interactions, and wake-pressure wave interactions. The effects of the pressure waves on the vane heat transfer are also analyzed.

Aerodynamic optimisation of a winglet-cavity tip in a high-pressure axial turbine cascade

2016 ◽  
Vol 232 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihua Zhou ◽  
Shaowen Chen ◽  
Songtao Wang
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Total Pressure Loss ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Clearance Flow

Tip clearance flow between rotating blades and the stationary casing in high-pressure turbines is very complex and is one of the most important factors influencing turbine performance. The rotor with a winglet-cavity tip is often used as an effective method to improve the loss resulting from the tip clearance flow. In this study, an aerodynamic geometric optimisation of a winglet-cavity tip was carried out in a linear unshrouded high-pressure axial turbine cascade. For the purpose of shaping the efficient winglet geometry of the rotor tip, a novel parameterisation method has been introduced in the optimisation procedure based on the computational fluid dynamics simulation and analysis. The reliability of a commercial computational fluid dynamics code with different turbulence models was first validated by contrasting with the experimental results, and the numerical total pressure loss and flow angle using the Baseline k-omega Model (BSL κ-ω model) shows a better agreement with the test data. Geometric parameterisation of blade tips along the pressure side and suction side was adopted to optimise the tip clearance flow, and an optimal winglet-cavity tip was proven to achieve lower tip leakage mass flow rate and total pressure loss than the flat tip and cavity tip. Compared to the numerical results of flat tip and cavity tip, the optimised winglet-cavity design, with the winglet along the pressure side and suction side, had lower tip leakage mass flow rate and total pressure loss. It offered a 35.7% reduction in the change ratio [Formula: see text]. In addition, the optimised winglet along pressure side and suction side, respectively, by using the parameterisation method was studied for investigating the individual effect of the pressure-side winglet and suction-side winglet on the tip clearance flow. It was found that the suction-side extension of the optimal winglet resulted in a greater reduction of aerodynamic loss and leakage mass flow than the pressure-side extension of the optimal winglet. Moreover, with the analysis based on the tip flow pattern, the numerical results show that the pressure-side winglet reduced the contraction coefficient, and the suction-side winglet reduced the aerodynamic loss effectively by decreasing the driving pressure difference near the blade tips, the leakage flow velocity, and the interaction between the leakage flow and the main flow. Overall, a better aerodynamic performance can be obtained by adopting the pressure-side and suction-side winglet-cavity simultaneously.

An Investigation on Aerodynamics Loss Mechanism of Squealer Tips of a High Pressure Turbine Blade Using URANS

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-sol Jung ◽  
Okey Kwon ◽  
Changmin Son
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Wall Thickness ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Loss Mechanism ◽  
Tip Leakage

The flow leaking over the tip of a high pressure turbine blade generates significant aerodynamic losses as it mixes with the mainstream flow. This study investigates the effect of blade tip geometries on turbine performance with both steady RANS and unsteady URANS analyses. Five different squealer geometries for a high pressure turbine blade have been examined: squealer on pressure side, squealer on suction side, cavity squealer, cavity squealer with pressure side cutback, and cavity squealer with suction side cutback. With the case of the cavity squealer, three different squealer wall thickness are investigated for the wall thickness (w) of 1x, 2x and 4x of the tip gap (G). The unsteady flow analyses using CFX have been conducted to investigate unsteady characteristics of the tip leakage flow and its influence on turbine performances. Through the comparison between URANS analyses, detailed vortex and wake structures are identified and studied at different fidelities. It is found that the over tip leakage flow loss is affected by the tip suction side geometry rather than that of the pressure side geometry. The unsteady results have contributed to resolve the fundamentals of vortex structures and aerodynamic loss mechanisms in a high pressure turbine stage.

Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation of a Full 3-Dimensional High-Pressure Turbine Stage: Part I — Flow Topology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dun Lin ◽  
Xiutao Bian ◽  
Xin Yuan ◽  
Xinrong Su
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Horseshoe Vortex ◽  
Wake Vortex ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Detached Eddy Simulation ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Flow Topology ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation

In this work, the flow inside a high pressure turbine (HPT) stage is studied with the help of a high-fidelity delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) code. This work intends to study the flow topology in the HPT stage. There are two motivations for this work: On the one hand, high pressure turbines operates at both transonic Mach numbers and high Reynolds numbers, which imposes a challenge to modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD), especially for scale-resolved simulation methods. An accurate and efficient high-fidelity CFD solver is very important for a thorough understanding of the flow physics and the design of higher-efficient HPT. On the other hand, the wake vortex shedding and tip-leakage flow are important origins of turbine losses and unsteadiness. Built on our previous DDES simulations of HPT vane and stage, this work further investigates the flow in a full 3-dimension HPT stage. The flow topology in the HPT stage is delineated by Q-criterion iso-surfaces. The development of the horseshoe vortex and its interaction with induced vortex and wake vortex is discussed. The wake vortex transportation especially its interaction with the rotor horseshoe vortex is investigated. The flow structures in the tip clearance region are also revealed.

Film Cooling Jet Injection Effect in Heat Transfer Coefficient Augmentation for the Pressure Side Cooling of Turbine Vane

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Nadali Najafabadi ◽  
Matts Karlsson ◽  
Mats Kinell ◽  
Esa Utriainen
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Turbine Vane

Improving film cooling performance of turbine vanes and blades is often achieved through application of multiple arrays of cooling holes on the suction side, the showerhead region and the pressure side. This study investigates the pressure side cooling under the influence of single and multiple rows of cooling in the presence of a showerhead from a heat transfer coefficient augmentation perspective. Experiments are conducted on a prototype turbine vane working at engine representative conditions. Transient IR thermography is used to measure time-resolved surface temperature and the semi-infinite method is utilized to calculate the heat transfer coefficient on a low conductive material. Investigations are performed for cylindrical and fan-shaped holes covering blowing ratio 0.6 and 1.8 at density ratio of about unity. The freestream turbulence is approximately 5% close to the leading edge. The resulting heat transfer coefficient enhancement, the ratio of HTC with to that without film cooling, from different case scenarios have been compared to showerhead cooling only. Findings of the study highlight the importance of showerhead cooling to be used with additional row of cooling on the pressure side in order to reduce heat transfer coefficient enhancement. In addition, it is shown that extra rows of cooling will not significantly influence heat transfer augmentation, regardless of the cooling hole shape.

High-Pressure Gas Turbine Vane Turbulent Flows and Heat Transfer Predicted by RANS/LES/DES

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Dong ◽  
R. S. Amano
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Gas Turbine Blades ◽  
Flow And Heat Transfer ◽  
Turbine Vane

The lifetime of the modern gas turbines greatly depends on the durability of hot section components operating at high temperatures. Film cooling is key to air cooling technologies in modern gas turbine and widely used in high-temperature and high-pressure blades as an active cooling scheme. The requirements of accurate prediction of aerodynamic flow and heat transfer in gas turbine blades lay the essential foundation of cooling effectiveness improvement and working life estimation. In recent days, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) is considered as a useful tool to predict turbulent flows and heat transfer around gas turbine blades, but, comparing to the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods, the LES method usually needs more computing resource and depends on computational power and mesh quality. In this paper, LES/DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) predictions were compared to RANS prediction with interest in the accuracy and improvement of turbulent flow and heat transfer phenomena around NASA’s C3X high-pressure gas turbine vane with leading edge cooling film. RANS/LES/DES were detailed and further investigated to assess their ability to predict flow and heat transfer in boundary layer around C3X vane. The current predictions showed that the mix between film cooling injections and free stream resulted in complex flow and heat transfer in the boundary layer on the external vane surface. The predictions of the aerodynamic load along the C3X vane with RANS/LES/DES were almost identical and agreed well with the experimental results. However, the heat transfer predictions with RANS/LES/DES were different. The transition prediction showed the best agreement with the experiment data in the most region. The LES prediction only partially agreed with the experimental data before separation point on the suction side and mild pressure gradient region on the pressure side. The DES and RANS predictions agreed with the experiment data after separation point on the suction side and most region on the pressure side.

Experimental Investigations of the Film Cooling Performance of a Micro-Tangential-Jet Scheme on a Gas Turbine Vane: Part 1 — Effectiveness

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Hassan ◽  
I. Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Cooling Performance ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Turbine Vane

This paper presents experimental investigations of the film cooling effectiveness performance of a Micro-Tangential-Jet (MTJ) Film cooling scheme on a gas turbine vane using transient Thermochromic Liquid Crystal (TLC) technique. The MTJ scheme is a micro-shaped scheme designed so that the secondary jet is supplied tangentially to the vane surface. The scheme combines the benefits of micro jets and tangential injection. The film cooling performance of one row of holes on both pressure and suction sides were investigated at a blowing ratio ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 on the pressure side and 0.25 to 0.625 on the suction side. The average density ratio during the investigations was 0.93, and the Reynolds Number was 1.4E+5, based on the free stream velocity and the main duct hydraulic diameter. The pitch to diameter ratio of the cooling holes is 5 on the pressure side and 6.5 on the suction side. The turbulence intensity during all investigations was 8.5%. Minor changes in the Mach number distribution around the airfoil surface were observed due to the presence of the MTJ scheme, compared with the case with no MTJ scheme. The investigations showed great film cooling performance for the MTJ scheme, high effectiveness values, and excellent lateral jet spreading. A 2-D coolant film was observed in the results, which is a characteristic of the continuous slot schemes only. The presence of this 2-D film layer helps minimize the rate of mixing between the main and coolant streams and provides uniform thermal loads on the surface. Furthermore, it was noticed that the rate of effectiveness decay on the suction side was less than that on the pressure side, while the lateral jet spreading on the pressure side was better than that of the suction side. The main disadvantage of the MTJ scheme is the increased pressure drop.

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