Alstom’s Reconditioning Technologies for Film Cooled Single Crystal (SX) Turbine Blading

Author(s):  
Harald Peter Kissel ◽  
Hosam Shahin ◽  
Alexander Stankowski ◽  
Guenter Ambrosy ◽  
Hans Bissig

Increased availability, reliability and performance combined with reduced maintenance costs are key factors for the success of gas turbine users. Alstom reconditioning answers to this market demand by providing advanced and competitive repair techniques and an increasing broad reconditioning portfolio to its customers. This paper focuses on the reconditioning of film cooled SX components used in the GT24 and GT26 fleet and the latest enabling technologies. The general reconditioning strategy is based on a thorough analysis of the accumulated field experience with SX parts and a controlled, step-wise introduction of new techniques. Taking advantage of the broad interdisciplinary OEM product and design know-how, as well as Alstom’s rich engineering experience in advanced reconditioning, state of the art reconditioning processes have been developed for different damage scenarios for components. This would include the most technically challenging SX “heavy” scope reconditioning. This paper gives an overview about the reconditioning sequence for SX components and some of its key process steps. As an example, the crack braze repair process is described in detail and several novel SX welding techniques for crack repairs, blade tip and temperature controlled leading edge wall thickness restoration are shown. This covers different processes such as TIG welding or laser metal forming (LMF) of SX components. During the last few years, highly automated production solutions and innovative production tools have been implemented, which enable high capacity and consistently high quality of reconditioning. After their successful validation and a limited phase of monitored production, these techniques are applied on rotating and stationary SX turbine parts. Validation criteria and the experience gained during the first years of commercial production and operation in the field will be presented.

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Peter Kissel ◽  
Hosam Shahin ◽  
Alexander Stankowski ◽  
Guenter Ambrosy ◽  
Hans Bissig

Increased availability, reliability, and performance combined with reduced maintenance costs are key factors for the success of gas turbine users. This paper focuses on the reconditioning of film cooled single crystal (SX) components used in the GT24 and GT26 fleet and the latest enabling technologies. The general reconditioning strategy is based on a thorough analysis of the accumulated field experience with SX parts and a controlled, stepwise introduction of new techniques. Reconditioning processes have been developed for different damage scenarios for components. This would include the most technically challenging SX “heavy” scope reconditioning. This paper gives an overview about the reconditioning sequence for SX components and some of its key process steps. As an example, the crack braze repair process is described in detail and several novel SX welding techniques for crack repairs and blade tip and temperature controlled leading edge wall thickness restoration are shown. This covers different processes such as tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding or laser metal forming (LMF) of SX components. During the last few years, highly automated production solutions and innovative production tools have been implemented, which enable high capacity and consistently high quality of reconditioning. After their successful validation and a limited phase of monitored production, these techniques are applied on rotating and stationary SX turbine parts. Validation criteria and the experience gained during the first years of commercial production and operation in the field will be presented.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Mela ◽  
Federico Fignino ◽  
Alessio Gabrielli ◽  
Paola Guarnone ◽  
Emanuele Porro ◽  
...  

Abstract The evolution of industrial gas turbines towards increased efficiency and performance requires even higher operating temperatures for the engines. In order to remain competitive in the market, OEM companies continuously need to develop maintenance programs and repair technologies able to extend the life of these components as much as possible. The repair technology improvement is fundamental to reduce scrap rates and maintenance costs to be competitive on the market. The Ansaldo Repair Centre answers to this market demand by providing advanced and competitive repair techniques and an increasing broad repair portfolio to its customers. This paper describes the steps and approach to determine the repair process of GT26 LPT Blade 1 in order to allow the component to run another service interval. The base material status and the indication found after service was used as the foundation for a development of a dedicated repair sequence from stripping, to suitable heat treatments, to enhanced repair technique to recoating of the blade. Particular attention was paid to the most damaged area, for which a particular welding procedure including an optimized filler material has been applied for the rebuilding of the tip and platform zones as well as for the restoration of the unique tip closing features.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2150267
Author(s):  
Bo Luo ◽  
Wuli Chu ◽  
Song Yan ◽  
Zhengjing Shen ◽  
Haoguang Zhang

The noise emitted from an axial fan has become one of the primary concerns for many industrial applications. This paper presents the work to predict the noise generation and investigate sound sources in a low speed axial fan. Computational fluid dynamics modeling is conducted using Scale Adaptive Simulation for the unsteady flow field. The sound predictions by the acoustic analogy are in good agreement with the experimental data. The results from this study show that the aerodynamic interaction between the blades and outlet vanes has a major contribution to the radiated noise spectrum. Two types of sources of narrowband humps are identified in the axial fan. The first is found at the leading edge of the blade tip, which is related to the interaction of coherent flow structures in the blade tip region. The second is found in the vicinity of the blade hub, which can be attributed to the recirculating flow and hub vortex. The noise below the frequency of 1500 Hz is mainly due to the blade-outlet vane aerodynamic interaction, manifested as the tonal sound at BPF and its harmonics, whereas above 1500 Hz the broadband component of sound is mainly related to the turbulent boundary layers.


Author(s):  
K. Anto ◽  
S. Xue ◽  
W. F. Ng ◽  
L. J. Zhang ◽  
H. K. Moon

This study focuses on local heat transfer characteristics on the tip and near-tip regions of a turbine blade with a flat tip, tested under transonic conditions in a stationary, 2-D linear cascade with high freestream turbulence. The experiments were conducted at the Virginia Tech transonic blow-down wind tunnel facility. The effects of tip clearance and exit Mach number on heat transfer distribution were investigated on the tip surface using a transient infrared thermography technique. In addition, thin film gages were used to study similar effects in heat transfer on the near-tip regions at 94% height based on engine blade span of the pressure and suction sides. Surface oil flow visualizations on the blade tip region were carried-out to shed some light on the leakage flow structure. Experiments were performed at three exit Mach numbers of 0.7, 0.85, and 1.05 for two different tip clearances of 0.9% and 1.8% based on turbine blade span. The exit Mach numbers tested correspond to exit Reynolds numbers of 7.6 × 105, 9.0 × 105, and 1.1 × 106 based on blade true chord. The tests were performed with a high freestream turbulence intensity of 12% at the cascade inlet. Results at 0.85 exit Mach showed that an increase in the tip gap clearance from 0.9% to 1.8% translates into a 3% increase in the average heat transfer coefficients on the blade tip surface. At 0.9% tip clearance, an increase in exit Mach number from 0.85 to 1.05 led to a 39% increase in average heat transfer on the tip. High heat transfer was observed on the blade tip surface near the leading edge, and an increase in the tip clearance gap and exit Mach number augmented this near-leading edge tip heat transfer. At 94% of engine blade height on the suction side near the tip, a peak in heat transfer was observed in all test cases at s/C = 0.66, due to the onset of a downstream leakage vortex, originating from the pressure side. An increase in both the tip gap and exit Mach number resulted in an increase, followed by a decrease in the near-tip suction side heat transfer. On the near-tip pressure side, a slight increase in heat transfer was observed with increased tip gap and exit Mach number. In general, the suction side heat transfer is greater than the pressure side heat transfer, as a result of the suction side leakage vortices.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Dart ◽  
Lauren Rotman ◽  
Brian Tierney ◽  
Mary Hester ◽  
Jason Zurawski

The ever-increasing scale of scientific data has become a significant challenge for researchers that rely on networks to interact with remote computing systems and transfer results to collaborators worldwide. Despite the availability of high-capacity connections, scientists struggle with inadequate cyberinfrastructure that cripples data transfer performance, and impedes scientific progress. The ScienceDMZparadigm comprises a proven set of network design patterns that collectively address these problems for scientists. We explain the Science DMZ model, including network architecture, system configuration, cybersecurity, and performance tools, that creates an optimized network environment for science. We describe use cases from universities, supercomputing centers and research laboratories, highlighting the effectiveness of the Science DMZ model in diverse operational settings. In all, the Science DMZ model is a solid platform that supports any science workflow, and flexibly accommodates emerging network technologies. As a result, the Science DMZ vastly improves collaboration, accelerating scientific discovery.


Author(s):  
Patrick H. Wagner ◽  
Jan Van herle ◽  
Lili Gu ◽  
Jürg Schiffmann

Abstract The blade tip clearance loss was studied experimentally and numerically for a micro radial fan with a tip diameter of 19.2mm. Its relative blade tip clearance, i.e., the clearance divided by the blade height of 1.82 mm, was adjusted with different shims. The fan characteristics were experimentally determined for an operation at the nominal rotational speed of 168 krpm with hot air (200 °C). The total-to-total pressure rise and efficiency increased from 49 mbar to 68 mbar and from 53% to 64%, respectively, by reducing the relative tip clearance from 7.7% to the design value of 2.2%. Single and full passage computational fluid dynamics simulations correlate well with these experimental findings. The widely-used Pfleiderer loss correlation with an empirical coefficient of 2.8 fits the numerical simulation and the experiments within +2 efficiency points. The high sensitivity to the tip clearance loss is a result of the design specific speed of 0.80, the highly-backward curved blades (17°), and possibly the low Reynolds number (1 × 105). The authors suggest three main measures to mitigate the blade tip clearance losses for small-scale fans: (1) utilization of high-precision surfaced-grooved gas-bearings to lower the blade tip clearance, (2) a mid-loaded blade design, and (3) an unloaded fan leading edge to reduce the blade tip clearance vortex in the fan passage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0601
Author(s):  
Alicia Román-Trufero ◽  
Antonio Martínez ◽  
Luis M. M. Ferreira ◽  
Valentín García-Prieto ◽  
Rocío Rosa-García ◽  
...  

Steer meat production in northern Spain is deficient to attend market demand. This research aimed to compare the foraging behaviour and production of yearling steers from two local breeds differing in body weight (BW), Asturian Valley (AV, 372 kg) and Asturian Mountain (AM, 307 kg), grazing in summer pastures consisting of 70% grassland and 30% heathland. Bodyweight gains from a total of 42 steers were recorded during four grazing seasons (from June to October). In two years, in July and September, plant community selection and diet composition were estimated by direct observation and using faecal markers, respectively. Grazing time increased from July to September (488 vs. 557 min/day; p<0.001) as sward height in the grassland decreased. Although AV steers grazed proportionally for longer on herbaceous pastures than AM steers (81.3 vs. 73.3%; p<0.05), no differences between breeds were found in diet composition. AM steers showed greater mean daily BW gains than AV steers (252 vs. 133 g/day; p<0.01). From June to August, steers from both breeds gained BW (487 vs. 360 g/day for AM and AV, respectively; p<0.01), but thereafter BW gains decreased (120 vs. –12 g/day for AM and AV, respectively; p<0.05), because of reduced availability of grassland herbage. Yearling steers from AM breed seem to be better suited to mountain conditions than those from AV breed, probably because of their smaller body size and lower total nutrient requirements for maintenance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Lundgreen ◽  
D. Maynes ◽  
S. Gorrell ◽  
K. Oliphant

An inducer is used as the first stage of high suction performance pump. It pressurizes the fluid to delay the onset of cavitation, which can adversely affect performance in a centrifugal pump. In this paper, the performance of a water pump inducer has been explored with and without the implementation of a stability control device (SCD). This device is an inlet cover bleed system that removes high-energy fluid near the blade leading edge and reinjects it back upstream. The research was conducted by running multiphase, time-accurate computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations at the design flow coefficient and at low, off-design flow coefficients. The suction performance and stability for the same inducer with and without the implementation of the SCD has been explored. An improvement in stability and suction performance was observed when the SCD was implemented. Without the SCD, the inducer developed backflow at the blade tip, which led to rotating cavitation and larger rotordynamic forces. With the SCD, no significant cavitation instabilities developed, and the rotordynamic forces remained small. The lack of cavitation instabilities also allowed the inducer to operate at lower inlet pressures, increasing the suction performance of the inducer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Verma ◽  
Bastav Borah ◽  
Vinayak Kulkarni

Abstract The fluid flow analysis over a cambered airfoil having three different cavity locations on the suction surface is reported in this paper. The Elliptical cavity is created at LE, MC, and TE along chordwise locations from the leading to trailing edge. In this regard, the steady simulation is carried out in the Fluent at Reynolds number of 105 based on their chord length. The lift and drag characteristics for clean and cavities airfoil are investigated at different angles of attack. For the clean airfoil, the stall point is observed at 18°. The presence of a cavity improves the stall and aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil. It has been seen that the lift and drag coefficients for pre-stalled or lower angles are nearly similar to clean and cavity at MC or TE positions. For the post-stall point, the improvement in the aerodynamic performance is seen for the cavity at MC or TE. The cavity placed at LE produces lower lift and higher drag characteristics against other configuration models. The overall cavity effect for the flow around the airfoil is that it creates vortices, thereby re-energizes the slower moving boundary layer and delays the flow separation in the downstream direction. The outcomes of this analysis are suggested that the cavity at a position before the mid chord from the leading edge does not improve the performance of the airfoil. Though vortex is formed in the confined spaces but it is unable to reattach the flow towards the downstream direction of an airfoil.


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