A numerical modelling of stator–rotor interaction in a turbine stage with oscillating blades

In real flows unsteady phenomena connected with the circumferential non-uniformity of the main flow and those caused by oscillations of blades are observed only jointly. An understanding of the physics of the mutual interaction between gas flow and oscillating blades and the development of predictive capabilities are essential for improved overall efficiency, durability and reliability. In the study presented, the algorithm proposed involves the coupled solution of 3D unsteady flow through a turbine stage and the dynamics problem for rotor-blade motion by the action of aerodynamic forces, without separating the outer and inner flow fluctuations. The partially integrated method involves the solution of the fluid and structural equations separately, but information is exchanged at each time step, so that solution from one domain is used as a boundary condition for the other domain. 3-D transonic gas flow through the stator and rotor blades in relative motion with periodicity on the whole annulus is described by the unsteady Euler conservation equations, which are integrated using the explicit monotonous finite volume difference scheme of Godunov–Kolgan. The structural analysis uses the modal approach and a 3-D finite element model of a blade. The blade motion is assumed to be constituted as a linear combination of the first natural modes of blade oscillations, with the modal coefficients depending on time. A calculation has been done for the last stage of the steam turbine, under design and off-design regimes. The numerical results for unsteady aerodynamic forces due to stator–rotor interaction are compared with results obtained while taking into account blade oscillations. The mutual influence of both outer flow non-uniformity and blade oscillations has been investigated. It is shown that the amplitude-frequency spectrum of blade oscillations contains the high-frequency harmonics, corresponding to the rotor moving past one stator blade pitch, and low-frequency harmonics caused by blade oscillations and flow non-uniformity downstream from the blade row; moreover, the spectrum involves the harmonics which are not multiples of the rotation frequency.     

Nonlinear modeling of tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) in rotating wind turbine blades for damping edgewise vibrations

Tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) utilize the sloshing motion of the fluid to suppress structural vibrations and become a natural candidate for damping vibrations in rotating wind turbine blades. The centrifugal acceleration at the tip of a wind turbine blade can reach a magnitude of 7–8g. This facilitates the use of a TLD with a relatively small fluid mass and with feasible geometric dimensions to mitigate the lightly-damped edgewise vibrations effectively. In the present paper, modal expansions are carried out directly on the velocity field and the free surface of the sloshing liquid in the rotating coordinate system. A formulation has been proposed leading to coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations, which have been obtained through the Galerkin variational approach together with the modal expansion technique. Two models, with one sloshing mode and three sloshing modes, have been studied in the numerical simulation. It is shown that the one-mode model is able to predict the sloshing force and the damped structural response accurately, since the primary damping effect on the structure is achieved by the first sloshing mode of the fluid. Although it is unable to predict the fluid free-surface elevation equally well, the one-mode model can still be utilized for the design of TLD. Parametric optimization of the TLD is carried out based on the one-mode model, and the optimized damper effectively improves the dynamic response of wind turbine blades.     

Aeroelastic analysis of a rotating wind turbine blade using a geometrically exact formulation

In this paper, an aeroelastic analysis of a rotating wind turbine blade is performed by considering the effects of geometrical nonlinearities associated with large deflection of the blade produced during wind turbine operation. This source of nonlinearity has become more important in the dynamic analysis of flexible blades used in more recent multi-megawatt wind turbines. The structural modeling, involving the coupled edgewise, flapwise and torsional DOFs, has been performed by using a nonlinear geometrically exact beam formulation. The aerodynamic model is presented based on the strip theory, by applying the principles of quasi-steady and unsteady airfoil aerodynamics. Compared to the conventional steady aerodynamic model, the presented model offers a more realistic consideration of fluid–structure interactions. The resulting governing equation, expanded up to the third-order terms, is analyzed by using the reduced-order model (ROM). The ROM is developed by employing the coupled mode shapes of a cantilever blade under free loading condition. The specifications of the 5MW-NREL wind turbine are used in the simulation study. After verifying the ROM results by comparing them with those of the full FEM model, the model is used in additional static, modal and transient dynamics analyses. The results indicate the important effect of geometrical nonlinearity, especially for larger structural deformations. Moreover, nonlinear analyses reveal the important effects of torsion induced by lateral deformations. It is also found that the governing equation is more efficient, and sufficiently accurate, when it is developed by using the second-order kinetic terms, third-order potential terms and the second-order aerodynamic terms together with third-order damping. Finally, the effects of nonlinearities on the flutter characteristics of wind turbine blades are evaluated through frequency and dynamic analyses.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL VISCOUS AEROELASTIC SOLVER FOR NONLINEAR PANEL FLUTTER

A new three-dimensional (3-D) viscous aeroelastic solver for nonlinear panel flutter is developed in this paper. A well-validated full Navier–Stokes code is coupled with a finite-difference procedure for the von Karman plate equations. A subiteration strategy is employed to eliminate lagging errors between the fluid and structural solvers. This approach eliminates the need for the development of a specialized, tightly coupled algorithm for the fluid/structure interaction problem. The new computational scheme is applied to the solution of inviscid two-dimensional panel flutter problems for subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers. Supersonic results are shown to be consistent with the work of previous researchers. Multiple solutions at subsonic Mach numbers are discussed. Viscous effects are shown to raise the flutter dynamic pressure for the supersonic case. For the subsonic viscous case, a different type of flutter behavior occurs for the downward deflected solution with oscillations occurring about a mean deflected position of the panel. This flutter phenomenon results from a true fluid/structure interaction between the flexible panel and the viscous flow above the surface. Initial computations have also been performed for inviscid, 3-D panel flutter for both supersonic and subsonic Mach numbers.     

Nonlinear Parametric Vibrations of an Elastic Structure with a Rectangular Liquid Tank

The nonlinear coupled vibrations of an elastic structure and liquidsloshing in a rectangular tank partially filled with liquid, are investigated.The structure on which the liquid tank is attached is vertically subjected to a sinusoidal excitation when the natural frequency of the structure is equal to twicethe natural frequency of one of the sloshing modes. In the theoretical analysis, the modal equations are derivedby taking nonlinear fluid force into account. Responses of the structure and the liquid surface are presented asresonance curves using the harmonic balance method. From this theoreticalanalysis the following predictions are obtained: (a) due to the nonlinearity of the fluid force, harmonic oscillations appear in the structure, while subharmonic oscillations occur on the liquid surface; (b) the shapes of the resonance curves markedly change depending on the liquid level; and (c) when the tuning condition is slightly deviated, amplitudemodulated motions and chaotic oscillations appear during a certain range of the excitation frequency. These were qualitatively in agreement with the experimental results.     

Analysis of Coupled Vibration Characteristics of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Green's Functions

This paper presents the analysis of dynamic characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbine blade, where the mode coupling among axial extension, flap vibration(out-of-plane bending), lead/lag vibration(in-plane bending) and torsion is emphasized. By using the Bernoulli-Euler beam to describe the slender blade which is mounted on rigid hub and subjected to unsteady aerodynamic force, the governing equation and characteristic equation of the coupled vibration of the blade are obtained. Due to the combined influences of mode coupling, centrifugal effect, and the non-uniform distribution of mass and stiffness, the explicit solution of characteristic equation is impossible to obtain. An equivalent transformation based on Green's functions is taken for the characteristic equation, and then a system of integrodifferential equations is derived. The numerical difference methods are adopted to solve the integrodifferential equations to get natural frequencies and mode shapes. The influences of mode coupling, centrifugal effect, and rotational speed on natural frequencies and mode shapes are analyzed. Results show that:(1) the influence of bending-torsion coupling on natural frequency is tiny;(2) rotation has dramatic influence on bending frequency but little influence on torsion frequency;(3) the influence of bending-bending coupling on dynamic characteristics is notable at high rotational speed;(4) the effect of rotational speed on bending mode is tiny.     

Damage detection method in complicated beams with varying flexural stiffness

A damage detection method for complicated beam-like structures is proposed based on the subsection strain energy method (SSEM), and its applicability condition is introduced. For a beam with the continuously varying flexural stiffness and an edge crack, the SSEM is used to detect the crack location effectively by numerical modal shapes. As a complicated beam, the glass fiber-reinforced composite model of a wind turbine blade is studied based on an experimental modal analysis. The SSEM is used to calculate the damage index from the measured modal parameters and locate the damage position in the blade model successfully. The results indicate that the SSEM based on the modal shapes can be used to detect the damages in complicated beams or beam-like structures for engineering applications.     

A fluid–structure interaction model for stability analysis of shells conveying fluid

In this paper, a fluid–structure interaction model for stability analysis of shells conveying fluid is developed. This model is developed for shells of arbitrary geometry and structure and is based on incompressible potential flow. The boundary element method is applied to model the potential flow. The fluid dynamics model is derived by using an inflow/outflow model along with the impermeability condition at the fluid–shell interface. This model is applied to obtain the flow modes and eigenvalues, which are used for the modal representation of the flow field in the shell. Based on the mode shapes and natural frequencies of the shell obtained from an FEM model, the modal analysis technique is used for structural modeling of the shell. Using the linearized Bernoulli equation for unsteady pressure on the fluid–shell interface in combination with the virtual work principle, the generalized structural forces are obtained in terms of the modal coordinates of the fluid flow and the coupled field equations of the fluid–structure are derived. The obtained model is validated by comparison with results in the literature, and very good agreement is demonstrated. Then, some examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the present model to determining the stability conditions of shells with arbitrary geometries.     

Supercritical and subcritical dynamic flow-induced instabilities of a small-scale wind turbine blade placed in uniform flow

There is a growing interest in extracting more power per turbine by increasing the rotor size in offshore wind turbines. As a result, the turbine blades will become longer and therefore more flexible, and a flexible blade is susceptible to flow-induced instabilities. In order to design and build stable large wind turbine blades, the onset of possible flow-induced instabilities should be considered in the design process. Currently, there is a lack of experimental work on flow-induced instabilities of wind turbine blades. In the present study, a series of experiments were conducted and flow-induced instabilities were observed in wind turbine blades. A small-scale flexible blade based on the NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine blade was built using three-dimensional printing technique. The blade was placed in the test section of a wind tunnel and was subjected to uniform oncoming flow, representing the case of a parked wind turbine blade. The blade׳s tip displacement was measured using a non-contacting displacement measurement device as the oncoming wind speed was increased. At a critical wind speed, the blade became unstable and experienced limit cycle oscillations. The amplitude of these oscillations increased with increasing wind speed. Both supercritical and subcritical dynamic instabilities were observed. The instabilities were observed at different angles of attack and for blades both with and without a geometric twist. It was found that the blade twist had a significant influence on the observed instability: a blade without a twist experienced a strong subcritical instability.     

Calculation of three-dimensional fluid flow in a radial-axial turbine

Several studies have been made concerning the calculation of three-dimensional fluid flow in turbomachines [1–9, 11].The results of [13] are based on the idea proposed in [9, 12] of the possibility of representing the streamline with the aid of two stream surfaces. In this method the problem for the equations of motion (second order) reduces to a variational problem. The author has used the method of [9] to calculate the flow in the interblade passage of a radial-axial water turbine wheel.A curvilinear nonorthogonal coordinate system is introduced in place of the cylindrical system. As the first family of coordinate surfaces we take surfaces of revolution that are similar in form to the turbine housing, and as the second family we take cylindrical stream surfaces that have directrices in the plane perpendicular to the turbine axes which are logarithmic spirals. The introduction of the curvilinear nonorthogonal coordinate system complicates the form of the equations describing the fluid flow and increases the volume of the computational work, but it does give the possibility of calculating the fluid flow in a turbomachine with radial-axial flow.Results are presented of the calculation of the vortical flow of an incompressible inviscid fluid in a turbine with a total pressure gradient at the channel inlet.     

基于聚合多重网格方法的跨音速颤振的数值模拟

采用流固耦合方法对跨音速颤振进行了数值模拟。流体方面在非结构网格上用有限体积方法求解了Euler方程;结构方面则求解了后掠机翼典型剖面的结构模态方程。时间推进采用双时间步长：对每一真实时间步,都通过基于聚合多重网格方法的伪时间步推进,对流体和结构方程交替迭代．得到一个稳态的流固耦合的解。文章最后给出了NACA64A010翼型剖面的跨音速颤振边界．与相关文献的计算结果符合良好。     

Maintenance of Oscillations in Three-Dimensional Traveling Waves in Plane Poiseuille Flows

Two solutions of three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are studied numerically. These solutions describe the fluid motion in a plane channel, are of the traveling-wave form, and are periodic in the streamwise and spanwise directions. It is shown that, in each solution, the oscillations arise as a result of linear instability in the streamwise averaged velocity field. This instability is due to the existence of streamwise streaks known as the regions where the velocity is higher or lower than the mean velocity. A mechanism for the maintenance of streamwise vortices causing the formation of streaks is revealed. The obtained results confirm and extend the existing knowledge about the mechanism for the formation of near-wall turbulent structures.     

Time-dependent hydroelastic analysis of cavitating propulsors

A 3-D potential-based boundary element method (BEM) is coupled with a 3-D finite element method (FEM) for the time-dependent hydroelastic analysis of cavitating propulsors. The BEM is applied to evaluate the moving cavity boundaries and fluctuating pressures, as well as the added mass and hydrodynamic damping matrices. The FEM is applied to analyze the dynamic blade deformations and stresses due to pressure fluctuations and centrifugal forces. The added mass and hydrodynamic damping matrices are superimposed onto the structural mass and damping matrices, respectively, to account for the effect of fluid–structure interaction. The problem is solved in the time-domain using an implicit time integration scheme. An overview of the formulation for both the BEM and FEM is presented, as well as the BEM/FEM coupling algorithm. Numerical and experiment validation studies are shown. The effects of fluid–structure interaction on the propeller performance are discussed.     

A thin-walled composite beam model for light-weighted structures interacting with fluids

A thin-walled beam model is proposed for structures of variable cross-section, which can be either open or closed and includes multicellular cross-sections with either isotropic or orthotropic materials. The proposed model does not require any priori definition of cross-sectional warping which instead results from the solution of the problem. To achieve that a special deformation pattern is superimposed on the bending deformation described by Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. All sectional properties are automatically incorporated in the analysis as a result of the usual variational formulation of the system of equations. The proposed model is specifically designed to simulate the dynamics of wind/hydrokinetic turbine blade with low computational cost, especially in fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulation. A number of test cases have been carried out to validate the proposed structural model which show good agreement between the results obtained her e and the solutions available in literature. Finally, FSI simulation of a hydrokinetic blade under field condition is carried out to illustrate the capability of the current thin-walled beam model in practice.     

Dynamics of trains and train-like articulated systems travelling in confined fluid—Part 1: Modelling and basic dynamics

The dynamics and stability of a train of flexibly interconnected rigid cylinders travelling in a confined cylindrical “tunnel” subjected to fluid dynamic forces is studied theoretically. Each cylinder, which is coupled to other cylinders and supported by springs and dampers, has degrees of freedom in the lateral translational and rotational directions. The kinetic, dissipation, and potential energies of the system and the generalized forces associated with the fluid dynamic forces acting on the system, such as inviscid fluid dynamic forces, viscous frictional forces, and form drag, are obtained first. Then the equations of motion are derived in a Lagrangian framework. The principal aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the aerodynamic forces on the dynamics of a high-speed train running in a tunnel, or more generally of a train-like system travelling in a coaxial cylindrical tube. The results of this study show that the system loses stability by flutter and that viscous frictional drag has a considerable effect on stability of the system. In addition, the mechanism of instability of the system is clarified with the aid of a study of the modal shapes and energy considerations.     

The pendulum-slosh problem: Simulation using a time-dependent conformal mapping

Suspending a rectangular vessel which is partially filled with fluid from a single rigid pivoting pole produces an interesting theoretical model with which to investigate the dynamic coupling between fluid motion and vessel rotation. The exact equations for this coupled system are derived with the fluid motion governed by the Euler equations relative to the moving frame of the vessel, and the vessel motion governed by a modified forced pendulum equation. The nonlinear equations of motion for the fluid are solved numerically via a time-dependent conformal mapping, which maps the physical domain to a rectangle in the computational domain with a time dependent conformal modulus. The numerical scheme expresses the implicit free-surface boundary conditions as two explicit partial differential equations which are then solved via a pseudo-spectral method in space. The coupled system is integrated in time with a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. The starting point for the simulations is the linear neutral stability contour discovered by Turner et al. (2015, Journal of Fluid & Structures 52, 166–180). Near the contour the nonlinear results confirm the instability boundary, and far from the neutral curve (parameterized by longer pole lengths) nonlinearity is found to significantly alter the vessel response. Results are also presented for an initial condition given by a superposition of two sloshing modes with approximately the same frequency from the linear characteristic equation. In this case the fluid initial conditions generate large nonlinear vessel motions, which may have implications for systems designed to oscillate in a confined space or on the slosh-induced-rolling of a ship.     

Aeroelastic analysis of helicopter rotor blade in hover using an efficient reduced-order aerodynamic model

This paper presents a coupled flap–lag–torsion aeroelastic stability analysis and response of a hingeless helicopter blade in the hovering flight condition. The boundary element method based on the wake eigenvalues is used for the prediction of unsteady airloads of the rotor blade. The aeroelastic equations of motion of the rotor blade are derived by Galerkin's method. To obtain the aeroelastic stability and response, the governing nonlinear equations of motion are linearized about the nonlinear steady equilibrium positions using small perturbation theory. The equilibrium deflections are calculated through the iterative Newton–Raphson method. Numerical results comprising steady equilibrium state deflections, aeroelastic eigenvalues and time history response about these states for a two-bladed rotor are presented, and some of them are compared with those obtained from a two-dimensional quasi-steady strip aerodynamic theory. Also, the effect of the number of aerodynamic eigenmodes is investigated. The results show that the three-dimensional aerodynamic formulation has considerable impact on the determination of both the equilibrium condition and lead-lag instability.     

Implicit Calculations of an Aeroelasticity Problem

The purpose of this work is to show that a linearized implicit scheme for the flow resolution can be an efficient and accurate method for solving fluid-structure interaction. The fluid is modeled by the Euler equations in two dimensions and the structure by a one (free piston) or a two (NACA0012 airfoil) degrees of freedom system. The schemes are developed using a finite volume/finite element formulation and, stating the moving boundary problem in the space-time domain, the Riemann solver is generalized in a suitable manner. Assuming a modal decomposition for the structure's response, an analytical solution to the equation of motion is obtained.

The effects of the linearized implicit scheme on the aeroelastic response are demonstrated on the free piston and the NACA 0012 airfoil problems. In the latter case, we focus on the capability of the linearized implicit scheme to accurately predict the stability limit of the coupled response (wing flutter analysis). Although the above analysis is performed using a rigid transformation, a robust moving mesh strategy is presented for more general 2-D and 3-D deformations.     

Numerical investigation of the effect of boundary conditions on hydroelastic stability of two parallel plates interacting with a layer of ideal flowing fluid

The paper studies the hydroelastic stability of two parallel identical rectangular plates interacting with a flowing fluid confined between them. General equations describing the behavior of ideal compressible liquid in the case of small perturbations are written in terms of the perturbation velocity potential and transformed using the Bubnov–Galerkin method. The small deformations of elastic plates are defined using the first-order shear deformation plate theory. A mathematical formulation of the dynamic problem for elastic structures is developed using the variational principle of virtual displacements, which takes into account the work done by the inertial forces and hydrodynamic pressure. The numerical solution of the problem is carried out in three-dimensional formulation by means of the finite element method. A stability criterion is based on the analysis of complex eigenvalues of the coupled system of equations obtained for different values of flow velocity. The existence of different types of instability has been shown depending on the combinations of the kinematic boundary conditions defined at the edges of both plates. We considered both the symmetric and asymmetric types of clamping. It has been found that the dependence of the lowest eigenfrequency of two parallel plates on the height of quiescent fluid is nonmonotonic with a pronounced peak. At the same time, critical velocities of instability change insignificantly if the distance between plates is greater than half of the maximum linear dimensions of the structure. It should be noted that the critical velocities of divergence increase monotonically with growth of the height of the fluid layer, but critical velocities for the onset of flutter instability have sharp jumps. The cause of these jumps is a change in the mode shapes at which the system loses stability.