Reflection error correction of gas turbine blade temperature

Accurate measurement of gas turbine blades’ temperature is one of the greatest challenges encountered in gas turbine temperature measurements. Within an enclosed gas turbine environment with surfaces of varying temperature and low emissivities, a new challenge is introduced into the use of radiation thermometers due to the problem of reflection error. A method for correcting this error has been proposed and demonstrated in this work through computer simulation and experiment. The method assumed that emissivities of all surfaces exchanging thermal radiation are known. Simulations were carried out considering targets with low and high emissivities of 0.3 and 0.8 respectively while experimental measurements were carried out on blades with emissivity of 0.76. Simulated results showed possibility of achieving error less than 1% while experimental result corrected the error to 1.1%. It was thus concluded that the method is appropriate for correcting reflection error commonly encountered in temperature measurement of gas turbine blades.     

Accurate Turbine Inertia Measurement

High fidelity power measurements in free wheel devices require accurate inertia measurements. To evaluate the turbine efficiency, a new experimental technique to measure the momentum of inertia has been developed at the von Karman Institute (VKI). This experimental methodology allows the determination of the inertia of complex shape bodies without being dismounted from their rotating housing.     

Analytical formulation of the Jacobian matrix for non-linear calculation of the forced response of turbine blade assemblies with wedge friction dampers

A fundamental issue in turbomachinery design is the dynamical stress assessment of turbine blades. In order to reduce stress peaks in the turbine blades at engine orders corresponding to blade natural frequencies, friction dampers are employed. Blade response calculation requires the solution of a set of non-linear equations originated by the introduction of friction damping.

Such a set of non-linear equations is solved using the iterative numerical Newton–Raphson method. However, calculation of the Jacobian matrix of the system using classical numerical finite difference schemes makes frequency domain solver prohibitively expensive for structures with many contact points. Large computation time results from the evaluation of partial derivatives of the non-linear equations with respect to the displacements.

In this work a methodology to compute efficiently the Jacobian matrix of a dynamic system having wedge dampers is presented. It is exact and completely analytical.

The proposed methods have been successfully applied to a real intermediate pressure turbine (IPT) blade under cyclic symmetry boundary conditions with underplatform wedge dampers. Its implementation showed to be very effective, and allowed to achieve relevant time savings without loss of precision.     

Aero-thermal investigation of a multi-splitter axial turbine

This paper reports the external convective heat transfer in an innovative low-pressure vane, designed with a multi-splitter configuration. Three aerodynamic airfoils are positioned in between larger structural vanes, replacing struts presently used in current aero-engines, which results in superior aerodynamic performance. Static pressure and heat flux measurements were carried out in the large compression tube facility of the von Karman Institute, using pneumatic taps and single-layered thin film gauges respectively. The steady and unsteady heat transfer distributions were obtained at representative conditions of modern aero-engines, with M_2,is close to unity and a Reynolds number of approximately 10⁶. This facility is specially suited to control the gas-to-wall temperature ratio that drives transition mechanisms. The heat transfer across the multi-splittered passages is confronted with correlations on ducts to further characterize the boundary layer status. The data will be used to guide code developers by verifying their boundary layer transition models, and designers by showing the areas of the vane where heat transfer is most sensitive to the off-design conditions.     

Experimental investigation on the wake interference among wind turbines sited in atmospheric boundary layer winds

We examined experimentally the effects of incom-ing surface wind on the turbine wake and the wake interfer-ence among upstream and downstream wind turbines sited in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) winds. The experi-ment was conducted in a large-scale ABL wind tunnel with scaled wind turbine models mounted in different incom-ing surface winds simulating the ABL winds over typical offshore/onshore wind farms. Power outputs and dynamic loadings acting on the turbine models and the wake flow char-acteristics behind the turbine models were quantified. The results revealed that the incoming surface winds significantly affect the turbine wake characteristics and wake interference between the upstream and downstream turbines. The velocity deficits in the turbine wakes recover faster in the incoming surface winds with relatively high turbulence levels. Varia-tions of the power outputs and dynamic wind loadings acting on the downstream turbines sited in the wakes of upstream turbines are correlated well with the turbine wakes charac-teristics. At the same downstream locations, the downstream turbines have higher power outputs and experience greater static and fatigue loadings in the inflow with relatively high turbulence level, suggesting a smaller effect of wake inter-ference for the turbines sited in onshore wind farms.     

Gas–liquid two phase flow measurement method based on combination instrument of turbine flowmeter and conductance sensor

In order to solve the flowrate measurement problem of gas–liquid two phase flow widely existing in gas wells of Daqing oil field in China, a new method has been developed, which is based on the combination instrument of turbine flowmeter and conductance sensor with petal type concentrating flow diverter. The turbine and conductance signals under 104 different flow conditions have been acquired through oil–gas–water three phase flow loop experimental facility. To determine the flow pattern in measurement channel, attractor morphologic characteristics are extracted from the conductance signals. For the total flowrate measurement, based on the turbine fluctuant signals of gas–liquid two phase flow, a statistical model with the average error of 7.9% is set up. With regard to the water cut measurement, the characteristics in time and frequency domains are extracted from the fluctuant conductance signals, and then employing the Support Vector Machine (SVM) soft measurement model used in high-dimension data fitting, the water cut prediction is realized with the average error of 0.038. The results show that the combination instrument of turbine flowmeter and conductance sensor with petal type concentrating flow diverter would be useful in measuring the total flowrate and water cut of gas–liquid two phase flow in gas production wells.     

Experimental study of rotation effect on film cooling over the flat wall with a single hole

A new rotating test rig was set up to investigate the rotation effect on the film cooling over the flat wall. A simple flat blade with an inclined 30° film hole, which is parallel to the hot mainstream, was installed. And different rotation orientations were selected to simulate the blade pressure or suction side of a turbine blade. A steady liquid crystal technique was applied to obtain detailed distribution of the temperature over the blade surface. And the average adiabatic film cooling effectiveness of the area adjacent to the film hole was selected to evaluate the cooling effect. Five different rotational speeds, i.e., 0, 300, 500, 800, 1000 r/min, were considered. Experimental results indicate that the film trajectory could bend under the rotating condition. With the increase of the rotational speed, on the pressure side, the film trajectory inclines centripetally firstly and then centrifugally; whereas, on the suction side the film trajectory bends centrifugally. On the other hand, as the rotational speed increases, the cooling effect is improved firstly and then worsened when Ω > 500–600 r/min on the pressure side. On the suction side, however, the cooling effect is not sensitive to the rotational speed.     

Comparison of Two Unsteady Intermittency Models for Bypass Transition Prediction on a Turbine Blade Profile

The present paper evaluates two unsteady transition modelling approaches: the prescribed unsteady intermittency method PUIM, developed at Cambridge University and the dynamic unsteady intermittency method developed at Ghent University. The methods are validated against experimental data for the N3-60 steam turbine stator profile for steady and for unsteady inlet flow conditions. The characteristic features of the test case are moderately high Reynolds number and high inlet turbulence intensity, which causes bypass transition. The tested models rely both on the intermittency parameter and are unsteady approaches. In the prescribed method, the time-dependent intermittency distribution is obtained from integral relations. In the dynamic method, the intermittency distribution follows from time-dependent differential equations. For unsteady computations, self-similar wake profiles are prescribed at the inlet of the computational domain. Joint validation of the prescribed and the dynamic unsteady intermittency models against experimental data shows that both methods are able to reproduce the global features of the periodical evolution of the boundary layer under the influence of a periodically impinging wake. The overall quality of the dynamic method is better than that of the prescribed method.     

High temperature materials for aerospace applications: Ni-based superalloys and γ-TiAl alloys

Two outstanding aerospace-oriented high-temperature materials, the single-crystal nickel-based superalloys for high-pressure turbine blades and the γ-TiAl-based alloys for low pressure turbine blades, are being presented here. In both cases, the optimisation of their mechanical properties is based on a high knowledge of metallurgy, mixing together different aspects such as processes, alloy design, deformation mechanisms, impact of oxidative environment or interaction between protective layers and protected alloy. Historical evolutions are recalled and put into perspective with more recent research activities.     

Finite element analysis of fir-tree region in turbine discs

Comprehensive 2D and 3D finite element analysis is undertaken of the fir-tree region in aeroengine turbine disc assemblies. The study examines the effect of the critical geometrical features, such as the number of teeth, flank length and flank angle upon the stress field in the disc. The two-dimensional finite element predictions are verified using photoelastic-stress-freezing technique. The study is further extended to account for the effect of the skew angle and the interfacial friction between the disc and attached blades upon the resulting contact stresses at the interface and through the disc thickness. The results reveal that aeroengine disc designers must treat the two-dimensional finite element results with caution. This is due to the fact that two-dimensional results do not account for the large stress variations at the contact region and through the thickness due to the presence of skew slots in the disc.