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At least 271 records · Page 15

Thrust reverser with variable nozzle

A thrust reverser is provided for both modulating and reversing bypass flow discharged from a fan through a bypass duct of a turbofan gas turbine engine. The reverser includes an aft cowl joined to a forward cowl and having an aft end surrounding a core engine to define a discharge fan nozzle of minimum flow throat area. The aft cowl is axially translatable relative to the forward cowl from a first position fully retracted against the forward cowl, to a second position partially extended from the forward cowl, and to a third position fully extended from the forward cowl. A plurality of cascade turning vanes are disposed between the forward and aft cowls, and a plurality of thrust reversing deflector doors are pivotally mounted to the aft cowl and bound the bypass duct. The deflector doors are selectively deployed from a stowed position corresponding with the first and second positions of the aft cowl for allowing unrestricted flow of the bypass flow through the fan nozzle. The doors also have a deployed position corresponding with the third position of the aft cowl for substantially deflecting the bypass flow from discharging through the fan nozzle to discharging through the cascade vanes for effecting thrust reverse. Axial translation of the aft cowl between the first and second positions varies flow area of the fan nozzle to vary thrust effected by the discharged bypass flow.

Butler, Lawrence↗

Development of a locally mass flux conservative computer code for calculating 3-D viscous flow in turbomachines

The VANS successive approximation numerical method was extended to the computation of three dimensional, viscous, transonic flows in turbomachines. A cross-sectional computer code, which conserves mass flux at each point of the cross-sectional surface of computation was developed. In the VANS numerical method, the cross-sectional computation follows a blade-to-blade calculation. Numerical calculations were made for an axial annular turbine cascade and a transonic, centrifugal impeller with splitter vanes. The subsonic turbine cascade computation was generated in blade-to-blade surface to evaluate the accuracy of the blade-to-blade mode of marching. Calculated blade pressures at the hub, mid, and tip radii of the cascade agreed with corresponding measurements. The transonic impeller computation was conducted to test the newly developed locally mass flux conservative cross-sectional computer code. Both blade-to-blade and cross sectional modes of calculation were implemented for this problem. A triplet point shock structure was computed in the inducer region of the impeller. In addition, time-averaged shroud static pressures generally agreed with measured shroud pressures. It is concluded that the blade-to-blade computation produces a useful engineering flow field in regions of subsonic relative flow; and cross-sectional computation, with a locally mass flux conservative continuity equation, is required to compute the shock waves in regions of supersonic relative flow.

Walitt, L.↗

Laser anemometer measurements at the exit of a T63 combustor

In the first practical application of laser anemometry to an actual gas turbine engine combustor, the mean velocity and turbulent intensity profiles were measured in a steady-flow combustion rig across an annulus simulating a turbine inlet; to establish a basis for comparison with similar measurements to be made in an operating engine and to confirm current turbine aerodynamics and heat transfer design assumptions. It was necessary to develop a new experimental technique for traversing the annulus due to differential thermal expansion of the cantilevered combustion rig and a new computer-graphics analysis technique for analyzing the velocity histograms due to the high background light intensity. The axial mean velocity and turbulent intensity were uniform across the annulus under all operating conditions and the flow had little or no swirl component. The isothermal mean velocity was doubled by the burning of fuel, however, the isothermal turbulent intensity was relatively unaffected.

Zimmerman, D. R.↗

Effect of Various Blade Modifications on Performance of a 16-Stage Axial-Flow Compressor. II - Effect on Over-All Performance Characteristics of Increasing Twelfth through Fifteenth Stage Stator-Blade Angles 3 deg

The stator-blade angles in the twelfth through fifteenth stages of a 16-stage axial-flow compressor were increased 3O. The over-all performance of this modified compressor is compared to the performance of the compressor with original blade angles. The matching characteristics of the modified compressor and a two-stage turbine were obtained and compared to those of the compressor with original blade angles and the same turbine.

Hatch, James E.↗

Development and Applications of a Stage Stacking Procedure

The preliminary design of multistage axial compressors in gas turbine engines is typically accomplished with mean-line methods. These methods, which rely on empirical correlations, estimate compressor performance well near the design point, but may become less reliable off-design. For land-based applications of gas turbine engines, off-design performance estimates are becoming increasingly important, as turbine plant operators desire peaking or load-following capabilities and hot-day operability. The current work develops a one-dimensional stage stacking procedure, including a newly defined blockage term, which is used to estimate the off-design performance and operability range of a 13-stage axial compressor used in a power generating gas turbine engine. The new blockage term is defined to give mathematical closure on static pressure, and values of blockage are shown to collapse to curves as a function of stage inlet flow coefficient and corrected shaft speed. In addition to these blockage curves, the stage stacking procedure utilizes stage characteristics of ideal work coefficient and adiabatic efficiency. These curves are constructed using flow information extracted from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of groups of stages within the compressor. Performance estimates resulting from the stage stacking procedure are shown to match the results of CFD simulations of the entire compressor to within 1.6% in overall total pressure ratio and within 0.3 points in overall adiabatic efficiency. Utility of the stage stacking procedure is demonstrated by estimation of the minimum corrected speed which allows stable operation of the compressor. Further utility of the stage stacking procedure is demonstrated with a bleed sensitivity study, which estimates a bleed schedule to expand the compressors operating range.

Kulkarni, Sameer↗

Heat Transfer Experiments in the Internal Cooling Passages of a Cooled Radial Turbine Rotor

An experimental study was conducted (1) to experimentally measure, assess and analyze the heat transfer within the internal cooling configuration of a radial turbine rotor blade and (2) to obtain heat transfer data to evaluate and improve computational fluid dynamics (CFD) procedures and turbulent transport models of internal coolant flows. A 1.15 times scale model of the coolant passages within the NASA LERC High Temperature Radial Turbine was designed, fabricated of Lucite and instrumented for transient beat transfer tests using thin film surface thermocouples and liquid crystals to indicate temperatures. Transient heat transfer tests were conducted for Reynolds numbers of one-fourth, one-half, and equal to the operating Reynolds number for the NASA Turbine. Tests were conducted for stationary and rotating conditions with rotation numbers in the range occurring in the NASA Turbine. Results from the experiments showed the heat transfer characteristics within the coolant passage were affected by rotation. In general, the heat transfer increased and decreased on the sides of the straight radial passages with rotation as previously reported from NASA-HOST-sponsored experiments. The heat transfer in the tri-passage axial flow region adjacent to the blade exit was relatively unaffected by rotation. However, the heat transfer on one surface, in the transitional region between the radial inflow passage and axial, constant radius passages, decreased to approximately 20 percent of the values without rotation. Comparisons with previous 3-D numerical studies indicated regions where the heat transfer characteristics agreed and disagreed with the present experiment.

Johnson, B. V.↗

Axial pumps for propulsion systems

The development of axial flow hydrogen pumps is examined. The design features and the performance data obtained during the course of the development programs are discussed. The problems created by the pump characteristics are analyzed. Graphs of four stage pump performance for various turbine blade configurations are developed. The characteristics and performance of a variety of pumps are included.

Huppert, M. C.↗

Effect of Various Blade Modifications on Performance of a 16-Stage High-pressure-ratio Axial-flow Compressor.Angles 3 deg: Effect on Over-all Performance Characteristics of Decreasing Twelfth Through Fifteenth State Stator-blade Angles 3 deg - 1

The stator-blade angles in the twelfth to fifteenth stages of a 16-stage high-pressure-ratio axial-flow compressor were decreased 3 deg The over-all performance of this compressor is compared with the performance of the same compressor with standard blade angles. The matching characteristics of the modified compressor and a two-stage turbine were also obtained and compared with those of the compressor with the original blade angles and the same turbine.

Medeiros, Arthur A.↗

Mixer Assembly for a Gas Turbine Engine

A mixer assembly for a gas turbine engine is provided, including a main mixer with fuel injection holes located between at least one radial swirler and at least one axial swirler, wherein the fuel injected into the main mixer is atomized and dispersed by the air flowing through the radial swirler and the axial swirler.

Dai, Zhongtao↗

Mixer Assembly for a Gas Turbine Engine

A mixer assembly for a gas turbine engine is provided, including a main mixer with fuel injection holes located between at least one radial swirler and at least one axial swirler, wherein the fuel injected into the main mixer is atomized and dispersed by the air flowing through the radial swirler and the axial swirler.

Dai, Zhongtao↗

Laser anemometer measurements and computations in an annular cascade of high turning core turbine vanes

An advanced laser anemometer (LA) was used to measure the axial and tangential velocity components in an annular cascade of turbine stator vanes designed for a high bypass ratio engine. These vanes were based on a redesign of the first-stage stator, of a two-stage turbine, that produced 75 degrees of flow turning. Tests were conducted on a 0.771 scale model of the engine size stator. The advanced LA fringe system was designed to employ thinner than usual laser beams resulting in a 50-micron-diameter probe volume. Window correction optics were used to ensure that the laser beams did not uncross in passing through the curved optical access port. Experimental LA measurements of velocity and turbulence were obtained both upstream, within, and downstream of the stator vane row at the design exit critical velocity ratio of 0.896 at the hub. Static pressures were also measured on the vane surface. The measurements are compared, where possible with calculations from a 3-D inviscid flow analysis. The data are presented in both graphic and tabulated form so that they may be readily used to compare against other turbomachinery computations.

Goldman, Louis J.↗

Assessment of Reduced-Kinetics Mechanisms for Combustion of Jet Fuel in CFD Applications

A computational effort was undertaken to analyze the details of fluid flow in Lean-Direct Injection (LDI) combustors for next-generation LDI design. The National Combustor Code (NCC) was used to perform reacting flow computations on single-element LDI injector configurations. The feasibility of using a reduced chemical-kinetics approach, which optimizes the reaction rates and species to model the emissions characteristics typical of lean-burning gas-turbine combustors, was assessed. The assessments were performed with Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Time-Filtered Navier Stokes (TFNS) time-integration, with a Lagrangian spray model with the NCC code. The NCC predictions for EINOx and combustor exit temperature were compared with experimental data for two different single-element LDI injector configurations, with 60deg and 45deg axially swept swirler vanes. The effects of turbulence-chemistry interaction on the predicted flow in a typical LDI combustor were studied with detailed comparisons of NCC TFNS with experimental data.

Ajmani, Kumud↗

Effect of tip clearance on performance of small axial hydraulic turbine

The first two stages of a six stage liquid oxygen turbine were tested in water. One and two stage performance was determined for one shrouded and two unshrouded blade end configurations over ranges of clearance and blade-jet speed ratio. First stage, two stage, and second stage efficiencies are included as well as the effect of clearance on mass flow for two stage operation.

Boynton, J. L.↗

Cyclic axial-torsional deformation behavior of a cobalt-base superalloy

Multiaxial loading, especially at elevated temperature, can cause the inelastic response of a material to differ significantly from that predicted by simple flow rules, i.e., von Mises or Tresca. To quantify some of these differences, the cyclic high-temperature, deformation behavior of a wrought cobalt-based superalloy, Haynes 188, is investigated under combined axial and torsional loads. Haynes 188 is currently used in many aerospace gas turbine and rocket engine applications, e.g., the combustor liner for the T800 turboshaft engine for the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter and the liquid oxygen posts in the main injector of the space shuttle main engine. The deformation behavior of this material is assessed through the examination of hysteresis loops generated from a biaxial fatigue test program. A high-temperature axial, torsional, and combined axial-torsional fatigue data base has been generated on Haynes 188 at 760 C. Cyclic loading tests have been conducted on uniform gauge section tubular specimens in a servohydraulic axial-torsional test rig. Test control and data acquisition were accomplished with a minicomputer. In this paper, the cyclic hardening characteristics and typical hysteresis loops in the axial stress versus axial strain, shear stress versus engineering shear strain, axial strain versus engineering shear strain, and axial stress versus shear stress spaces are presented for cyclic, in-phase and out-of-phase, axial torsional tests. For in-phase tests three different values of the proportionality constant, lambda (ratio of engineering shear strain amplitude to axial strain amplitude), are examined, viz., 0.86, 1.73, and 3.46. In the out-of-phase tests, three different values of the phase angle, phi (between the axial and engineering shear strain waveforms), are studied, viz., 30, 60, and 90 deg with lambda = 1.73. The cyclic hardening behaviors of all the tests conducted on Haynes 188 at 760 C are evaluated using the von Mises equivalent stress-strain and the maximum shear stress-maximum engineering shear strain (Tresca) curves. Comparisons are also made between the hardening behaviors of cyclic axial, torsional, and combined in-phase and out-of-phase axial-torsional fatigue tests. These comparisons are accomplished through simple Ramberg-Osgood type stress-strain functions for cyclic, axial stress-strain and shear stress-engineering shear strain curves.

Bonacuse, Peter J.↗

Impact of Periodic Unsteadiness on Performance and Heat Load in Axial Flow Turbomachines

Results of an analytical and experimental investigation, directed at the understanding of the impact of periodic unsteadiness on the time-averaged flows in axial flow turbomachines, are presented. Analysis of available experimental data, from a large-scale rotating rig (LSRR) (low speed rig), shows that in the time-averaged axisymmetric equations the magnitude of the terms representing the effect of periodic unsteadiness (deterministic stresses) are as large or larger than those due to random unsteadiness (turbulence). Numerical experiments, conducted to highlight physical mechanisms associated with the migration of combustor generated hot-streaks in turbine rotors, indicated that the effect can be simulated by accounting for deterministic stress like terms in the time-averaged mass and energy conservation equations. The experimental portion of this program shows that the aerodynamic loss for the second stator in a 1-1/2 stage turbine are influenced by the axial spacing between the second stator leading edge and the rotor trailing edge. However, the axial spacing has little impact on the heat transfer coefficient. These performance changes are believed to be associated with the change in deterministic stress at the inlet to the second stator. Data were also acquired to quantify the impact of indexing the first stator relative to the second stator. For the range of parameters examined, this effect was found to be of the same order as the effect of axial spacing.

Sharma, Om P.↗

Design of Turbomachinery Blading in Three-Dimensional Flow By the Circulation Method: A Progress Report

In this paper, we report on the progress of the further development and application of an analytical theory for the design of turbomachinery blading in three-dimensional flow. After a section describing the recent development of the theory, we discuss the various applications including the investigations of the design of radial inflow turbines. Numerical examples are also presented to illustrate the application of the theory to the design of a free vortex fan, an axial turbine rotor, a free vortex compressor stage for low and high Mach numbers, a non-free vortex fan with trailing vortex sheets, and a counter-rotating propeller in the limit of a large number of blades. Further possible applications of the theory to the design of other aero- and hydrodynamic devices are discussed.

W R Hawthorne↗

Inlet distortion in engines on VSTOL aircraft

This report presents the results of a research program on inlet distortion in engines on VSTOL aircraft carried out at the MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory during the period Oct. 1989 - Dec. 1993. The program focused on the development of three dimensional flow computational methodology for predicting the effects of nonuniform flow on the performance of aircraft engines in VSTOL aircraft, the development of a three dimensional instability analysis of flow in multistage axial compressors, and the preliminary applications of these newly developed methodologies for elucidating the effects of flow three dimensionality. The accomplishments of the program are brought out when the current status of predictive capabilities for three dimensional flow instabilities in compressors is assessed against that in 1989.

Tan, Choon S.↗

Large-Scale Simulations and Detailed Flow Field Measurements for Turbomachinery Aeroacoustics

The presentation is a review of recent work in highly loaded compressors, turbine aeroacoustics and cooling fan noise. The specific topics are: the importance of correct numerical modeling to capture blade row interactions in the Ultra Efficient Engine Technology Proof-of-Concept Compressor, the attenuation of a detonation pressure wave by an aircraft axial turbine stage, current work on noise sources and acoustic attenuation in turbines, and technology development work on cooling fans for spaceflight applications. The topic areas were related to each other by certain themes such as the advantage of an experimentalist s viewpoint when analyzing numerical simulations and the need to improve analysis methods for very large numerical datasets.

VanZante, Dale↗