Blade Tip Shape Optimization for Enhanced Turbine Aerothermal Performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. De Maesschalck ◽  
S. Lavagnoli ◽  
G. Paniagua
Keyword(s):  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Optimization Strategy ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Turbine Efficiency ◽  
Gap Flow ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

In high-speed, unshrouded turbines, tip leakage flows generate large aerodynamic losses and intense unsteady thermal loads over the rotor blade tip and casing. The stage-loading and rotational speeds are steadily increased to achieve higher turbine efficiency, and hence, the overtip leakage flow may exceed the transonic regime. However, conventional blade tip geometries are not designed to cope with supersonic tip flow velocities. A great potential lies in the modification and optimization of the blade tip shape as a means to control the tip leakage flow aerodynamics, limit the entropy production in the overtip gap, manage the heat-load distribution over the blade tip, and improve the turbine efficiency at high-stage loading coefficients. The present paper develops an optimization strategy to produce a set of blade tip profiles with enhanced aerothermal performance for a number of tip gap flow conditions. The tip clearance flow was numerically simulated through two-dimensional compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) calculations that reproduce an idealized overtip flow along streamlines. A multiobjective optimization tool, based on differential evolution combined with surrogate models (artificial neural networks), was used to obtain optimized 2D tip profiles with reduced aerodynamic losses and minimum heat transfer variations and mean levels over the blade tip and casing. Optimized tip shapes were obtained for relevant tip gap flow conditions in terms of blade thickness to tip gap height ratios (between 5 and 25) and blade pressure loads (from subsonic to supersonic tip leakage flow regimes), imposing fixed inlet conditions. We demonstrated that tip geometries that perform superior in subsonic conditions are not optimal for supersonic tip gap flows. Prime tip profiles exist, depending on the tip flow conditions. The numerical study yielded a deeper insight on the physics of tip leakage flows of unshrouded rotors with arbitrary tip shapes, providing the necessary knowledge to guide the design and optimization strategy of a full blade tip surface in a real 3D turbine environment.

Blade Tip Shape Optimization for Enhanced Turbine Aerothermal Performance

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. De Maesschalck ◽  
S. Lavagnoli ◽  
G. Paniagua
Keyword(s):  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Optimization Strategy ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Turbine Efficiency ◽  
Gap Flow ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

In high-speed unshrouded turbines tip leakage flows generate large aerodynamic losses and intense unsteady thermal loads over the rotor blade tip and casing. The stage loading and rotational speeds are steadily increased to achieve higher turbine efficiency, and hence the overtip leakage flow may exceed the transonic regime. However, conventional blade tip geometries are not designed to cope with supersonic tip flow velocities. A great potential lays in the modification and optimization of the blade tip shape as a means to control the tip leakage flow aerodynamics, limit the entropy production in the overtip gap, manage the heat load distribution over the blade tip and improve the turbine efficiency at high stage loading coefficients. The present paper develops an optimization strategy to produce a set of blade tip profiles with enhanced aerothermal performance for a number of tip gap flow conditions. The tip clearance flow was numerically simulated through two-dimensional compressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) calculations that reproduce an idealized overtip flow along streamlines. A multi-objective optimization tool, based on differential evolution combined with surrogate models (artificial neural networks), was used to obtain optimized 2D tip profiles with reduced aerodynamic losses and minimum heat transfer variations and mean levels over the blade tip and casing. Optimized tip shapes were obtained for relevant tip gap flow conditions in terms of blade thickness to tip gap height ratios (between 5 and 25), and blade pressure loads (from subsonic to supersonic tip leakage flow regimes) imposing fixed inlet conditions. We demonstrated that tip geometries which perform superior in subsonic conditions are not optimal for supersonic tip gap flows. Prime tip profiles exist depending on the tip flow conditions. The numerical study yielded a deeper insight on the physics of tip leakage flows of unshrouded rotors with arbitrary tip shapes, providing the necessary knowledge to guide the design and optimization strategy of a full blade tip surface in a real 3D turbine environment.

Aerodynamic Performance of Blade Tip End-Plates Designed for Low-Noise Operation in Axial Flow Fans

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Corsini ◽  
Franco Rispoli ◽  
A. G. Sheard
Keyword(s):  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Acoustic Emissions ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

This study assesses the effectiveness of modified blade-tip configurations in achieving passive noise control in industrial fans. The concepts developed here, which are based on the addition of end-plates at the fan-blade tip, are shown to have a beneficial effect on the fan aeroacoustic signature as a result of the changes they induce in tip-leakage-flow behavior. The aerodynamic merits of the proposed blade-tip concepts are investigated by experimental and computational studies in a fully ducted configuration. The flow mechanisms in the blade-tip region are correlated with the specific end-plate design features, and their role in the creation of overall acoustic emissions is clarified. The tip-leakage flows of the fans are analyzed in terms of vortex structure, chordwise leakage flow, and loading distribution. Rotor losses are also investigated. The modifications to blade-tip geometry are found to have marked effects on the multiple vortex behaviors of leakage flow as a result of changes in the near-wall fluid flow paths on both blade surfaces. The improvements in rotor efficiency are assessed and correlated with the control of tip-leakage flows produced by the modified tip end-plates.

Flow Structures in the Tip Region for a Transonic Compressor Rotor

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Du ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Jingyi Chen ◽  
Chaoqun Nie ◽  
Christoph Biela
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Reference Frame ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Three Dimensional Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate flow structures in the tip region for an axial transonic rotor, with careful comparisons with the experimental results. The calculated performance curve and two-dimensional (2D) flow structures observed at casing, such as the shock wave, the expansion wave around the leading edge, and the tip leakage flow at peak efficiency and near-stall points, are all captured by simulation results, which agree with the experimental data well. An in-depth analysis of three-dimensional flow structures reveals three features: (1) there exists an interface between the incoming main flow and the tip leakage flow, (2) in this rotor the tip leakage flows along the blade chord can be divided into at least two parts according to the blade loading distribution, and (3) each part plays a different role on the stall inception mechanism in the leakage flow dominated region. A model of three-dimensional flow structures of tip leakage flow is thus proposed accordingly. In the second half of this paper, the unsteady features of the tip leakage flows, which emerge at the operating points close to stall, are presented and validated with experiment observations. The numerical results in the rotor relative reference frame are first converted to the casing absolute reference frame before compared with the measurements in experiments. It is found that the main frequency components of simulation at absolute reference frame match well with those measured in the experiments. The mechanism of the unsteadiness and its significance to stability enhancement design are then discussed based on the details of the flow field obtained through numerical simulations.

Turbine Pocket Blade: Structural Integrity and Tip Leakage Flow

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loc Q. Duong ◽  
Nagamany Thayalakhandan
Keyword(s):  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Simultaneous Optimization ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Turbine Efficiency ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Mechanical Optimization ◽  
End Wall ◽  
Aerodynamic Simulation

The design of a turbine blade is a complex task involving the simultaneous optimization and compromise of different disciplines with the most important ones are aerodynamics and structures. Aerodynamics mainly involves optimizing blade profiles for minimum pressure loss while structures deals with fatigue and creep life. In small gas turbine application, the turbine pocket blade with aspect ratio less than unity is a typical case of such aero-mechanical optimization. The objective of this paper is to address two crucial topics encountered by such blade design configuration. They are (a) the integrity of the re-enforced pin and pocket fix-end wall under thermal cyclic loading resulting from combustor pattern factor and in combination with blade transient resonance and (b) the minimization of tip leakage flow to improve turbine efficiency. Finite element method and computational fluid dynamics are used to illustrate the blade pocket physical states and its underlying solutions. Structural analysis indicated that a bi-slotted pin is a suited solution to reduce loading of HCF nature at the blade wall-pin interface. Aerodynamic simulation showed that the pocket blade tip with scooped configuration reduced the tip leakage flow.

Rotor-Tip Leakage: Part I—Basic Methodology

1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Booth ◽  
P. R. Dodge ◽  
H. K. Hepworth
Keyword(s):  
Discharge Coefficient ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Normal Velocity ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Component Identification ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

Blade tip losses represent a major efficiency penalty in a turbine rotor. These losses are presently controlled by maintaining close tolerances on tip clearances. This two-part paper outlines a new methodology for predicting and minimizing tip leakage flows. Part I of the paper describes a series of experiments and analyses which indicated a predominantly inviscid nature of tip leakage flow. The experiments were conducted on a series of three water flow rigs in which leakage quantities were measured over simulated blade tips. As a result of the experiments, a simple tip-leakage model is proposed that treats the normal velocity component in terms of discharge coefficient and conserves the tangential velocity (momentum) component. Identification of tip leakage controlled by a normal discharge coefficient suggests an optimum tip-treatment configuration may be designed through discharge testing of candidate configurations. A preliminary design optimization was conducted on the simple discharge rigs, and the results were evaluated on the water table cascade rig and on a turbine stage.

Tip Leakage Losses in Subsonic and Transonic Blade-Rows

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. S. Wheeler ◽  
Theodosios Korakianitis ◽  
Shashimal Banneheke
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

In this paper the effect of blade-exit Mach number on unshrouded turbine tip-leakage flows is investigated. Previously published experimental data of a high-pressure turbine blade are used to validate a CFD code, which is then used to study the tip-leakage flow at blade-exit Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.4. Three-dimensional calculations are performed of a flat-tip and a cavity-tip blade. Two-dimensional calculations are also performed to show the effect of various squealer-tip geometries on an idealized tip-flow. The results show that as the blade-exit Mach number is increased the tip leakage flow becomes choked. Therefore the tip-leakage flow becomes independent of the pressure difference across the tip and hence the blade-loading. Thus the effect of the tip-leakage flow on overall blade loss reduces at blade-exit Mach numbers greater than 1.0. The results suggest that for transonic blade-rows it should be possible to raise blade loading within the tip region without increasing tip-leakage loss.

Characteristics of Tip-Clearance Flows of a Compressor Cascade and a Propulsion Pump

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. T. Lee ◽  
M. J. Laurita ◽  
J. Feng ◽  
C. L. Merkle
Keyword(s):  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Compressor Cascade ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Vortex ◽  
Blade Passage ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Pump Rotor ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

Tip-leakage flows for a linear compressor cascade and a one-stage shrouded pump rotor are discussed in this paper. A numerical method solving the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations is used to explore various detail features of the tip-leakage flows. Calculation results for the cascade provide an assessment for predicting flow past a non-rotating blade passage with zero and 2% chord clearances. On the other hand, the pump rotor configuration provides a swirling passage flow with the complication of a trailing-edge separation vortex mixed with the tip-clearance and passage vortices and produces a very complex three-dimensional flow in the rotor wake. The physical aspects of the tip-clearance flows are discussed including suction-side reloading and pressure-side unloading due to a tip clearance and formation and transportation of the tip-leakage vortex. Detailed velocity comparisons in the blade passage and the tip gap region are shown to indicate the difficulty of predicting tip-leakage flow. The pressure at the core of the tip vortex is also examined to evaluate the strength of the tip-leakage vortex. Some computational guidelines for design usage are provided for these tip-leakage flow calculations.

Controlling Leakage Flows Over a Rotor Blade Tip Using Air-Curtain Injection: Part I — Aero-Thermal Performance of Rotor Tips

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing Yang ◽  
Qiang Zhao ◽  
Zhao Liu ◽  
Zhenping Feng ◽  
Terrence W. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Efficiency Improvement ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Air Curtain ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Cooling Air ◽  
Blade Tips

Abstract The rotor casing of gas turbine engines is generally cooled with cooling air from compressors and then the cooling air is discharged into the passage flow of the rotor. In this paper, a novel design both for the blade tip leakage flow control and for the rotor casing and tip cooling is proposed. Cooling air is injected through a pair of inclined rows of discrete holes positioned between 30% and 50% axial chord downstream of the blade leading edge in the casing. The casing injection forms as air-curtain within the blade tip gap, and inhibits the development of the tip leakage flows and provides secondary-order cooling for the rotor tip. Air injection from the rotor casing onto flat and recessed blade tips is investigated using numerical simulations that is validated by extensive aerodynamic and heat transfer experimental data. Flow and film cooling over the blade tip and turbine overall aerodynamic performance are examined in detail for two casing injection rates. Comparisons between flat tip without casing injection (baseline) case and the casing injection cases show that the air-curtain injection significantly alters the flow structures near the casing by modifying the development and migration of the tip leakage flow. The air-curtain injection over the flat and recessed tips both generates turbine stage overall aerodynamic efficiency improvement due to the sealing effects of the casing injection, but the efficiency gain depends on the competing results between the sealing effects and the “over-blown” effects of the air-curtain injection. Applying a recess to the blade tip is generally detrimental to the efficiency improvement by the air-curtain injection. In addition to efficiency improvement, secondary-order cooling effects from the casing injection are found to provide considerable thermal protection for the blade tips. However, increasing injection rate reduces the film cooling performance over the rotor tip surfaces. The recessed tip could present better film cooling effectiveness than the flat tip in the presence of the air-curtain.

Flow Investigations in the Tip Gap of Rotor Blade Tips With Squealer Cavity

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Fischer ◽  
Jörg König ◽  
Jürgen Czarske ◽  
Clemens Rakenius ◽  
Gregor Schmid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rotor Blade ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Flow Simulations ◽  
Gap Flow ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Flow Gradients ◽  
Blade Tips

The tip leakage flow in turbines is considered to be responsible/or significant machine losses. An efficient reduction of these losses by e. g. squealer cavities at rotor blade tips requires a detailed physical and quantitative understanding of the tip leakage flow. For this purpose, numerical flow simulations are a valuable tool, but they have to be validated by measurements. However, non-intrusive, optical flow measurements in a rotating machine are challenging due to the small tip gap dimensions. Using an optimized optical setup, all three velocity components of the tip gap flow field were resolved while the turbine (1.5 stage low Mach number turbine test rig) was running with 930Hz blade passing frequency at the design point. The measurement results are in good qualitative agreement with numerical flow simulations. The gap flow above the squealer cavity is not homogeneous, but has several flow gradients, which mainly result from the blade tip geometry and the continuity of the flow. Furthermore, the flow structure between two successive rotor blades was resolved yielding the size and shape of the tip leakage vortex downstream at the suction side of the rotor blade in the measurement plane. Consequently, the capabilities of the applied measurement approach opens promising perspectives toward the development of optimum blade tip designs with minimized tip leakage.

scholarly journals Oscillatory Tip Leakage Flows and Stability Enhancement in Axial Compressors

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Feng Lin ◽  
Jingyi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Stability Enhancement ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows ◽  
Casing Treatments

Rotating stall axial compressor is a difficult research field full of controversy. Over the recent decades, the unsteady tip leakage flows had been discovered and confirmed by several research groups independently. This paper summarizes the research experience on unsteady tip leakage flows and stability enhancement in axial flow compressors. The goal is to provide theoretical bases to design casing treatments and tip air injection for stall margin extension of axial compressor. The research efforts cover (1) the tip flow structure at near stall that can explain why the tip leakage flows go unsteady and (2) the computational and experimental evidences that demonstrate the axial momentum playing an important role in unsteady tip leakage flow. It was found that one of the necessary conditions for tip leakage flow to become unsteady is that a portion of the leakage flow impinges onto the pressure side of the neighboring blade near the leading edge. The impediment of the tip leakage flow against the main incoming flow can be measured by the axial momentum balance within the tip range. With the help of the theoretical progress, the applications are extended to various casing treatments and tip air recirculation.

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