Radial Variation in Distortion Transfer and Generation in a Highly Loaded Fan Stage From Near-Stall to Choke

Author(s):  
Daniel R. Soderquist ◽  
Andrew D. Orme ◽  
Steven E. Gorrell ◽  
Michael G. List

Abstract Understanding distortion transfer and generation through fan and compressor blade rows is able to assist in blade design and performance prediction. Using full annulus URANS simulations, the effects of distortion as it passes through the rotor of a transonic fan at five radial locations (10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 90% span) are analyzed. The inlet distortion profile is a 90-degree sector with a 15% total pressure deficit. Fourier distortion descriptors are used in this study to quantitatively describe distortion transfer and generation. Results are presented and compared for three operating points (near-stall, design, and choke). These results are used to explain the relationship between inlet total pressure distortion, pressure-induced swirl, total pressure distortion transfer, total temperature distortion generation, and circumferential rotor power variation. It is shown that very large changes in pressure-induced swirl and distortion transfer and generation occur between near-stall and design, but only small changes are seen between design and choke. The greatest changes are shown to be near the tip. Local power variations are shown to correlate with total pressure distortion transfer and total temperature distortion generation.

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Sun ◽  
Guotal Feng

A time-accurate three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver of the unsteady flow field in a transonic fan was carried out using "Fluent-parallel" in a parallel supercomputer. The numerical simulation focused on a transonic fan with inlet square wave total pressure distortion and the analysis of result consisted of three aspects. The first was about inlet parameters redistribution and outlet total temperature distortion induced by inlet total pressure distortion. The pattern and causation of flow loss caused by pressure distortion in rotor were analyzed secondly. It was found that the influence of distortion was different at different radial positions. In hub area, transportation-loss and mixing-loss were the main loss patterns. Distortion not only complicated them but enhanced them. Especially in stator, inlet total pressure distortion induced large-scale vortex, which produced backflow and increased the loss. While in casing area, distortion changed the format of shock wave and increased the shock loss. Finally, the format of shock wave and the hysteresis of rotor to distortion were analyzed in detail.


Author(s):  
Hossein Khaleghi ◽  
Reza Jalaly

Half-annulus unsteady numerical simulations have been conducted with a 60-deg total pressure circumferential distortion in a transonic axial-flow fan. The effects of inlet distortion on the performance, stability and flow field of the test case are investigated and analyzed. Results show that the incidence angles are reduced when the blades are entering into the distorted region. Conversely, distortion increases the incidence angles onto the blades when they are leaving the distorted section. Results further reveal that the time-averaged flow field at the tip of the blade is similar with and without distortion. However, the distortion applied is found to have detrimental effects on both the stability and performance. The impacts of both annular and discrete tip injection on the endwall flow field are further studied in the current work. It is shown that endwall injection reduces the incidence angles onto the blades. Consequently, the passage shock and the leakage flow are pushed rearward, which postpones stall initiation.


Author(s):  
Peng Sun ◽  
Jingjun Zhong ◽  
Guotai Feng

The performance and stability of a fan in clean and distorted inlet flow can be improved through the use of bowed stator blades. Measurements between the blade rows in transonic and supersonic flow are too complex to provide any useful insights, so 3D flow simulations are required. In this paper, a time-accurate three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver of the unsteady flow field in a transonic fan is carried out using “Fluent-parallel” in a parallel supercomputer. Two sets of simulations are performed. The first simulation focuses on a better understanding of inlet total pressure distortion effects on a transonic fan. The second set of numerical simulation aims at studying the improvements of fan performance made by bowed stator blades. Three aspects are contained in this paper. The first is about the distortion effects on characteristics of the fan stage with straight stator. The effects of bowed stator on fan performance with inlet distortion are demonstrated secondly. One hand bowed stator increases the loss in rotor. On the other hand, it reduces the flow loss in stator. Finally, the patterns of flow loss caused by total pressure distortion with straight/bowed stator are compared. The scale of vortex in stator induced by inlet total pressure distortion is weakened by bowed blades, which decreases the stator loss.


Author(s):  
David B. Weston ◽  
Steven E. Gorrell ◽  
Matthew L. Marshall ◽  
Carol V. Wallis

Inlet distortion is an important consideration in fan performance. The focus of this paper is a series of high-fidelity time accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of a multistage fan at choke, design, and near stall operating conditions. These investigate distortion transfer and generation as well as the underlying flow physics of these phenomena under different operating conditions. The simulations are performed on the full annulus of a 3 stage fan and are analyzed. The code used to carry out these simulations is a modified version of OVERFLOW 2.2. The inlet is specified as a 1/rev total pressure distortion. Analysis includes the phase and amplitude of total temperature and pressure distortion through each stage of the fan and blade loading. The total pressure distortion does not change in severity through the fan, but the peak pressure distortion rotates by as much as 45° at the near stall point. This is due to a variation in the work input around the blades of the rotor. This variation is also responsible for the generation of total temperature distortion in the fan. The rotation of the total temperature distortion becomes more pronounced as the fan approaches stall, and the total temperature distortion levels increase. The amount of work performed by a single blade can vary by as much as 25% in the first stage at near stall. The variation in work becomes more pronounced as the fan approaches stall. The passage shock in the rotor blades moves nearly 20% of the blade chord in both the peak efficiency and near stall cases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mithilesh Rajendrakumar ◽  
Manu Vyas ◽  
Prashant Deshpande ◽  
Bommaian Balasubramanian ◽  
Kevin Shepherd

Abstract When a gas-turbine engine is in operation, inlet-generated total-pressure distortion can have a detrimental effect on engine’s stability and performance. During the product development life cycle, on-ground wind tunnel tests and in-flight tests are performed to estimate the inlet distortion characteristics. Extensive measures are taken in the preparation and execution of inlet distortion tests. The data pertaining to spatial inlet distortion is recorded using an array of high-response total-pressure probes. The pressure probes are usually arranged in rake and ring arrays as per AIR1419. The data from these probes is used by propulsion system designers to address the effects of inlet distortion on stability and performance, particularly the engine’s sensitivity to inlet distortion. In some instances, the probes can produce inaccurate measurements or no measurements at all, due to a variety of reasons. This may result in a time consuming and costly process of repeating the test. To avoid this, the inaccurate or invalid measurements can be substituted using a variety of statistical techniques during test data post-processing. This paper discusses the results of different interpolation techniques to substitute invalid steady-state total-pressure measurements, evaluated in the context of classical distortion profile data available in AIR1419. The techniques include 1D linear interpolation using only probes data from adjacent rings, 1D linear interpolation using only probes data from adjacent rakes, and bilinear interpolation using probes data from adjacent rings and rakes. Furthermore, the paper evaluates a bilinear interpolation technique with optimal weights obtained from linear regression, that enhances the estimation of invalid pressure values.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jixian Yao ◽  
Steven E. Gorrell ◽  
Aspi R. Wadia

Part I of this paper validated the ability of the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver PTURBO to accurately simulate distortion transfer and generation through selected blade rows of two multistage fans. In this part, unsteady RANS calculations were successfully applied to predict the 1/rev inlet total pressure distortion transfer in the entirety of two differently designed multistage fans. This paper demonstrates that high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used early in the design process for verification purposes before hardware is built and can be used to reduce the number of distortion tests, hence reducing engine development cost. The unsteady RANS code PTURBO demonstrated remarkable agreement with the data, accurately capturing both the magnitude and the profile of total pressure and total temperature measurements. Detailed analysis of the flow physics identified from the CFD results has led to a thorough understanding of the total temperature distortion generation and transfer mechanism, especially for the spatial phase difference of total pressure and total temperature profiles. The analysis illustrates that the static parameters are more revealing than their stagnation counterpart and that pressure and temperature rise are more revealing while the pressure and temperature ratio could be misleading. The last stage is effectively throttled by the inlet distortion even though the overall engine throttle remains unchanged. The total temperature distortion generally grows as flow passes through the fan stages.


Author(s):  
Jixian Yao ◽  
Steven E. Gorrell ◽  
Aspi R. Wadia

Part I of the paper validated the ability of the Unsteady RANS solve Pturbo to accurately simulate distortion transfer and generation through selected blade rows of two multistage fans. In part II, unsteady RANS calculations were successfully applied to predict the one-per-rev inlet total pressure distortion transfer in the entirety of two differently designed multistage fans. This paper demonstrates that Hi-Fi CFD can be used early in the design process for verification purposes before hardware is built, and can be used to reduce the number of distortion tests, hence reducing engine development cost. The unsteady RANS code Pturbo demonstrated remarkable agreement with data, accurately capturing both the magnitude and profile of total pressure and total temperature measurements. Detailed analysis of the flow physics identified from the CFD results has led to a thorough understanding of the total temperature distortion generation and transfer mechanism, especially for the spatial phase difference of total pressure and total temperature profiles. The analysis illustrates that the static parameters are more revealing than their stagnation counterpart and that pressure and temperature rise are more revealing while the pressure and temperature ratio could be misleading. The last stage is effectively throttled by the inlet distortion even though the overall engine throttle remains unchanged. The total temperature distortion generally grows as flow passes through the fan stages.


Author(s):  
Werner Jahnen ◽  
Thomas Peters ◽  
Leonhard Fottner

Unsteady measurements of the flow and performance of a high speed 5-stage HP compressor have been carried out at different speeds under undistorted conditions and with swirl and total pressure inlet distortions. Distributions of incidence and diffusion factor have been derived from the test data which, together with hot-wire measurements of stall inception, provide new insights into the onset of stall with inlet distortion. A stall cell initiates as a disturbance in the distorted flow sector, which may decay as it passes through the undistorted sector. Stall inception occurs only when the damping of the disturbance in the undistorted sector is insufficient to prevail its growth. As this damping depends on the size of the disturbance, the Parallel Compressor model, based on the linear stability properties of the undistorted compressor alone, is unable to predict the stall inception with inlet distortion.


Author(s):  
Jixian Yao ◽  
Steven E. Gorrell ◽  
Aspi R. Wadia

Demands for improved performance and operability of advanced propulsion systems require an understanding of the physics of inlet flow distortion transfer and generation and the subsequent engine response. This also includes developing a high-fidelity characterization capability and suitable tools/rules for the design of distortion tolerant engines. This paper describes efforts to establish a high-fidelity prediction capability of distortion transfer and fan response via high-performance computing. The current CFD capability was evaluated with a focus of predicting the transfer of prescribed inlet flow distortions. Numerical simulations, comparison to experimental data, and analysis of two selected three-stage fans are presented. The unsteady RANS code Pturbo demonstrated remarkable agreement with data, accurately capturing both the magnitude and profile of total pressure and total temperature measurements. Part I of the paper describes the establishment of the required numerical simulation procedures. The computational domains are limited to the first three blade rows for the first multistage fan and the last three blade rows for the second fan. The paper presents initial validation and analysis of the total pressure distortion transfer and the total temperature distortion generation. Based on the established ground work of Part I, the entire two multi-stage fans were simulated with inlet distortion at normal operating condition and near stall condition, which is part II of the paper. Part II presents the full range validation against engine test data, and in-depth analysis of distortion transfer and generation mechanisms through out the two fans.


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