Armin Zemp

Unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation on Inlet Distortion in a Centrifugal Compressor

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions as conditioned in the inlet section by duct bends, struts, or inlet guide vanes. This paper presents the computational part of a research effort that focuses on the blade forced response in a centrifugal compressor. Unsteady fluid flow simulations are used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to inlet flow distortion. The measured inlet flow distribution is applied as inlet boundary conditions in the computation. The unsteady investigation provided the temporal evolution of the distorted flow through the compressor. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the inlet distortion. The results suggest that the forcing function is most sensitive in the leading edge region due to inlet angle variations. Toward the impeller stability line the increase in incidence caused separation on the suction side of the main blade and therefore considerably altered the amplitude and the phase angle of the unsteadiness. The investigation of the effect of idealizing the inlet flow distribution on the forcing function showed an increase in the peak amplitude of approximately 30% compared with the actual inlet flow distribution.

Unsteady CFD Investigation on Inlet Distortion in a Centrifugal Compressor

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions as conditioned in the inlet section by duct bends, struts or inlet guide vanes. This paper presents the computational part of a research effort that focuses on the blade forced response in a centrifugal compressor. Unsteady fluid flow simulations are used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to inlet flow distortion. The measured inlet flow distribution is applied as inlet boundary conditions in the computation. The unsteady investigation provided the temporal evolution of the distorted flow through the compressor. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the inlet distortion. The results suggest that the forcing function is most sensitive in the leading edge region due to inlet angle variations. Towards the impeller stability line the increase in incidence caused separation on the suction side of the main blade and therefore considerably altered the amplitude and the phase angle of the unsteadiness. The investigation of the effect of idealizing the inlet flow distribution on the forcing function showed an increase of the peak amplitude of approximately 30% compared to the actual inlet flow distribution.Copyright

Numerical study of the heat transfer effect on a centrifugal compressor performance

This paper presents a study of the heat transfer influence on the centrifugal compressor performance. The compressor studied in this paper is based on the scale-up of a turbocharger compressor equipped with a shroudless impeller. To account for the heat transfer effect, a conjugate heat transfer analysis is performed with computational fluid dynamics techniques. The heat transfer phenomena not only externally but also internally are investigated at the design point. The grids adopted in the study are verified at the baseline, with an excellent agreement found between numerical simulations and measurements. The results provide an insight into the dependence of the heat transfer influences on the heat flux paths. The path of the external heat flux passing through the impeller shaft is found to have a great impact on the compressor performance. The study of internal heat transfer shows that the shroud surface dominates the internal heat transfer effect on the efficiency loss. Furthermore, the heat transfer influence is also investigated on the compressor performance at other operating points. The results imply a positive potential margin for the improvement of compressor efficiency by means of heat transfer control.

Experimental Investigation of Forced Response Impeller Blade Vibration in a Centrifugal Compressor With Variable Inlet Guide Vanes: Part 1—Blade Damping

Forming the first part of a two-part paper, the quantification of the resonant response levels and the damping quantities for a centrifugal compressor impeller with variable inlet guide vanes under engine representative operating conditions is detailed in this work. The motivation for the investigation is the lack of experimental data that are needed to improve and validate computational tools used during the design phase. Measurements were performed during resonant blade vibrations with the inlet pressure, the inlet guide vane angle and the operating point as the varying parameters. The flow non-uniformity introduced into the inlet flow field was measured with an aerodynamic probe. These measurements showed an increase in flow distortion for increased guide vane angles. The response amplitudes were acquired with dynamic strain gauges. A curve-fit method was applied to estimate the critical damping ratios. The results showed a linear correlation of the aerodynamic damping with the inlet pressure. The mode dependent material damping was therefore derived using a linear extrapolation to vacuum conditions of the inlet pressure dependent overall damping. The resonant blade dynamics could be captured with a single degree of freedom model. The aerodynamic damping and the maximum strain response were found to significantly depend on the inlet guide vane angle setting and on the throttle setting of the compressor.Copyright

Modeling the bending vibration of cross-laminated timber beams

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an economical construction material combining good structural properties and environmental advantages. Due to the layered geometry and the associated internal stress boundary conditions, modelling its dynamic behavior is complex. However, accurate vibration level estimations are necessary to estimate the sound insulation performance of CLT constructions. This paper outlines a method to determine the relevant elastic constants and the appropriate equations of motion to predict the vibration of beams cut from a three-ply CLT plate. Modal analysis performed on strips cut along the two principal directions provides insight in the material’s dynamics. The bending mode frequencies are determined experimentally by analyzing the sweep response spectrum using the linear prediction method. In a second step, analytical beam vibration models of increasing complexity are fitted to the measurements using a genetic optimization algorithm. Thin beam theory—the simplest model—does not predict the bending modes with sufficient accuracy. Depending on the strip direction, the bending vibrations can be modeled using Timoshenko’s theory for thick beams, or by a model for three layer sandwich beams respectively. The results show that taking the beam geometry into account is as important as estimating the orthotropic material constants to model the bending modes properly.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Unsteady Flow Field in a Vaned Diffuser of a High-Speed Centrifugal Compressor

Vaned diffusers in centrifugal compressor stages are used to achieve higher stage pressure ratios, higher stage efficiencies and more compact designs. The interaction of the stationary diffuser with the impeller can lead to resonant vibration with potentially devastating effects. This paper presents unsteady diffuser vane surface pressure measurements using in-house developed, flush mounted, fast response piezo-resistive pressure transducers. The unsteady pressures were recorded for 9 operating conditions, covering a wide range of the compressor map. Experimental work was complemented by 3D unsteady CFD simulations using ANSYS CFX V12.1 to detail the unsteady diffuser aerodynamics. Pressure fluctuations of up to 34.4% of the inlet pressure were found. High pressure variations are present all along the vane and are not restricted to the leading edge region. Frequency analysis of the measured vane surface pressures show that reduced impeller loading and the corresponding reduction of tip leakage fluid changes the characteristics of the fluctuations from a main blade count to a total blade count. The unsteady pressure fluctuations in the diffuser originate from three distinct locations. The impact of the jet wake flow leaving the impeller results in high variation close to the leading edge. It was observed that CFD results overpredicted the amplitude of the pressure fluctuation on average by 62%.Copyright

Vaned Diffuser Induced Impeller Blade Vibrations in a High-Speed Centrifugal Compressor

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades typically originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions. This paper presents the experimental and computational results of a research effort focusing on the blade forced response in a high-speed centrifugal compressor caused by the downstream vaned diffuser. The potential field from the downstream vaned diffuser acts as an unsteady impeller relative circumferentially nonuniform disturbance. In this work the effect of varying the radial gap between impeller exit and diffuser vane leading edges was examined. Dynamic strain gauges, which were installed on the blade surfaces, were used to measure the forced response levels of the blades and to estimate the damping properties for different compressor operating conditions and vane-less gap dimensions. Unsteady fluid flow simulations were used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to impeller-diffuser interaction. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the diffuser’s potential field. The magnitude of the vibratory stress levels was found to depend on the radial gap size, the blade damping properties and on the compressor operating point. The variation of the radial gap size resulted in a shift of the impeller-diffuser interaction zone towards the main blade leading edge by up to 5% of the stream-wise location.Copyright

Experimental Investigation of Forced Response Impeller Blade Vibration in a Centrifugal Compressor With Variable Inlet Guide Vanes: Part 2—Forcing Function and FSI Computations

As the second part of a two-part paper, this paper presents an experimental investigation of forced response impeller blade vibrations in a centrifugal compressor stage caused by variable inlet guide vanes. Although it is common practice to experimentally test the forced response blade vibration behavior of new impeller designs in terms of strain gauge or tip-timing measurements, the impact of the unsteady blade pressure distribution acting as an unsteady load on the blade surfaces is still not known. A centrifugal compressor impeller was therefore instrumented with dynamic strain gauges and fast-response pressure transducers to measure the forcing of the impeller blades for different compressor operating points and various inlet guide vane angle settings. The results showed a decrease in the excitation amplitudes for reduced mass flow rates of the compressor stage. The inlet guide vane angle setting affected the convection speed of the distortion pattern along the blade surface. An increase in the negative inlet guide vane angle caused higher excitation amplitudes especially in the inducer part of the blade. However, the largest negative inlet guide vane setting caused the smallest excitation amplitudes as this setup introduced the smallest amount of inlet distortion to the inlet flow field. A series of unidirectional fluid structure interaction calculations was performed to show the limitations and requirements of today’s numerical tools.Copyright

Numerical analysis on applicability of measurement method according to ISO 16283 in small rooms at low frequencies

The robustness of the new measurement method for sound pressure level in small rooms with less than 25 m3 room volume at low frequencies from 50 Hz to 80 Hz that was recently introduced in the ISO 16283 series on sound insulation measurements in buildings was investigated in an experimental study. This restricted study revealed some potential problems with the method that were already presented, but unfortunately, a further experimental investigation was not possible because of the time- and labor-intensiveness of the conducted experiments. Now the sound level distribution in the room was predicted with a simple analytical modal model and an excellent agreement with the available experimental results was found. With the prediction model, it was possible to refine the results of the experimental study, to extend it to other room geometries, and to revisit and to analyze the identified potential problems on a much more detailed and broader database. In the conference paper, the experimental study and its ou...

Low frequency bandgaps in lightweight metamaterial panels using rotation inertia multiplication

Of all possible features of structural metamaterials, the formation of bandgaps is the most studied one due to its direct application for sound and vibration isolation. While achieving low frequency values for the position of the first bandgap is, in general terms, not an unsurmountable challenge, the combination of material properties such as high stiffness, low density, and reduced size of the unit cell, with low (in absolute terms) frequency bandgaps, may well require some careful consideration. In previous work, we designed panels with a 3D network of resonators, clearly improving the vibration isolation compared to a homogeneous panel with the same weight. Recently, we have devised a novel implementation of inertia amplification, based on coupling the energy of longitudinal waves into the rotational oscillation of inertia elements within the unit cell. In this contribution, we present examples of phononic crystals based on this approach, and we discuss the interaction of acoustic waves with the discu...