Gerald R. Guenette

Active control of rotating stall in a low-speed axial compressor

The onset of rotating stall has been delayed in a low-speed, single-stage, axial research compressor using active feedback control. Control was implemented using a circumferential array of hot wires to sense propagating waves of axial velocity upstream of the compressor. Using this information, additional circumferentially traveling waves were then generated with appropriate phase and amplitude by «wiggling» inlet guide vanes driven by individual actuators. The control scheme considered the wave pattern in terms of the individual spatial Fourier components. A simple proportional control law was implemented for each harmonic. Control of the first spatial harmonic yielded an 11 percent decrease in the stalling mass flow, while control of the first, second, and third harmonics together reduced the stalling mass flow by 23 percent

Active Stabilization of Centrifugal Compressor Surge

Active suppression of centrifugal compressor surge has been demonstrated on a centrifugal compressor equipped with a servo-actuated plenum exit throttle controller. The control scheme is fundamentally different from conventional surge control techniques in that it addresses directly the dynamic behavior of the compression system to displace the surge line to lower mass flows. The method used is to feed back perturbations in plenum pressure rise, in real time, to a fast-acting control valve. The increased aerodynamic damping of incipient oscillations due to the resulting valve motion allows stable operation past the normal surge line. For the compressor used, a 25 percent reduction in the surge point mass flow was achieved over a range of speeds and pressure ratios. Time-resolved measurements during controlled operation revealed that the throttle required relatively little power to suppress the surge oscillations, because the disturbances are attacked in their initial stages. Although designed for operation with small disturbances, the controller was also able to eliminate existing, large-amplitude, surge oscillations. Comparison of experimental results with theoretical predictions showed that a lumped parameter model appeared adequate to represent the behavior of the compression system with the throttle controller and, perhaps more importantly, to be used in the design of more sophisticated control strategies.

Modeling for control of rotating stall

Abstract An analytical model for control of rotating stall has been obtained from the basic fluid equations describing the process at inception. The model describes rotating stall as a traveling wave packet, sensed—in spatial components—via the Fourier decomposition of measurements obtained from a circumferential array of evenly distributed sensors (hot wires) upstream of the compressor. A set of “wiggly” inlet guide vanes (IGVs) equally spaced around the compressor annulus constitute the “forced” part of the model. Control is effected by launching waves at appropriate magnitude and phase, synthesized by spatial Fourier synthesis from individual IGV deflections. The effect of the IGV motion on the unsteady fluid process was quantified via identification experiments carried out on a low speed, single-stage axial research compressor. These experiments served to validate the theoretical model and refine key parameters in it. Further validation of the model was provided by the successful implementation of a complex-valued proportional control law, using a combination of first and second harmonic feedback; this resulted in an 18% reduction of stalling mass flow, at essentially the same pressure rise.

Fully Scaled Transonic Turbine Rotor Heat Transfer Measurements

The heat transfer to an uncooled transonic singlestage turbine has been measured in a short-duration facility, which fully simulates all the nondimensional quantities of interest for fluid flow and heat transfer (Reynolds number, Prandtl number, Rossby number, temperature ratios, and corrected speed and weight flow). Data from heat flux gages about the midspan of the rotor profile, measured from d-c to more than 10 times blade passing frequency (60 kHz), are presented in both time-resolved and mean heat transfer form. These rotating blade data are compared to previously published heat transfer measurements taken at Oxford University on the same profile in a two-dimensional cascade with bar passing to simulate blade row interaction effects. The results are qualitatively quite similar at midspan. The data are also compared to a two-dimensional Navier–Stokes calculation of the blade mean section and the implications for turbine design are discussed.

Comparison of time-resolved turbine rotor blade heat transfer measurements and numerical calculations

Time-resolved turbine rotor blade heat transfer data are compared with ab initio numerical calculations. The data were taken on a transonic, 4-to-1 pressure ratio, uncooled, single-stage turbine in a short-duration turbine test facility. The data consist of the time history of the heat transfer distribution about the rotor chord at midspan. The numerical calculation is a time accurate, two-dimensional, thin shear layer, multiblade row code known as UNSFLO

Design and Test of an Aspirated Counter-Rotating Fan

The design and test of a two-stage, vaneless, aspirated counter-rotating fan is presented in this paper. The fan nominal design objectives were a pressure ratio of 3:1 and adiabatic efficiency of 87%. A pressure ratio of 2.9 at 89% efficiency was measured at the design speed. The configuration consists of a counter-swirl-producing inlet guide vane, followed by a high tip speed (1450 ft/s) nonaspirated rotor and a counter-rotating low speed (1150 ft/s) aspirated rotor. The lower tip speed and lower solidity of the second rotor result in a blade loading above conventional limits, but enable a balance between the shock loss and viscous boundary layer loss; the latter of which can be controlled by aspiration. The aspiration slot on the second rotor suction surface extends from the hub up to 80% span. The bleed flow is discharged inward through the blade hub. This fan was tested in a short duration blowdown facility. Particular attention was given to the design of the instrumentation to measure efficiency to 0.5% accuracy. High response static pressure measurements were taken between the rotors and downstream of the fan to determine the stall behavior. Pressure ratio, mass flow, and efficiency on speed lines from 90% to 102% of the design speed are presented and discussed along with comparison to computational fluid dynamics predictions and design intent. The results presented here complement those presented earlier for two aspirated fan stages with tip shrouds, extending the validated design space for aspirated compressors to include designs with conventional unshrouded rotors and with inward removal of the aspirated flow.

Gas turbine engine durability impacts of high fuel-air ratio combustors: Part II: Near-wall reaction effects on film-cooled heat transfer

As commercial and military aircraft engines approach higher total temperatures and increasing overall fuel-to-air ratios, the potential for significant chemical reactions on a film-cooled surface is enhanced. Currently, there is little basis for understanding the effects on aero-performance and durability due to such secondary reactions. A shock tube experiment was employed to generate short duration, high temperature (1000-2800 K) and pressure (6 atm) flows over a film-cooled flat plate. The test plate contained two sets of 35 deg film cooling holes that could be supplied with different gases, one side using air and the other nitrogen. A mixture of ethylene and argon provided a fuel rich freestream that reacted with the air film resulting in near wall reactions. The relative increase in surface heat flux due to near wall reactions was investigated over a range of fuel levels, momentum blowing ratios (0.5-2.0), and Damkohler numbers (ratio of flow to chemical time scales) from near zero to 30. For high Damkohler numbers, reactions had sufficient time to occur and increased the surface heat flux by 30 percent over the inert cooling side. When these results are appropriately scaled, it is shown that in some situations of interest for gas turbine engine environments significant increases in surface heat flux can be produced due to chemical reactions in the film-cooling layer. It is also shown that the non-dimensional parameters Damkohler number (Da), blowing ratio (B), heat release potential (H*), and scaled heat flux (Q s ) are the appropriate quantities to predict the augmentation in surface heat flux that arises due to secondary reactions.

The MIT blowdown turbine facility

A short duration (0.4 sec) test facility, capable of testing 0.5-meter diameter, film-cooled, high work aircraft turbine stages at rigorously simulated engine conditions has been designed, constructed, and tested. The simulation capability of the facility extends up to 40 atm inlet pressure at 2500°K (4000°F) turbine inlet temperatures. The facility is intended primarily for the exploration of unsteady, three-dimensional fluid mechanics and heat transfer in modern turbine stages.Copyright

Active Control of Rotating Stall in a Low Speed Axial Compressor

The onset of rotating stall has been delayed in a low speed, single-stage, axial research compressor using active feedback control. Control was implemented using a circumferential array of hot wires to sense rotating waves of axial velocity upstream of the compressor. Circumferentially travelling waves were then generated with appropriate phase and amplitude by “wiggling” inlet guide vanes driven by individual actuators. The control scheme considered the wave pattern in terms of the individual spatial Fourier components. A simple proportional control law was implemented for each harmonic. Control of the first spatial harmonic yielded an 11% decrease in the stalling mass flow, while control of the first and second harmonics together reduced the stalling mass flow by 20%. The control system was also used to measure die sine wave response of the compressor, which behaved as would be expected for a second order system.Copyright

Gas Turbine Engine Durability Impacts of High Fuel-Air Ratio Combustors: Part 2 — Near Wall Reaction Effects on Film-Cooled Heat Transfer

As commercial and military aircraft engines approach higher total temperatures and increasing overall fuel-to-air ratios, the potential for significant chemical reactions on a film-cooled surface is enhanced. Currently there is little basis for understanding the effects on aero-performance and durability due to such secondary reactions. A shock tube experiment was employed to generate short duration, high temperature (1000–2800 K) and pressure (6 atm.) flows over a film-cooled flat plate. The test plate contained two sets of 35° film cooling holes that could be supplied with different gases, one side using air and the other nitrogen. A mixture of ethylene and argon provided a fuel rich freestream that reacted with the air film resulting in near wall reactions. The relative increase in surface heat flux due to near wall reactions was investigated over a range of fuel levels, momentum blowing ratios (0.5–2.0), and Damkohler numbers (ratio of flow to chemical time scales) from near zero to 30. For high Damkohler numbers, reactions had sufficient time to occur and increased the surface heat flux by 30 percent over the inert cooling side. When these results are appropriately scaled, it is shown that in some situations of interest for gas turbine engine environments significant increases in surface heat flux can be produced due to chemical reactions in the film-cooling layer. It is also shown that the non-dimensional parameters Damkohler number (Da), blowing ratio (B), heat release potential (H* ), and scaled heat flux (Qs ) are the appropriate quantities to predict the augmentation in surface heat flux that arises due to secondary reactions.Copyright