Liangjun Hu

Understanding of the Interaction between Clearance Leakage Flow and Main Passage Flow in a VGT Turbine

The clearance flow between the nozzle and endwall in a variable geometry turbine (VGT) has been numerically investigated to understand the clearance effect on the VGT performance and internal flow. It was found that the flow rate through turbine increases but the turbine efficiency decreases with height of clearance. Detailed flow field analyses indicated that most of the efficiency loss resulting from the leakage flow occurs at the upstream of the rotor area, that is, in the nozzle endwall clearance and between the nozzle vanes. There are two main mechanisms associated with this efficiency loss. One is due to the formation of the local vortex flow structure between the clearance flow and the main flow. The other is due to the impact of the clearance flow on the main flow after the nozzle throat. This impact reduces the span of shockwave with increased shockwave magnitude by changing the trajectory of the main flow.

Steady State Engine Test Demonstration of Performance Improvement With an Advanced Turbocharger

Heavy EGR required on diesel engines for future emission regulation compliance has posed a big challenge to conventional turbocharger technology for high efficiency and wide operation range. This study, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored research program, is focused on advanced turbocharger technologies that can improve turbocharger efficiency on customer driving cycles while extending the operation range significantly, compared to a production turbocharger. The production turbocharger for a medium-duty truck application was selected as a donor turbo. Design optimizations were focused on the compressor impeller and turbine wheel. On the compressor side, advanced impeller design with arbitrary surface can improve the efficiency and surge margin at the low end while extending the flow capacity, while a so-called active casing treatment can provide additional operation range extension without compromising compressor efficiency. On the turbine side, mixed flow turbine technology was revisited with renewed interest due to its performance characteristics, i.e., high efficiency at low-speed ratio, relative to the base conventional radial flow turbine, which is relevant to heavy EGR operation for future diesel applications. The engine dynamometer test shows that the advanced turbocharger technology enables over 3% BSFC improvement at part-load as well as full-load condition, in addition to an increase in rated power. The performance improvement demonstrated on an engine dynamometer seems to be more than what would typically be translated from the turbocharger flow bench data, indicating that mixed flow turbine may provide additional performance benefits under pulsed exhaust flow on an internal combustion engine and in the low-speed ratio areas that are typically not covered by steady state flow bench tests.

An Engine System Approach to Improve Turbocharger Fatigue Life

The ultimate goal of an advanced turbocharger development is to have a superior aerodynamic performance while having the turbocharger survive various real world customer applications. Due to the uncertainty of customer usage and driving pattern, the fatigue life prediction is considered one of the most ambiguous analyses in the entire design and analyses processes of the turbocharger. The turbocharger system may have various resonant frequencies, which may be within the range of turbocharger operation for automotive applications. A turbocharger may operate with excessive stresses when running near resonant frequencies. The turbocharger may experience fatigue failures if the accumulative cycles of the turbocharger running across the resonant frequencies exceeds a certain limit.In this study, the authors propose an alternative approach to mitigate this kind of fatigue issues: i.e. engine system approach to improve turbocharger fatigue life via avoiding operating the turbocharger near resonant speeds for extended period of time. A preliminary numerical study was made and presented in this paper to assess the feasibility of such an engine system approach, which is followed by an engine dynamometer test for engine performance sensitivity evaluation when the turbocharger operation condition was adjusted to improve the high cycle fatigue life. The study shows that for a modern diesel engine equipped with electrically controlled variable geometry turbine and EGR for emission control, through the engine calibration and control upgrade, turbocharger operation speed can be altered to stay away from certain critical speeds if necessary.The combined 1D and 3D numerical simulation shows the bandwidth of the turbine “risk zone” near one of the resonant speeds and the potential impact on engine performances if the turbocharger speed has to be shifted out of the “risk zone.”© 2014 ASME