Richard B. Rivir

The Many Faces of Turbine Surface Roughness

Results are presented for contact stylus measurements of surface roughness on in-service turbine blades and vanes. Nearly 100 turbine components were assembled from four land-based turbine manufacturers. Both coated and uncoated, cooled and uncooled components were measured, with part sizes varying from 2 to 20 cm. Spanwise and chordwise two-dimensional roughness profiles were taken on both pressure and suction surfaces. Statistical computations were performed on each trace to determine centerline averaged roughness, rms roughness, and peak to-valley height. In addition, skewness and kurtosis were calculated; as well as the autocorrelation length and dominant harmonics in each trace. Extensive three-dimensional surface maps made of deposits, pitting, erosion, and coating spallation expose unique features for each roughness type. Significant spatial variations are evidenced and transitions from rough to smooth surface conditions are shown to be remarkably abrupt in some cases. Film cooling sites are shown to be particularly prone to surface degradation.

Turbine Separation Control Using Pulsed Vortex Generator Jets

The application of pulsed vortex generator jets to control separation on the suction surface of a low-pressure turbine blade is reported. Blade Reynolds numbers in the experimental, linear turbine cascade match those for high-altitude aircraft engines and aft stages of industrial turbine engines with elevated turbine inlet temperatures. The vortex generator jets have a 30 deg pitch and a 90 deg skew to the free-stream direction. Jet flow oscillations up to 100 Hz are produced using a high-frequency solenoid feed valve. Results are compared to steady blowing at jet blowing ratios less than 4 and at two chordwise positions upstream of the nominal separation zone. Results show that pulsed vortex generator jets produce a bulk flow effect comparable to that of steady jets with an order of magnitude less massflow. Boundary layer traverses and blade static pressure distributions show that separation is almost completely eliminated with the application of unsteady blowing. Reductions of over 50 percent in the wake loss profile of the controlled blade were measured. Experimental evidence suggests that the mechanism for unsteady control lies in the starting and ending transitions of the pulsing cycle rather than the injected jet stream itself. Boundary layer spectra support this conclusion and highlight significant differences between the steady and unsteady control techniques. The pulsed vortex generator jets are effective at both chordwise injection locations tested (45 and 63 percent axial chord) covering a substantial portion of the blade suction surface. This insensitivity to injection location bodes well for practical application of pulsed VGJ control where the separation location may not be accurately known a priori.

The fluid dynamics of LPT blade separation control using pulsed jets

The effects of pulsed vortex generator jets on a naturally separating low-pressure turbine boundary layer have been investigated experimentally. Blade Reynolds numbers in the linear turbine cascade match those for high-altitude aircraft engines and industrial turbine engines with elevated turbine inlet temperatures. The vortex generator jets (30 deg pitch and 90 deg skew angle) are pulsed over a wide range of frequency at constant amplitude and selected duty cycles. The resulting wake loss coefficient versus pulsing frequency data add to previously presented work by the authors documenting the loss dependency on amplitude and duty cycle. As in the previous studies, vortex generator jets are shown to be highly effective in controlling laminar boundary layer separation. This is found to be true at dimensionless forcing frequencies (F + ) well below unity and with low (10 percent) duty cycles. This unexpected low-frequency effectiveness is due to the relatively long relaxation time of the boundary layer as it resumes its separated state. Extensive phase-locked velocity measurements taken in the blade wake at an F of 0.01 with 50 percent duty cycle (a condition at which the flow is essentially quasi-steady) document the ejection of bound vorticity associated with a low-momentum fluid packet at the beginning of each jet pulse. Once this initial fluid event has swept down the suction surface of the blade, a reduced wake signature indicates the presence of an attached boundary layer until just after the jet termination. The boundary layer subsequently relaxes back to its naturally separated state. This relaxation occurs on a timescale which is five to six times longer than the original attachment due to the starting vortex. Phase-locked boundary layer measurements taken at various stations along the blade chord illustrate this slow relaxation phenomenon. This behavior suggests that some economy of jet flow may be possible by optimizing the pulse duty cycle and frequency for a particular application. At higher pulsing frequencies, for which the flow is fully dynamic, the boundary layer is dominated by periodic shedding and separation bubble migration, never recovering its fully separated (uncontrolled) state.

Control of Low-Pressure Turbine Separation Using Vortex-Generator Jets

The application of vortex-generator jets to control separation on the suction surface of a low-pressure turbine blade is reported. Blade Reynolds numbers in the experimental, linear turbine cascade match those for high-altitude operation of many aircraft gas-turbine engines, as well as the last stages of industrial ground-based gas turbines. Results are presented for steady blowing at jet blowing ratios from zero to four and at several chordwise positions and two freestream turbulence levels. Findings show that above a minimum blowing ratio, which is dependant on the injection location, the pressure loss in the modified blades wake is reduced by a factor of between two and three. Boundary-layer traverses show that separation is almost completely eliminated with the application of blowing. No significant deleterious effects of vortex-generator jets are observed at higher (nonseparating) Reynolds numbers. The addition of 4% freestream turbulence to the cascade freestream lowers the separation Reynolds number of the turbine blade studied, but does not eliminate the effectiveness of the control technique. The vortex-generator jet control strategy is demonstrated to be a viable technique for low-pressure turbine separation control.

Boundary Layer Flow Control Using AC Discharge Plasma Actuators

in measuring the eect of an AC discharge plasma actuator on a boundary layer flow. Flow visualization and PIV measurements are made over a range of tunnel speeds and excitation frequencies and powers. Results show that the flow is accelerated in the immediate vicinity of the plasma actuator and generating a turbulent jet downstream of the device, with increased mass flow obtained from a sink-like source upstream. Profiles of velocity and velocity fluctuations reveal increases in velocity and Reynolds stresses within the jet in the near wall viscous region. The net result is in increased momentum and a thinner boundary layer downstream of the actuator. The flow control is then applied to separated flow over a low pressure turbine blade at low Re; separation is completely eliminated in all cases examined.

A Transient Infrared Thermography Method for Simultaneous Film Cooling Effectiveness and Heat Transfer Coefficient Measurements From a Single Test

In film cooling situations, there is a need to determine both local adiabatic wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient to fully assess the local heat flux into the surface. Typical film cooling situations are termed three temperature problems where the complex interaction between the jets and mainstream dictates the surface temperature. The coolant temperature is much cooler than the mainstream resulting in a mixed temperature in the film region downstream of injection. An infrared thermography technique using a transient surface temperature acquisition is described which determines both the heat transfer coefficient and film effectiveness (nondimensional adiabatic wall temperature) from a single test. Hot mainstream and cooler air injected through discrete holes are imposed suddenly on an ambient temperature surface and the wall temperature response is captured using infrared thermography. The wall temperature and the known mainstream and coolant temperatures are used to determine the two unknowns (the heat transfer coefficient and film effectiveness) at every point on the test surface. The advantage of this technique over existing techniques is the ability to obtain the information using a single transient test. Transient liquid crystal techniques have been one of the standard techniques for determining h and η for turbine film cooling for several years. Liquid crystal techniques do not account for nonuniform initial model temperatures while the transient IR technique measures the entire initial model distribution. The transient liquid crystal technique is very sensitive to the angle of illumination and view while the IR technique is not. The IR technique is more robust in being able to take measurements over a wider temperature range which improves the accuracy of h and η. The IR requires less intensive calibration than liquid crystal techniques. Results are presented for film cooling downstream of a single hole on a turbine blade leading edge model.

The Effect of High Free-Stream Turbulence on Film Cooling Effectiveness

This study investigated the adiabatic wall cooling effectiveness of a single row of film cooling holes injecting into a turbulent flat plate boundary layer below a turbulent, zero pressure gradient free stream. Levels of free-stream turbulence (Tu) up to 17.4 percent were generated using a method that simulates conditions at a gas turbine combustor exit. Film cooling was injected from a single row of five 35 deg slant-hole injectors (length/diameter = 3.5, pitch/diameter = 3.0) at blowing ratios from 0.55 to 1.85 and at a nearly constant density ratio (coolant density/free-stream density) of 0.95. Film cooling effectiveness data are presented for Tu levels ranging from 0.9 to 17 percent at a constant free-stream Reynolds number based on injection hole diameter of 19,000. Results show that elevated levels of free-stream turbulence reduce film cooling effectiveness by up to 70 percent in the region directly downstream of the injection hole due to enhanced mixing. At the same time, high free-stream turbulence also produces a 50--100 percent increase in film cooling effectiveness in the region between injection holes. This is due to accelerated spanwise diffusion of the cooling fluid, which also produces an earlier merger of the coolant jets from adjacent holes.

Turbine Blade Surface Deterioration by Erosion

This paper presents the results of a combined experimental and computational research program to investigate turbine vane and blade material surface deterioration caused by solid particle impacts. Tests are conducted in the erosion wind tunnel for coated and uncoated blade materials at various impact conditions. Surface roughness measurements obtained prior and subsequent to the erosion tests are used to characterize the change in roughness caused by erosion. Numerical simulations for the three-dimensional flow field and particle trajectories through a low-pressure gas turbine are employed to determine the particle impact conditions with stator vanes and rotor blades using experimentally based particle restitution models. Experimental results are presented for the measured blade material/coating erosion and surface roughness. The measurements indicate that both erosion and surface roughness increase with impact angle and particle size. Computational results are presented for the particle trajectories through the first stage of a low-pressure turbine of a high bypass turbofan engine. The trajectories indicate that the particles impact the vane pressure surface and the aft part of the suction surface. The impacts reduce the particle momentum through the stator but increase it through the rotor. Vane and blade surface erosion patterns are predicted based on the computed trajectories and the experimentally measured blade coating erosion characteristics.

Effect of Jet Pulsation and Duty Cycle on Film Cooling From a Single Jet on a Leading Edge Model

The effect of jet pulsation and duty cycle on film effectiveness and heat transfer was investigated on a film hole located on the circular leading edge of a blunt body. A transient infrared technique was used to measure both heat transfer coefficients and film effectiveness from a single test. Detailed Frossling number and film effectiveness distributions were obtained for all flow conditions. Jet pulsing frequencies of 5 Hz, 10 Hz, and 20 Hz have been studied. The effect of duty cycle created by the valve opening and closing times was also set at different levels of 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% of designated 100% fully open condition for different blowing ratios from 0.25 to 2.0. The combination of pulse frequency and duty cycle was investigated for different blowing ratios on a single leading edge hole located at 22 deg from geometric leading edge. Results indicate that higher effectiveness and lower heat transfer coefficients are obtained at the reduced blowing ratios, which result from reduced duty cycles. The effect of varying the pulsing frequency from 5 Hz to 20 Hz is not discernable beyond the level of experimental uncertainty. Effective blowing ratio due to lowering of the duty cycle at a given blowing ratio seems to play a more important role in combination with pulsing, which provides improved cooling effectiveness at lower heat transfer coefficients.

Measurements in a Turbine Cascade Flow Under Ultra Low Reynolds Number Conditions

With the new generation of gas turbine engines, low Reynolds number flows have become increasingly important. Designers must properly account for transition from laminar to turbulent flow and separation of the flow from the suction surface, which is strongly dependent upon transition. Of interest to industry are Reynolds numbers based upon suction surface length and flow exit velocity below 150,000 and as low as 25,000. In this paper, the extreme low end of this Reynolds number range is documented by way of pressure distributions, loss coefficients, and identification of separation zones. Reynolds numbers of 25,000 and 50,000 and with 1 percent and 8-9 percent turbulence intensity of the approach flow (free-stream turbulence intensity, FSTI) were investigated. At 25,000 Reynolds number and low FSTI, the suction surface displayed a strong and steady separation region. Raising the turbulence intensity resulted in a very unsteady separation region of nearly the same size on the suction surface. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface, but they appeared to do very little at this Reynolds number. At the higher Reynolds number of 50,000, the low-FSTI case was strongly separated on the downstream portion of the suction surface. The separation zone was eliminated when the turbulence level was increased to 8-9 percent. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface of the low-FSTI case. In this instance, the vortices were able to provide the mixing needed to re-establish flow attachment. This paper shows that massive separation at very low Reynolds numbers (25,000) is persistent, in spite of elevated FSTI and added vortices. However, at a higher Reynolds number, there is opportunity for flow reattachment either with elevated free-stream turbulence or with added vortices. This may be the first documentation of flow behavior at such low Reynolds numbers. Although it is undesirable to operate under these conditions, it is important to know what to expect and how performance may be improved if such conditions are unavoidable.