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Sondak, Douglas L.

Publications and source records attributed to Sondak, Douglas L..

13 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

CFD Computation of Broadband Fan Interaction Noise

In this study, a 3-D, unsteady, Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes CFD code coupled to an acoustic calculation is used to predict the contribution of the exit guide vanes to broadband fan noise. The configuration investigated is that corresponding to the NASA Source Diagnostic Test (SDT) 22-in fan rig. Then an acoustic model introduced by Nallasamy which is based on 2-D strip theory is used to compute the broadband rotor-stator interaction noise. One configuration from the SDT matrix is considered here: the fan speed correlating to approach, and outlet guide vane count designed for cut-off of the blade passage frequency. Thus, in the chosen configuration, there are 22 rotor blades and 54 stator blades. The stators are located 2.5 tip chords downstream of the rotor trailing edge. The RANS computations are used to obtain the spectra of the unsteady surface pressure on the exit guide vanes. This surface pressure is then integrated together with the Green's function for and infinite cylindrical duct to obtain the acoustic field. The results from this investigation validate the use of the CFD code along with the acoustic model for broadband fan noise predictions. The validation enables future investigations such as the determination of rotor tip clearance and stator solidity effects on fan rotor-stator interaction noise.

Grace, Sheryl M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Application of a Real-Fluid Turbomachinery Analysis to Rocket Turbopump Geometries

A three-dimensional flow solver has been developed for turbomachinery components utilizing real fluid properties. The code is applicable to both incompressible and compressible flow fields. In this study, the code has been applied to the analysis of inducer and impeller geometries representative of those used in rocket engine applications. The predicted results show good agreement with the available experimental data.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Off-Design Performance of a Multi-Stage Supersonic Turbine

The drive towards high-work turbines has led to designs which can be compact, transonic, supersonic, counter rotating, or use a dense drive gas. These aggressive designs can lead to strong unsteady secondary flows and flow separation. The amplitude and extent of these unsteady flow phenomena can be amplified at off-design operating conditions. Pre-test off-design predictions have been performed for a new two-stage supersonic turbine design that is currently being tested in air. The simulations were performed using a three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis, and the predicted results have been compared with solutions from a validated meanline analysis.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Generalized Fluid Formulation for Turbomachinery Computations

A generalized formulation of the equations of motion of an arbitrary fluid are developed for the purpose of defining a common iterative algorithm for computational procedures. The method makes use of the equations of motion in conservation form with separate pseudo-time derivatives used for defining the numerical flux for a Riemann solver and the convergence algorithm. The partial differential equations are complemented by an thermodynamic and caloric equations of state of a complexity necessary for describing the fluid. Representative solutions with a new code based on this general equation formulation are provided for three turbomachinery problems. The first uses air as a working fluid while the second uses gaseous oxygen in a regime in which real gas effects are of little importance. These nearly perfect gas computations provide a basis for comparing with existing perfect gas code computations. The third case is for the flow of liquid oxygen through a turbine where real gas effects are significant. Vortex shedding predictions with the LOX formulations reduce the discrepancy between perfect gas computations and experiment by approximately an order of magnitude, thereby verifying the real gas formulation as well as providing an effective case where its capabilities are necessary.

Merkle, Charles L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Comparison of Full and Partial Admission Flow Fields in the Simplex Turbine

This viewgraph presentation provides information on computerized simulations of flow fields in a Simplex turbine. The motivations for the simulation were: Determining the effects of partial admission flow on rotor performance as a function of circumferential location and on unsteady rotor loading; Providing an efficient technique for determining turbine performance. The simulation used the flow code CORSAIR.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

The CORSAIR Turbomachinery Code: Status and Plans

This viewgraph presentation gives an overview of the CORSAIR turbomachinery code's status and plans. Details are provided on the CORSAIR algorithms, full- and partial-admission turbine simulations, the Simplex turbine, instantaneous Mach number, unsteady pressure admission graphs, variable fluid property RLV-133 simulations, instantaneous entropy function, pumps and inducers, and future plans.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Effects of Endwall Geometry and Stacking on Two-Stage Supersonic Turbine Performance

Two methods are commonly used to control the secondary/separated flows (and associated losses) in supersonic turbines: endwall contouring and airfoil stacking. In the current investigation the flow path between the first-stage vanes and rotors, and the stacking of the first-stage vanes were varied in an effort to improve turbine performance. The geometric variations have been studied by performing a series of unsteady three-dimensional numerical simulations for the two-stage turbine.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Effects of Endwall Geometry and Stacking on Two-Stage Supersonic Turbine Performance

The drive towards high-work turbines has led to designs which can be compact, transonic, supersonic, counter rotating, or use a dense drive gas. These aggressive designs can lead to strong secondary flows and airfoil flow separation. In many cases the secondary and separated flows can be minimized by contouring the hub/shroud endwalls and/or modifying the airfoil stacking. In this study, three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations were performed to study three different endwall shapes between the first-stage vanes and rotors, as well as two different stackings for the first-stage vanes. The predicted results indicate that changing the stacking of the first-stage vanes can significantly impact endwall separation (and turbine performance) in regions where the endwall profile changes.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

General Equation Set Solver for Compressible and Incompressible Turbomachinery Flows

Turbomachines for propulsion applications operate with many different working fluids and flow conditions. The flow may be incompressible, such as in the liquid hydrogen pump in a rocket engine, or supersonic, such as in the turbine which may drive the hydrogen pump. Separate codes have traditionally been used for incompressible and compressible flow solvers. The General Equation Set (GES) method can be used to solve both incompressible and compressible flows, and it is not restricted to perfect gases, as are many compressible-flow turbomachinery solvers. An unsteady GES turbomachinery flow solver has been developed and applied to both air and water flows through turbines. It has been shown to be an excellent alternative to maintaining two separate codes.

Sondak, Douglas L.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Unsteady Flow in a Supersonic Turbine with Variable Specific Heats

Modern high-work turbines can be compact, transonic, supersonic, counter-rotating, or use a dense drive gas. The vast majority of modern rocket turbine designs fall into these Categories. These turbines usually have large temperature variations across a given stage, and are characterized by large amounts of flow unsteadiness. The flow unsteadiness can have a major impact on the turbine performance and durability. For example, the Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) fuel turbine, a high work, transonic design, was found to have an unsteady inter-row shock which reduced efficiency by 2 points and increased dynamic loading by 24 percent. The Revolutionary Reusable Technology Turbopump (RRTT), which uses full flow oxygen for its drive gas, was found to shed vortices with such energy as to raise serious blade durability concerns. In both cases, the sources of the problems were uncovered (before turbopump testing) with the application of validated, unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to the designs. In the case of the RRTT and the Alternate Turbopump Development (ATD) turbines, the unsteady CFD codes have been used not just to identify problems, but to guide designs which mitigate problems due to unsteadiness. Using unsteady flow analyses as a part of the design process has led to turbine designs with higher performance (which affects temperature and mass flow rate) and fewer dynamics problems. One of the many assumptions made during the design and analysis of supersonic turbine stages is that the values of the specific heats are constant. In some analyses the value is based on an average of the expected upstream and downstream temperatures. In stages where the temperature can vary by 300 to 500 K, however, the assumption of constant fluid properties may lead to erroneous performance and durability predictions. In this study the suitability of assuming constant specific heats has been investigated by performing three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations for a supersonic turbine stage.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Comparison of Full and Partial Admission Flow Fields in the Simplex Turbine

The objectives of this project were to: (1) determine the effects of partial admission flow on rotor performance as a function of circumferential location and on unsteady rotor loading; and (2) Provide an efficient technique for determining turbine performance. Full admission simulation ws performed for the Simplex turbine and partial admission simulation is underway for the Simplex turbine.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Turbulence modeling of free shear layers for high-performance aircraft

The High Performance Aircraft (HPA) Grand Challenge of the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) program involves the computation of the flow over a high performance aircraft. A variety of free shear layers, including mixing layers over cavities, impinging jets, blown flaps, and exhaust plumes, may be encountered in such flowfields. Since these free shear layers are usually turbulent, appropriate turbulence models must be utilized in computations in order to accurately simulate these flow features. The HPCC program is relying heavily on parallel computers. A Navier-Stokes solver (POVERFLOW) utilizing the Baldwin-Lomax algebraic turbulence model was developed and tested on a 128-node Intel iPSC/860. Algebraic turbulence models run very fast, and give good results for many flowfields. For complex flowfields such as those mentioned above, however, they are often inadequate. It was therefore deemed that a two-equation turbulence model will be required for the HPA computations. The k-epsilon two-equation turbulence model was implemented on the Intel iPSC/860. Both the Chien low-Reynolds-number model and a generalized wall-function formulation were included.

Sondak, Douglas L.↗