Single-stage experimental evaluation of compressor blading with slots and vortex generators. Part 3 - Data and performance for stage 4
Data and performance of stage four of compressor blades with slots and vortex generators
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Data and performance of stage four of compressor blades with slots and vortex generators
Supplementary data tables for single stage experimental evaluation of compressor blading with slots and vortex generators
Comparison performance data of compressor blading without slots or vortex generators
A two-dimensional differential analysis is developed to approximate the turbulent boundary layer on a compressor blade element with strong adverse pressure gradients, including the separated region with reverse flow. The predicted turbulent boundary layer thicknesses and velocity profiles are in good agreement with experimental data for a cascade blade, even in the separated region.
Measurements were made of the boundary layers and wakes about a highly loaded, double-circular-arc compressor blade in cascade. These laser Doppler velocimetry measurements have yielded a very detailed and precise data base with which to test the application of viscous computational codes to turbomachinery. In order to test the computational codes at off-design conditions, the data have been acquired at a chord Reynolds number of 500,000 and at three incidence angles. Average values and 95 percent confidence bands were tabularized for the velocity, local turbulence intensity, skewness, kurtosis, and percent backflow. Tables also exist for the blade static-pressure distributions and boundary layer velocity profiles reconstructed to account for the normal pressure gradient.
Measurements, made with laser Doppler velocimetry, about a double-circular-arc compressor blade in a cascade are presented for -1.5 and -8.5 degree incidence angles and a chord Reynolds number near 500,000. Comparisons between the results of the current study and those of an earlier work at a 5.0 degree indicence are made. It is found that, in spite of the relative sophistication of the measurement techniques, transition on the pressure surface at the -1.5 degree incidence is dominated by a separation 'bubble' too small to be detected by the laser Doppler velocimeter. The development of the boundary layers at -1.5 and 5.0 degrees are found to be similar. In contrast to the flow at these two incidence angles, the leading edge separation 'bubble' is on the pressure surface for the -8.5 degree incidence.
Comparative cascade tests of the NGTE (National Gas Turbine Establishment of Great Britain) 10C4/30C50 and NACA 65-(12)10 axial flow compressor blade sections were conducted in a 5-inch low-speed cascade tunnel at the Langley Laboratory at air-inlet angles of 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees and a solidity of 1.0 by using the porous-wall technique. These NACA data for the NGTE 10C4/30C50 section were also compared with data from NGTE design charts for the same section. British and NACA incompressible cascade force-analysis equations are included.
Measurements were made of the boundary layers and wakes about a highly loaded, double-circular-arc compressor blade in cascade. These laser Doppler velocimetry measurements have yielded a very detailed and precise data base with which to test the application of viscous computational codes to turbomachinery. In order to test the computational codes at off-design conditions, the data were acquired at a chord Reynolds number of 500,000 and at three incidence angles. Moreover, these measurements have supplied some physical insight into these very complex flows. Although some natural transition is evident, laminar boundary layers usually detach and subsequently reattach as either fully or intermittently turbulent boundary layers. These transitional separation bubbles play an important role in the development of most of the boundary layers and wakes measured in this cascade and the modeling or computing of these bubbles should prove to be the key aspect in computing the entire cascade flow field. In addition, the nonequilibrium turbulent boundary layers on these highly loaded blades always have some region of separation near the trailing edge of the suction surface. These separated flows, as well as the subsequent near wakes, show no similarity and should prove to be a challenging test for the viscous computational codes.
A two-dimensional low-speed porous-wall cascade tunnel investigation has been conducted to establish the performance of the NACA 65-series compressor blade sections over the useful range of inlet angle, solidity, and section camber. Design points for optimum high-speed operation are presented. The loading limitation is determined for some conditions. Trends of section operating range with increasing section camber are determined for the four inlet angles tested.
To establish the capability for measurement of oscillatory pressure on rotating blades, miniature fast response semiconductor strain gage pressure transducers (2mm x 0.33mm) were mounted in several configurations on thin titanium and steel compressor blades and subjected to pressure cycles from 1 to 310 kPa during static tests and spin tests. Static test conditions included 20 C to 150 C, 0 to 3000 tensile microstrain, -1000 to +1000 bending microstrain and + or - 650G vibration. The spin test conditions included 20 C to 82 C at 0 to 90,000G. Durability was excellent. Pressure transducer sensitivity changed by only a few percent over this range of environmental conditions. Noise signal due to oscillatory acceleration normal to the diaphragm was acceptable (0.33Pa/G). Noise signal due to oscillatory strain was acceptable (0.5 Pa/microstrain) when the transducer was mounted on a 0.05mm rubber pad, with a total buildup of 0.38mm on the measure surface. Back mounting or partial recessing to eliminate buildup, increased the strain effect to 1.2 Pa/microstrain. Flush mounting within the blade to eliminate buildup reduced the strain effect, but required development of a special transducer shape. This transducer was not available in time for spin tests. Unpredictable zero drift + or - 14 kPa ruled out the use of these mounting arrangements for accurate steady-state (D.C.) measurements on rotating blades. The two best configurations fully developed and spin tested were then successfully applied in the NAS3-20606 rotating fan flutter program for quantitative measurement of oscillatory pressure amplitudes.
Boundary layer and near-wake velocity measurements have been made in the well documented flow field about a double circular arc compressor blade in cascade, at an incidence angle of 5 deg. and a chord Reynolds number of 500,000. In Part 2 of this report these measurements were analyzed and presented in standard graphical format. The flow geometry, measurement techniques, and physics of the flow field were also discussed. In this, part 2 of the report, raw and analyzed data are presented in tabulated form in an attempt to make this data more accessible to computational comparison. Also included in part 2 is a description of the data analysis employed. A computer tape containing the data is available.
A one-component laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) has been used to measure the two-dimensional, periodic flow field about a double circular arc, compressor blade in cascade. Eleven boundary layer profiles were taken on both the pressure and suction surfaces of the blade, and two were taken in the near wake. In this part of the study, the LDV system is described and the suction surface flow field is documented. The suction surface profiles appear to separate both at the leading edge and again somewhat beyond midchord; the leading edge separation apparently reattaches by 2.6 percent chord.
The carpet-plotting technique is presented in this paper as a more useful and concise method of summarizing cascade data on the NACA 65-series compressor blades given in NACA Technical Note 3916. Carpet plots included permit the selection of the blade camber and the design angle of attack required to fulfill a design vector diagram. Other carpet plots provide means for the prediction of off-design turning angles. Also presented are carpet plots of an isentropic pressure-rise coefficient as a entering Mach number.
A one-component laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) has been used to measure the two-dimensional periodic flow field about a double circular arc, compressor blade in cascade. Eleven boundary layer profiles were taken on both the pressure and suction surfaces of the blade, and two profiles were taken in the near wake. In this part of the study, the detailed LDV studies are described. The measurements indicate that the onset of transition occurs near 60 percent chord. The lack of a logarithmic region in the data measured at 97.9 percent chord indicates that transition is not complete. The thin laminar boundary layers near the leading edge led to some measurement problems, characterized by large turbulence intensities, in using the LDV.
Measurements of the mean velocity and turbulence intensity were made using a one-component laser Doppler velocimeter in the boundary layer and near wake about a double circular arc, compressor blade in cascade. The measurements were made at a chord Reynolds number of 500,000. Boundary layer measurements on the pressure surface indicate a transition region over the last 40% of the chord. A small separation bubble near the leading edge of the suction surface results in an immediate transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layer separates near the trailing edge of the suction surface. Similarity of the outer region of the turbulent boundary layer ceases to exist in the separated region. Also, similarity does not hold in the near-wake region, a region which includes negative mean velocities because of the separation near the trailing edge on the suction surface.
A co-spray process was used which simultaneously but separately introduces abrasive grits and metal matrix powder into the plasma stream and entraps the abrasive grits within a molten matrix to form an abrasive coating as the matrix material solidifies on test specimen surfaces. Spray trials were conducted to optimize spray parameter settings for the various matrix/grit combinations before actual spraying of the test specimens. Rub, erosion, and bond adhesion tests were conducted on the coated specimens in the as-sprayed condition as well as on coated specimens that were aged for 100 hours at a temperature of 866K (1100 F). Microscopic examinations were performed to determine the coating abrasive-particle content, the size and shape of the adhesive particles in the coating, and the extent of compositional or morphological changes resulting from the aging process. A nickel chromium/aluminum composite with No. 150 size (0.002 to 0.005 inch) silicon carbide grits was selected as the best matrix/abrasive combination of the candidates surveyed for coating compressor blade tips.
The rub mechanics of aircraft gas turbine engine compressor abradable blade tip seals was studied at simulated engine conditions. In 12 statistically planned, instrumented rub tests using single titanium blades and fiber-metal rubstrips the rub velocity, incursion rate, incursion depth, blade thickness, and abradable strength were varied to determine the effects on rub energy, heat split between the blade, rubstrip surface and rub debris, and blade and seal wear. The rub energies were found to be most significantly affected by the incursion rate while rub velocity and blade thickness were of secondary importance. In five additional rub tests using single nickel alloy blades and multiple titanium alloy blades, rub energy and wear effects were found to be similar for titanium and nickel alloy blades while rub energies increased for multiple blades relative to single blade test results.
The paper describes application of the theory of wave reflection in turbomachines to rotor blade vibrations measured in an axial compressor stage. The blade vibrations analyzed could not be predicted using various flutter prediction techniques. The wave reflection theory, first advanced in 1966, is expanded, and more general equations for the rotor blade excitation frequencies are derived. The results of the analysis indicate that all examined rotor blade vibrations can be explained by forced excitations caused by reflecting waves (pressure pulses). Wave reflections between the rotor blades and both the upstream and downstream stator vanes had to be considered.