TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of turbine-strut clocking on the performance of a turbine center frame
AU - Sterzinger, P. Z.
AU - Merli, F.
AU - Peters, A.
AU - Behre, S.
AU - Heitmeir, F.
AU - Göttlich, E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work has been carried out in collaboration with GE Aviation Munich and MTU Aero Engines, as part of the research project LuFo V-3 OptiTCF (contract no. FKZ 20T1705B) funded by the
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 by ASME.
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - Previous studies have indicated a potential for improving the performance of a turbine center frame (TCF) duct by optimizing the clocking position between the high-pressure turbine (HPT) vanes and TCF struts. To assess the impact of clocking on the performance, a new test vehicle with a clockable ratio of HPT vanes to TCF struts, consisting of an HPT stage (aerodynamically representative of the second-stage HPT engine), a TCF duct with nonturning struts, and a first-stage low-pressure turbine vane, was designed and tested in the transonic test turbine facility (TTTF) at Graz University of Technology. This article quantifies the performance impact of clocking and describes the mechanisms causing TCF flow field changes, leveraging both experimental and numerical data. Other areas in the TCF duct impacted by the choice of the HPT vane circumferential position including the strength of unsteady HPT-TCF interaction modes, TCF strut incidence changes, and carryover effects to the first low-pressure turbine (LPT) vane are additionally highlighted. Five-hole-probe (5HP) area traverses and kielhead-rake traverses were used to assess the flow field at the TCF exit and to calculate the pressure loss. The flow field at the TCF exit shows significant differences depending on the circumferential position of the HPT vane. A relative performance benefit of 5% was achieved. A series of unsteady RANS simulations were performed to support the measured results, understand, and characterize the relevant loss mechanisms. The observed performance improvement was related to interaction between the HPT secondary-flow structures and the TCF struts. The impact of the HPT vane clocking on the unsteady flow field downstream of the TCF was investigated using fast-response aerodynamic pressure probe (FRAPP) area traverses and analyzed by means of modal decomposition. In this way, the individual azimuthal modes were ranked by their amplitude, and a dependency of the clocking position was observed and quantified
AB - Previous studies have indicated a potential for improving the performance of a turbine center frame (TCF) duct by optimizing the clocking position between the high-pressure turbine (HPT) vanes and TCF struts. To assess the impact of clocking on the performance, a new test vehicle with a clockable ratio of HPT vanes to TCF struts, consisting of an HPT stage (aerodynamically representative of the second-stage HPT engine), a TCF duct with nonturning struts, and a first-stage low-pressure turbine vane, was designed and tested in the transonic test turbine facility (TTTF) at Graz University of Technology. This article quantifies the performance impact of clocking and describes the mechanisms causing TCF flow field changes, leveraging both experimental and numerical data. Other areas in the TCF duct impacted by the choice of the HPT vane circumferential position including the strength of unsteady HPT-TCF interaction modes, TCF strut incidence changes, and carryover effects to the first low-pressure turbine (LPT) vane are additionally highlighted. Five-hole-probe (5HP) area traverses and kielhead-rake traverses were used to assess the flow field at the TCF exit and to calculate the pressure loss. The flow field at the TCF exit shows significant differences depending on the circumferential position of the HPT vane. A relative performance benefit of 5% was achieved. A series of unsteady RANS simulations were performed to support the measured results, understand, and characterize the relevant loss mechanisms. The observed performance improvement was related to interaction between the HPT secondary-flow structures and the TCF struts. The impact of the HPT vane clocking on the unsteady flow field downstream of the TCF was investigated using fast-response aerodynamic pressure probe (FRAPP) area traverses and analyzed by means of modal decomposition. In this way, the individual azimuthal modes were ranked by their amplitude, and a dependency of the clocking position was observed and quantified
KW - High pressure turbine
KW - Measurement techniques
KW - Turbine aerodynamics
KW - Turbine computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
KW - Turbine duct flows
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107551011&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/1.4050145
DO - 10.1115/1.4050145
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107551011
SN - 0889-504X
VL - 143
JO - Journal of Turbomachinery
JF - Journal of Turbomachinery
IS - 5
M1 - 4050145
ER -