Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 November 2024) | Viewed by 6647

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: aircraft propulsion; turbomachinery; engine–airframe interaction; computational fluid dynamics; optimisation
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: CFD of flows in industrial and energy systems: optimal design methods; performance analysis in design and off-design conditions; full-annulus uRANS methods; aerothermodynamics of propulsion machines; CFD of supersonic and hypersonic flows
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The evolution of aircraft transport towards the binding requirement of environmental compatibility and socio-economical sustainability is facing huge challenges in the design and integration of future powerplants in hybrid electric boundary layer ingesting (BLI) vehicles. Despite their complexity, and the impressive advancements which have occurred in gas turbine technology in recent decades, uncountable scientific and technological challenges remain to be faced for a proper environmental transition following international regulations, such as novel design methodologies for distortion-tolerant turbomachinery, efficient computational methods for multi-disciplinary simulations, aeromechanical design and stability in the presence of inflow distortion, aeroacoustics of podded or fuselage-embedded engines, turbo-electric engines design and heat management, and the efficient testing of highly integrated propulsion. 

The Special Issue aims to collect the latest research results related to analytical, computational, or experimental methods advancing turbomachinery technology for propulsion. Original research or review papers illustrating significant contributions to design or analysis techniques, fundamental physics, applications, and performance improvement in gas turbines are welcomed. Representative topics include, for instance, design methodologies for gas turbine components; coupled methods for propulsion system integration; numerical/experimental analyses of gas turbine engines at the system or component level; aeromechanical design and analysis of turbomachinery; novel numerical tools for multi-disciplinary simulation; design and testing of low noise propulsor; hybrid electric and boundary layer ingestion (BLI) propulsion systems; and open rotors, turboprop, or electric fan engines.

Dr. Andrea Magrini
Prof. Dr. Ernesto Benini
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • turbomachinery
  • gas turbine engines
  • propulsion system design and integration
  • hybrid electric propulsion
  • inlet distortion
  • boundary layer ingestion
  • ultra-high bypass ratio turbofan
  • computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
  • wind tunnel tests
  • aeroelasticity and aeromechanics
  • aeroacoustics of jet engines and nacelles
  • propeller and open rotor

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5693 KiB  
Article
Predesign of a Radial Inflow Turbine That Uses Supercritical Methane for a Mid-Scale Thruster for Upper Stage Application
by Alexandru-Claudiu Cancescu, Daniel-Eugeniu Crunteanu, Anna-Maria Theodora Andreescu and Simona-Nicoleta Danescu
Aerospace 2024, 11(12), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11120996 - 1 Dec 2024
Viewed by 611
Abstract
The worldwide concern regarding the harmful effects of old polluting and toxic propellants has led to increased interest in new, green propellants and higher efficiency thrusters. This fact requires that a new generation of turbopumps, fit for these propellants, is developed. This paper [...] Read more.
The worldwide concern regarding the harmful effects of old polluting and toxic propellants has led to increased interest in new, green propellants and higher efficiency thrusters. This fact requires that a new generation of turbopumps, fit for these propellants, is developed. This paper focuses on the design of a radial inflow turbine, which was developed to power a single-shaft turbopump system for a 30 kN upper stage expander cycle thruster engine. The objective was to create a high-efficiency, compact, cheap-to-manufacture, 3D-printable turbine suitable to simultaneously power the methane and Oxygen pumps that feed the thruster. The total power consumed by the pumps for which this turbine was designed is 152 kW. The solution proposed in this paper includes measures such as elimination of the bladed diffuser, which was carried out to reduce the weight and the overall dimensions of the turbine. Comparing it with an axial turbine with the same power output, it has lower overall dimensions because it does not require a direction change at the inlet to the turbine bladed components, it does not require a stator to work, and its casing has a conical shape and is not cylindrical like the axial construction one. The proposed design has been analysed by CFD, which revealed that it can power the pumps. Analysis performed in off-design conditions indicated that the turbine has the best efficiency if the rotation speed and mass flow are varied at the same time. A breadboard model of the turbopump for which the turbine in this paper has been designed has been built using plastic and tested at pressures up to 6 bars using compressed air. The results indicate that above 1.5 bars of inlet pressure the turbine can overcome the internal resistances of the components and the rotor starts to spin. No indication of imbalance of the rotor was observed at maximum test pressure. Two configurations of the seals between the turbine and the adjacent pump have been tested, indicating that labyrinth seals must be doubled by floating ring seals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion)
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21 pages, 6865 KiB  
Article
Lessons Learned for Developing an Effective High-Speed Research Compressor Facility
by Nicholas J. Kormanik III, Douglas R. Matthews, Nicole L. Key and Aaron J. King
Aerospace 2024, 11(11), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11110949 - 18 Nov 2024
Viewed by 501
Abstract
Few universities in the world conduct experimental research on high-speed, high-power turbomachinery. The Purdue High-Speed Compressor Research Laboratory has a longstanding tradition of partnering with industry sponsors to perform high-TRL (technology readiness level) experiments on axial and radial compressors for aerospace applications. Early [...] Read more.
Few universities in the world conduct experimental research on high-speed, high-power turbomachinery. The Purdue High-Speed Compressor Research Laboratory has a longstanding tradition of partnering with industry sponsors to perform high-TRL (technology readiness level) experiments on axial and radial compressors for aerospace applications. Early work in the laboratory with Professor Sanford Fleeter and Professor Patrick Lawless involved aeromechanics and the addition of a multistage axial compressor facility to support compressor performance studies. This work continues today under the guidance of Professor Nicole Key. While other universities may operate a single-stage transonic compressor or a low-speed multistage compressor, the Purdue 3-Stage (P3S) Axial Compressor Research Facility provides a unique environment to understand multistage effects at speeds where compressibility is important. Over the last two decades, several areas of important research within the gas-turbine engine industry have been explored: vane clocking, stall/surge inception, tip-leakage/stator-leakage (cavity leakage) flow characterization, and forced response, to name a few. This paper addresses the different configurations of the facility chronologically so that existing datasets can be matched with correct boundary conditions and provides an overview of the different upgrades in the facility as it has developed in preparation for the next generation of small-core compressor research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion)
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18 pages, 2234 KiB  
Article
Forced Vibration Induced by Dynamic Response Under Different Inlet Distortion Intensities
by Tianyu Pan, Ze Mu, Zhaoqi Yan and Qiushi Li
Aerospace 2024, 11(11), 911; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11110911 - 5 Nov 2024
Viewed by 589
Abstract
Boundary layer ingestion propulsion systems have attracted much attention due to their significant potential to reduce the fuel consumption of future commercial aircraft. However, the aeroelastic stability of the fan blade is affected by the continuous non-uniform incoming flow induced by the ingestion [...] Read more.
Boundary layer ingestion propulsion systems have attracted much attention due to their significant potential to reduce the fuel consumption of future commercial aircraft. However, the aeroelastic stability of the fan blade is affected by the continuous non-uniform incoming flow induced by the ingestion of the boundary layer. When the fan blades rotate in the junction area between the distorted area and the clean area, blade pressure fluctuations occur. This phenomenon triggers a dynamic response process in the blade. Previous numerical investigations explored the influence of the distorted inflow on the blade vibration amplitude, and found that there are two sources of low-order excitation to the blades: the distorted inflow and the dynamic response of the blade. The results show that the low-order excitation existing in the distorted inflow varies sinusoidally with the distortion extent. However, as a new source of excitation, the key influence mechanism of dynamic response is still unclear. To explore this issue, calculations and analyses were conducted for different distorted inflow intensities. The results show that the blade vibration amplitude increases with the rise in distortion intensity. The total pressure at the leading and trailing edge of the rotor blade was extracted for analysis. It was found that when the blade enters or leaves the distorted area, there is a consistent lag in the change in total pressure at the trailing edge compared to the leading edge. This lag leads to an abrupt variation in the total pressure ratio, which constitutes the dynamic response process of the rotor blade. This periodic change generates a second-order excitation that causes the blade to vibrate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion)
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16 pages, 2909 KiB  
Article
Numerical Investigations on the Effects of Dome Cooling Air Flow on Combustion Characteristics and Emission Behavior in a Can-Type Gas Turbine Combustor
by Chenzhen Ji, Wentao Shi, Enlei Ke, Jiaying Cheng, Tong Zhu, Chao Zong and Xinyan Li
Aerospace 2024, 11(5), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11050338 - 25 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1879
Abstract
To meet the requirements of achieving higher efficiency and lower NOx pollution, the flame temperature in gas turbine combustors increases continually; thus, the effusion-cooling technology has been used to ensure the combustor liner remains within the allowed temperature, by which the combustion characteristics [...] Read more.
To meet the requirements of achieving higher efficiency and lower NOx pollution, the flame temperature in gas turbine combustors increases continually; thus, the effusion-cooling technology has been used to ensure the combustor liner remains within the allowed temperature, by which the combustion characteristics and emission behavior are possibly influenced. In order to investigate the effects of dome cooling air flow on combustion characteristics and NOx emissions, three-dimensional combustion simulations for a swirl-stabilized can-type gas turbine combustor are carried out in this work by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Through adjusting the ratio of the dome cooling air flow and the dilution cooling air flow, the characteristics of flow field, temperature distribution and NOx emissions under each work condition are analyzed. At different ratios of the dome-cooling air flow to the total air flow, the flow velocity field in the region near the center of the combustion chamber is not changed much, while the velocity field near the chamber wall shows a more significant difference. The temperature in the outer recirculation zone within the combustion chamber is effectively reduced as the dome cooling air flow increases. By analyzing the distribution characteristics of the concentration of OH*, it is demonstrated that the dome cooling air flow does not have a direct effect on the reaction of combustion. It is also found that as the ratio of the dome cooling air flow to the total air flow increases from 0 to 0.15, the value of the NOx emissions drops from 28.4 to 26.3 ppmv, about a 7.4% decrease. The distribution of the NOx generation rate in the combustion chamber does not vary significantly with the increasing dome cooling air flow. Furthermore, by calculating the residence time in different stages, when the the ratio of the dome cooling air flow to the total air flow varies from 0 to 0.15, the residence time in the pilot stage decreases obviously, from 42 ms to 18 ms. This means that reduction in residence time is the main factor in the decrease of NOx emissions when the dome cooling air flow increases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion)
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21 pages, 10150 KiB  
Article
Performance Improvement of a High Loading Centrifugal Compressor with Vaned Diffuser by Hub Contour Optimization
by Yunfeng Wu, Qingkuo Li, Hang Yuan, Ziliang Li, Shiji Zhou, Ge Han and Xingen Lu
Aerospace 2024, 11(4), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11040246 - 22 Mar 2024
Viewed by 2146
Abstract
High-pressure ratio centrifugal compressors’ diffusers face challenges from high-velocity, non-uniform flow at the impeller outlet, decreasing efficiency and stall margin. To address this, this paper presents a novel vaned diffuser passage design method that successfully improved the compressor’s performance. An optimization method using [...] Read more.
High-pressure ratio centrifugal compressors’ diffusers face challenges from high-velocity, non-uniform flow at the impeller outlet, decreasing efficiency and stall margin. To address this, this paper presents a novel vaned diffuser passage design method that successfully improved the compressor’s performance. An optimization method using axisymmetric hub contours and NURBS curves was applied to modify the diffuser’s design. After optimization, centrifugal compressor peak efficiency increased by 0.78%, and stall margin expanded from 12.8% to 20.4%. Analysis at the peak efficiency point showed loss reduction mainly from decreased recirculation and mixing losses in the diffuser’s vaneless and semi-vaneless spaces. Furthermore, correlation analysis and Mach number distribution revealed that flow behavior at the diffuser’s leading edge significantly influences efficiency. Consequently, design principles emphasize satisfying specific Mach number distribution rules at the diffuser’s leading edge under certain inflow conditions for optimal performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Turbomachinery Technology for Propulsion)
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