Search Results (6)

The recovery of low- and medium-temperature waste heat using Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) is increasingly important for improving the efficiency and sustainability of industrial and energy systems. In compact ORC turboexpanders, high specific power output and large pressure ratios often require single- or two-stage turbines operating in transonic or supersonic regimes. Under these conditions, stator blade design is complicated by strong compressible-flow effects and, for organic working fluids, by real-gas thermodynamic behavior. Conventional supersonic stator design methods, such as the method of characteristics, are mainly applicable to the diverging supersonic portion of the blade passage, while the converging region is typically defined using empirical or heuristic prescriptions. This paper presents a physics-informed neural-network-based design method for supersonic turbine stator blades. The proposed framework generates the complete inter-blade passage, including both the converging and diverging regions, starting from a prescribed mean-line geometry and Mach number distribution. The velocity field is obtained by solving the governing equations of steady, inviscid, adiabatic, irrotational compressible flow within a PINN formulation. A hard boundary-condition strategy is used to impose the specified mean-line velocity distribution exactly, while real-fluid thermodynamic effects are incorporated through lookup tables for the speed of sound and density. The blade contours are then reconstructed from stream-function isolines predicted from the computed velocity field. The method is demonstrated for two working fluids: air, treated as a perfect gas, and toluene undergoing transcritical expansion. The resulting blade passages are first validated using inviscid CFD simulations, which show close agreement between the prescribed and computed mean-line Mach number distributions. Turbulent CFD simulations of the final blade cascades confirm smooth acceleration through the inter-blade passage, with no strong internal shocks and only weak fishtail shocks downstream of the trailing edge. For both fluids, the post-expansion ratio is approximately unity and the exit flow angle remains close to the prescribed blade metal angle, indicating well-matched supersonic stator designs. The results demonstrate that the proposed PINN-based design method provides a physically consistent approach for generating supersonic stator blade profiles for both ideal-gas and real-gas turbine applications. Full article

The growing demand for micro-launchers capable of placing payloads between 1 and 100 kg into low Earth orbit stems from rapid advances in electronics and the resulting increase in nanosatellite capabilities. Simultaneously, space programs are prioritizing the use of alternative propellants, those that are more sustainable, cost-effective, and readily available. As a result, modern launcher development emphasizes versatility, reliability, reusability, and adaptability to various working fluids. This paper presents the experimental validation of a supersonic turbine design methodology tailored for such adaptable systems. The focus is on a turbine class intended for a turbopump in micro-launchers with payload capacities around 100 kg. The experimental campaign employed two working fluids (air and methane) to assess the method’s robustness. The validation was performed on a stator only planar model, and the experimental data was compared with the analytical result obtained through the Mach number similarity criterion. The results confirm that the approach accurately identifies flow similarity through Mach number matching, even when the working fluid changes. Comparative analysis between experimental data and predictions demonstrates the method’s reliability, with measurement uncertainties also addressed. These findings support the methodology’s applicability in practical engine design and adaptation. Future work will explore enhancements to improve predictive capability and flexibility. The method may be extended to other systems where fluid substitution offers design or operational advantages. Full article

To explore the internal flow mechanism and improve the performance of a supersonic compressor, an efficient global optimization design method was developed for an axial flow compressor and applied in the optimization design of a prototype supersonic compressor. Based on the multiple circular arc (MCA) blade parameters, the method can be used to parameterize the elementary stage of the blade. The optimized solution is obtained by changing the elementary stage and stacking lines of the blade during the optimization process. It has the advantages of fewer optimization variables, strong physical intuition, and a smooth surface. The optimization results show that a change in the rotor blade shape parameters has a significant effect on the compressor efficiency under design conditions, while a change in the skewed-swept parameters of the stator is the main factor that improves the compressor’s performance under near-stall conditions. Further numerical results show that the optimized rotor changes the form of the shock, weakens the degree of shock boundary layer interference, inhibits the radial migration flow of the supersonic rotor, reduces the loss of the rotor blade top, and improves the performance of the compressor under design conditions. The stator’s optimization restrains the generation of a concentrated shedding vortex at the root of the blades and greatly improves the stall margin of the compressor. Finally, the total pressure ratio and flow rate are less than 1% of the values based on the prototype operating conditions, the design mass flow of the optimized high-load supersonic compressor is increased by 0.25%, the isentropic efficiency is increased by 1.05%, and the stall margin is enhanced by 3.5%, thus verifying the effectiveness of the optimization method. Full article

The flow through the stator vanes of a variable geometry turbocharger turbine can reach supersonic conditions and generates a shock wave on the stator vanes, which has a potential impact on the flow loss as well as on unsteady aerodynamic interaction. The shock wave causes a sudden increase in pressure and can lead to boundary separation and strong excitation force, besides pressure fluctuation in the rotor blades. Thus, in this study, the flat surface of the vanes of a commercial variable geometry turbocharger turbine has been modified to analyze the effects of two grooved surfaces configuration using CFD simulations. The results reveal that the grooves change the turbine efficiency, especially at higher speed, where the increase in the efficiency is between 2% and 6% points. Additionally, the load fluctuation around the rotor leading edge can be reduced and minimize the factors that compromise the integrity of the turbine. Furthermore, the grooves reduce the supersonic pocket developed on the suction side of the vane and diminish the shock wake intensity. Evaluating the effectiveness of the available energy usage in the turbine, on the one hand, at lower speed, the fraction of energy at the inlet destinated to produce power does not change significantly with a grooved surface on the stator vanes. On the other hand, at higher speed and higher pressure ratio with 5 grooves occurs the most effective approach of the maximum energy. Full article

This paper focuses on the triaxial augmentation ability of the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) technique on the tailless layout with a fully moving wing tip to achieve high control performance for the supersonic tailless aircraft. Firstly, the stability characteristics and controllability of the flying wing layout are analyzed to determine the coupling characteristics of this kind of aircraft. Secondly, an attitude controller is designed based on ADRC theory, and the linear ADRC frequency domain analysis method is introduced to analyze the influence of the bandwidth of linear extended stator on the control system. In addition, the tuning process of the attitude control law is given. Carrier dropping simulations of flight missions under nominal condition, model parameter perturbation, and wind disturbance are conducted. The results show that the designed controller can achieve full-speed domain triaxial augmentation of supersonic flying wing. This work has the potential to significantly boost the engineering acceptability and robustness of supersonic aircraft control design in real-world scenarios. The presented cascaded ADRC approach can significantly improve the performance and robustness of supersonic vehicles. Full article

The design of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbines often requires dealing with transonic flows due to the cycle efficiency requirements and the matching of the temperature profiles with heat sources and sinks, as well as the nature of organic fluids, often featuring high molecular weight. Consequently, the use of convergent–divergent turbine stators has been widely established as a solution in the published literature for use in both axial- and radial-inflow machines. With respect to the latter layout in particular, the available design guidelines are still limited. The present work shows the results of an investigation into a series of ORC radial-inflow convergent–divergent nozzles that differ with respect to the vane count and the designed metal angle of the outlet. These stators were designed by fitting the divergent portion of a sharp-edged minimum-length nozzle, designed by means of the method of characteristics (MoC) adapted to dense gases, into a radial-inflow turbine stator. The geometries were analysed by means of steady-state RANS CFD calculations, and the results were used to assess the influence of the design parameters on the nozzle losses and downstream flow field uniformity, showing that conflicting trends exist between optimum stator efficiency and optimum downstream flow field uniformity. Full article