Molten particle adhesion study in a multiphase turbine test rig
Abstract
The purpose of this action is to add FY22 funds in the amount of $60,724.00. These funds will fully fund this new award. --Fluid-s,tructure interaction leading to irreversible material changes is a hallmark of multiphase flows with molten particles dispersed in a, gas phase impacting solid surfaces at high-speed, high-enthalpy conditions. Such flows occur frequently in gas turbine engines onbo,ard DoD helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft operating in sandy and dusty environments. Particle deposition leading to fouling of tur,bine blades makes engines susceptible to failure and reduces part lifespan resulting in significantly higher maintenance costs. The, behavior of multiphase flows over material surfaces involves coupled physical processes, for which, there is a critical lack of und,erstanding, particularly at relevant length- and time-scales in an in-situ manner, as the interactions take place. This is primarily, due to extreme operating conditions and associated difficulties with making reliable measurements at those conditions. Acquiring fu,ndamental knowledge about the interaction processes is key in predicting the behavior of such flows and developing approaches to con,trol the flow and its impact on material surfaces. Efforts to obtain such knowledge through advanced simulations are being actively, pursued, but they critically need measurement data at relevant conditions to derive physics-based sub-models and validate simulatio,n results. While several research groups are pursuing detailed investigation of particle deposition on turbine blade profiles, such, studies are made significantly challenging given the temperature, pressure, and mass flow conditions existing in actual engine envi,ronments, which have to be reproduced in a laboratory scale test cell, often with optical access for non-intrusive diagnostics. This, study proposes to investigate the feasibility of using non-dimensionalized scaling behavior representing particle impact regimes to, conduct deposition measurements at conditions considerably less demanding than those in actual engines. A multiphase turbine cascad,e test setup will be completed and deposition of molten low melting-point glass powder on a test turbine blade will be investigated, while varying particle velocity and temperature, which respectively affect non-dimensional parameters relating to particle sticking, and particle softening. By observing deposition patterns after flow tests, measuring deposition thickness, and evaluating sticking, probability using an energy-based model, the viability of the proposed approach to simulate particle deposition at actual engine op,erating conditions will be validated. Successful validation of the proposed research tasks will result in the development of a nove,l test facility to study multiphase flow processes over turbine blades at engine relevant operating conditions. Validation of the lo,w temperature approach to simulate deposition at actual engine conditions will be a significant finding enabling detailed in-situ in,vestigations of deposition and erosion processes while reducing the cost and complexity of test chambers built for this purpose. Fin,ally, validation of the energy-based deposition model will provide predictive capabilities to evaluate the effects of particle-laden, flows on turbine blade surfaces, which is of critical importance to a wide range of DoD propulsion and power generation systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 08, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212477
Entities
People
- Shyam Menon
Organizations
- Louisiana State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy