FLOW IN

TURBOMACHINES
Over more than five decades, the VKI has
specialized in the area of compressors,
pumps and turbines, covering theoretical,
experimental and numerical teaching and
research activities. The VKI is recognized
as one of the “centres of excellence” in the
area of turbomachinery-related activities and
has attracted world-renowned specialists in
the field. The principal research activities
are related to design methods, low- and
high-speed compressor and turbine flows
and heat transfer. Significant contributions
were made in the areas of inverse design
and multi-disciplinary optimization meth-
ods, unsteady flows and blade row inter-
actions, aero-thermal investigations in HP
and LP turbomachinery components, micro
gas turbines, blade-cooling applications
and instrumentation development.

© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium 39

 Flow In Turbomachines

DETERMINATION OF THE EFFICIENCY achieved on the rotational speed results in a high ac-
curacy on the acceleration and hence the power.
OF A COOLED HP TURBINE IN
A COMPRESSION TUBE FACILITY Inlet total pressure and temperature as well as stage
exit total pressure were determined with accurate
probes (Figure 1). Each quantity is the result of aver-
aging several heads placed at different circumferen-
The experimental verification of the efficiency of any tial locations around the test section. The knowledge
turbine stage is a crucial step in the development of of the overall mass flow combined with that of the pitch-
any new turbine. The isentropic efficiency is defined wise and radial distribution of total temperature and
as the ratio between the flow angle allows the
power effectively extracted -a- -c- -d- -e- -f- calculation of mass-
from the fluid to the power averaged values using
obtained from an isentropic quantities determined
expansion, which requires at each test and di-
testing the turbine stage un- mensionless profiles
der adiabatic conditions. -b- resulting from several
Efficiency is usually meas- tests.
ured in continuously run- -g-
ning facilities that allows Results are presented
stabilizing the turbine in Figure 2 indicating
regime and performing de- an efficiency of
tailed area traverses with ac- 0.9088 at design
curate instrumentation. In Figure 1: -a,f,g- combined probes with a Kiel head and point. Figure 2 also
such type of facilities, two a thermocouple used as reference probes upstream and shows that the evolu-
independent techniques can
downstream of the stage and inside the cavities, -b,c- tion of the efficiency
be used to measure the as a function of the
isentropic efficiency: the
rake of Kiel heads, -d- rake of thermocouples, -e- five
rotational speed is
thermodynamic and the me- hole probe in line with the 1D pre-
chanical method. diction method. A lev-
el of repeatability between 0.27 and 0.51% is achieved,
Since the late 70’s, the use of short-duration facilities depending on the test conditions. The uncertainty
has enabled testing at the actual engine levels of analysis provides a more conservative value of 0.68%
Reynolds number, Mach number, gas-to-wall and gas- for the random error. The largest contributors are the
to-coolant temperature ratios. The determination of mass flow, the stage exit and inlet total pressure.
the efficiency in such facilities is challenging because Regarding the systematic error, an uncertainty level of
all the needed quantities should be measured during the 1.2% is achieved mostly due to the contributions of the
running time, i.e., usually in less than 1s. Temperature mass flow, the inlet total pressure and the inertia.
fluctuations are usually quite large, implying tempera-
ture inaccuracies and thus the mechanical method is
preferred, based on accurate torque measurements.

The current investigation demonstrated the potential

of the VKI compression tube facility to determine the
efficiency of a cooled turbine stage using the me-
chanical method. The formulation proposed here
takes into account the different thermodynamic prop-
erties of the coolant and leakage flows. It also uses
mass-flow averaging in order to obtain a value that is
representative of the whole stage.

The measurement of the power relies on the meas-

urement of the acceleration during the run time.
This requires also the determination of the inertia of
the rotating assembly, of the rotational speed history
and the mechanical losses. The very fine precision Figure 2: Measured levels of efficiency,
comparison with non-isentropic simple
radial equilibrium (NISRE) and turbine map
40 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium

TIME-AVERAGED AND TIME-RESOLVED
MEASUREMENTS ON A FILM-COOLED
ROTOR BLADE IN A TRANSONIC
HIGH PRESSURE TURBINE
The high-pressure turbine is located down-
stream of the combustion chamber;
hence, the blades experience a harsh
environment. Turbine blades must
be made of super-alloys and be
actively cooled. Rotor blades of
modern high-pressure tur-
bines are equipped with
several span-wise rows of
cooling holes. This research
focuses on the effect of rotor
film cooling on the perform-
ance of a highly loaded tran-
sonic turbine stage.The three
different film-cooling config-
urations investigated are dis-
played in Figure 1. The present
investigation was carried out for
rotor coolant flow rates of 0%,
0.5% and 0.8% of the mainstream
mass flow.
Figure 2: View from upstream of ing rate from 0.5% to 0.8%, the shock
the rotor disk with the three passage tends to occur sooner and
different sectors of cooled blades sooner. This means that the rotor
Figure 1: Cooling configurations: a) Two rows of
16 cylindrical holes on the pressure side; b) Two
rows of 16 fan-shaped holes on the pressure side;
c) Single row of 16 fan-shaped holes on the suc-
tion side
Tests were performed respecting the engine temper-
ature ratios:Tgas/Twall and Tcoolant/ Twall. To reduce the
cost of the testing the three different blade-cooling
© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
Flow in Turbomachines
geometries are tested on a unique rotor disk divided
into three sectors (Figure 2). Measurements included
the rotor mid-span static pressure (Figure 1c) and the
heat transfer at 15%, 50% and 85% span.
The increase of the coolant rate causes an increase of
the stator downstream static pressure, i.e. an increase
in the stage degree of reaction. As a consequence, the
stator exit velocity triangle changes and the
rotor static pressure field is modified ac-
cordingly. In the presence of
coolant, the heat flux down-
stream of the coolant holes is
slightly reduced. Figure 3
presents the effect of the ro-
tor cooling on the time-re-
solved static pressure on
the rotor crown at 50%
span. The large and
abrupt pressure increase
at gauge 3, φstator ≈ 0.8 is
due to the vane trailing
edge shock that sweeps
the rotor blade suction
side from gauge 5 towards
the leading edge. At gauge 3
the amplitude of the fluctua-
tion amounts to ~20% of P01. In
spite of the small increase in cool-
coolant ejection affects the vane trail-
ing edge shock position and intensi-
ty. However this effect is also partly
attributed to the ejection of the rotor
hub disk leakage flow.
Figure 3: Pressure fluctuations as a function of
vane passing events at mid-span for the different
cooling rates
41
 Flow In Turbomachines

ROTOR - STATOR INTERACTION The optimization is performed on the stator blade

Mach number distribution. The variation of the static
IN A TRANSONIC HP TURBINE, pressure across a pitch at the exit of the stator results
MECHANISMS AND REDESIGN from the effect of the right running shock (RRS in
figure 1) and of the reflection of the left running shock
(RLRS). Because the combination of these two contri-
butions was already well balanced in the initial design,
HP turbine stages with choked vanes present large only a modest reduction is achieved with the new
pitch-wise variations of static pressure, due to the design.
presence of the vane trailing edge shocks. The vane
trailing edge shock sweeping the crown of the rotor
causes very large fluctuations of unsteady force in the
rotor. This high-intensity and high-frequency forcing
function may lead to high-cycle-fatigue problems that
eventually would result in unexpected blade failure.
Moreover it has been proved that the azimuthal non-
uniformities present at the rotor exit are due to a large
extent to the vane exit static pressure signature.

The aim of this research was to investigate how the

stator and rotor blade could be redesigned to reduce
the rotor pulsating force. For this purpose, a number
of design and analysis tools are used. The new design
starts from the existing BRITE transonic stage that is
currently tested in the VKI CT-3 facility.

Figure 1: Illustration
of vane trailing edge
shock system; three
rotor designs tested
for rotor/stator inter-
action

Figure 2: Unsteady blade force and

modulus for the three rotor designs

More promising results were obtained on the rotor.

The first step is the redesign of the stator blade pro-
file to reduce the vane exit pitch-wise static pres-sure
gradient. Several approaches were applied and the
most effective results were obtained with an opti-
mization procedure using an Artificial Neural Network.
The original rotor profile was redesigned for two stag-
ger angles while keeping the inlet and exit blade met-
al angles unchanged (Figure 1). For each geometry, the
unsteady force is quantified using an unsteady quasi
3D Euler code. The effect of the vane trailing edge
shock on the rotor depends on the vane exit Mach
number (shock strength), on the incidence of the shock
on the rotor surface, on the local Mach number distri-
bution and on how the shock is reflected on the rotor
surface. The comparison between the original stage
and the new configurations shows that the best results
are obtained with the low stagger, or aft-loaded, air-
foil. For this blade profile a decrease of ~50% of the
time-resolved force modulus is achieved (Figure 2).

42 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium

 Flow in Turbomachines

CLOCKING EFFECTS IN A ONE-AND-A-HALF Regarding time-averaged results, significant differ-

ences on the front suction side are observed at 15%
STAGE TRANSONIC TURBINE span (Figure 2). Overall, clocking 1 shows a smoother
acceleration on the front suction side; i.e., lower aero-
dynamic losses should be obtained for this relative po-
sition. The time-resolved data show fluctuations of
The understanding of pressure and heat transfer fluc- static pressure up to 33% of the inlet total pressure.
tuations associated in a multi-row environment is fun- The pressure fluctuations are attributed to the passage
damental to improve both the aerodynamic perform- of pressure gradients linked to the traversing of the
ance and mechanical integrity of future generations of upstream rotor. Figure 2 indicates how the rotor trail-
aero-engines. The current research focuses on the ex- ing edge shock pattern is being modified as the rotor
perimental characterization of the time-averaged and traverses the vane passage. The pattern of these fluc-
time-resolved flow field on the second stator of a one tuations changes noticeably as a function of clocking,
and a half stage high-pressure turbine, at various especially at 15% of the span (Figure 3).
“clocking” positions. Clocking
is the relative pitch-wise posi- The time-resolved pres-
tion of the first stator with re- sure distribution was in-
spect to the second stator. A tegrated along the air-
number of previous investiga- foil surface to determine
tions have highlighted the unsteady forces ap-
potential performance im- plied on the second sta-
provements when the second tor. The largest steady
stator is aligned with the wake forces at 15% span are
avenues of the first stator. obtained for clocking 2.
When compared with
Tests have been carried out in clocking 0, the axial
the VKI compression tube fa- component of the force
cility CT-3 at engine represen- increased by 3.4%
tative conditions. The test pro- and the azimuthal
gram includes four different component by 5.3%.
clocking positions, as dis- Concerning the time-re-
played in Figure 1. Pneumatic Figure 1: Turbine airfoil geometry solved forces, the blade
probes located upstream and and clocking positions section experiences
downstream of the second fluctuations up to 29%
stator provide the time-averaged component of the of the mean force. Clocking the vanes could attenuate
pressure field. For the second stator airfoil, both time- the unsteady forces and moments by 17% and 28% re-
averaged and time-resolved pressure fields are meas- spectively. This should lead to an optimisation from a
ured at 15, 50 and 85% span with 54 fast response mechanical integrity point of view.
pressure and heat transfer gauges.

Figure 2: Time-averaged static

pressure distribution at 15% span Figure 3: Phase-
locked average
of the pressure
fluctuations along
the second stator
at mid-span for
clocking 0

© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium

43
 Flow In Turbomachines
DETERMINATION OF THE MASS FLOW
IN A COMPRESSION TUBE FACILITY
Figure 1: Sketch of the compression tube facility
Compression tube facilities produce a blow-down of
hot gas on a cold model in order to simulate both
aerodynamic and heat transfer effects. The VKI com-
pression tube facility CT-3 is displayed in Figure 1.
Constant conditions are usually maintained during
about 0.5s. Owing to this short testing time, the ac-cu-
rate determination of the overall mass flow in the test
section is a challenging task.
In this facility standard metering systems such as a
Venturi or orifice plates are difficult to install. Indeed,
they require very long straight tubes upstream and
downstream of the test section. A novel technique has
been developed consisting in the prediction of the lo-
cation of the piston, the total pressure and the total
temperature downstream of the piston. Therefore the
mass of air in the upstream tube is known at any time.
To have a coherent estimate of all the quantities, the
model is fitted to measured values. Balances of mass
flow and energy are performed as a function of time
in the different volumes of the rig, i.e. the upstream
tube, the settling chamber and the downstream dump
tank. Turbine coolant and leakage flows are also being
considered.
To illustrate how accurately the model fits the rig op-
eration, the pressure histories in the tube (Ptube) and
upstream of the stage (P01) are reported in Figure 2 (left).
The measured and predicted total temperature coin-
cides only sporadically (Figure 2, right). The thermo-
couple is implemented on the vertical end plate of the
tube because it must be away from the path of the pis-
ton. In this zone, the circulation of the flow is not op-
timum. The thermocouple is capable of measuring cor-
rectly the tube temperature only from time to time,
44 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
indicating that the predicted temperature history is re-
liable. The location of the piston is checked only in two
points of the trajectory using a photodiode.
In Figure 2, an extreme case is shown where the
inlet total pressure is not constant. If the down-
stream sonic throat is not well matched to the
incoming flow rate, the mass flow conservation
cannot be applied strictly between the different
planes owing to storage or release of air in the
upstream and downstream volumes. In order
to take into account possible differences be-
tween the tube exit and the stage inlet, which
are separated by a settling chamber, the
turbine is assimilated to a sonic orifice.
The mass flow can thus be computed ac-
cording to:
−(γ +1)
P01 γ  γ + 1  2(γ −1)
m
= cD S
c pT01 γ − 1  2 
P01 and T01 are measured but S and cD should be de-
termined. For this purpose, once the model is fitted to
an ensemble of measured P0tube and P01 histories, a
test is simulated in which the total pressure during the
run time is perfectly constant. In this case, the mass
flow conservation between the tube exit and the stage
inlet can be applied and the determination of S and cD
is straightforward.
The uncertainty on the mass flow was split into two
contributions. While the piston speed and the tube
pressure measurement are accounted for as random
errors, the reservoir dimension and the temperature
measurement (~4K) are considered as systematic er-
rors. While the random error is acceptable (0.58%), the
systematic error remains quite large (0.84%). The
largest contributions are linked to the measurement
of the tube temperature and to the piston speed
determination.
Figure 2: Left: Measured and
predicted pressure in the tube
and turbine inlet; Right: Temperatures
 Flow in Turbomachines

LOW-PRESSURE TURBINE AERODYNAMIC number (1.9 x 105 … 6.8 x 105) and Strouhal number
(0 … 0.9). The positive impact of the wakes can be ap-
PERFORMANCE preciated in Figure 2, especially at low Reynolds num-
ber where the losses are reduced by 46.7% when in-
creasing the Strouhal number.
The new generation of civil aircraft engines is charac-
terized by large fans and high by-pass
ratios. As the propulsion effi-
Figure 1: Wake generator
ciency is directly linked to
this component, the require-
ments imposed for its de-
sign are extremely se-
vere. Consequently, the Figure 2:
design of the low-pres- Profile loss
sure turbine, which is coefficient as a
driving the fan and the function of Sr
low-pressure compres-
sor, has to be performed
very carefully.
The boundary layer status and characteristics were de-
The current aerody-
termined, quantitatively, by means of a heat flux
namic performance
measurement technique. These measurements were
of LP turbines is already
carried out by means of platinum thin film gauges, de-
high but significant savings are still achievable
posited on a ceramic substrate. They operate in a tran-
through a reduction of the weight of this component
sient mode, based on the semi-infinite slab principle.
by e.g. using less airfoils per blade row. A reduced
number of blades implies a higher loading. A front
Because of their very small thickness, they provide
loaded blade design philosophy can address this re-
quantitative information in a broad frequency spec-
quirement even if strong adverse pressure gradients
trum and do not perturb the flow by, e.g. promoting
enhance the risk of separation along the rear suction
laminar to turbulent transition. They allow the charac-
side portion, considering the low Reynolds number
terization of the boundary layer status by differentiat-
conditions existing in this part of the machine. The ex-
ing the laminar from the turbulent state. In this way, it
tension of the profile losses, and therefore the per-
becomes possible to observe the temporal evolution
formance of the turbine, will be directly related to the
of the transition and to compute critical parameters
occurrence of separation and/or transition. It has been
such as the intermittency factor. A space-time diagram
shown that the unsteady/periodic effect of upstream
of the phase locked averaged suction side heat trans-
wakes and their interaction with the boundary layer
fer coefficient is presented in figure 3. The successive
may lead to a reduction of the profile losses.
wakes of the bars are identified in the leading edge re-
gion (small s/L values) along the time axis. This result
Research on the effect of periodically wake-induced
clearly shows the periodic suppression of the separa-
transition to allow high blade loading with acceptable
tion bubble (characterized by very low heat transfer
profile loss levels is conducted in the “Laboratory
coefficient values) in the wake path of the upstream
Jacques Chauvin” [AJ24, MP131, MP132]. This work
bars and its complex redistribution under these
is performed in the Light Piston Isentropic
unsteady conditions.
Compression Tube facility CT-2, allowing a correct sim-
ulation of Mach and Reynolds numbers as encoun-
tered in a real engine. A stationary linear cascade Figure 3:
model is subjected to wakes shed from upstream bars Phase locked
mounted on a fast rotating disk (Figure 1). This wake
heat transfer
generator provides the advantage of being able to
drive the bars at the velocity required to simulate the coefficient
correct inlet velocity triangle.

The cascade was made of very high lift blades. The

profile losses and the exit flow angle were determined
for an exit Mach number equal to 0.8. The experimen-
tal parameters were the freestream exit Reynolds

© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium 45

 Flow In Turbomachines

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A VERY HIGH The characterization of the “compressible” profile was
performed in the Isentropic Compression Tube facili-
LIFT, LOW PRESSURE TURBINE BLADE ty, including the influence of periodic incoming wakes.

The “high lift” design philosophy implies, among oth-

er features, the existence of a rather important adverse
One of the important research objectives in gas tur-
pressure gradient along the rear part of the suction
bine engines is to decrease the production and main-
side. This eventually leads to the development of a
tenance costs by reducing the total engine weight
separation bubble whose typical characteristics (sep-
while maintaining high levels of efficiency. In this per-
aration, maximum displacement and reattachment)
spective, the low pressure turbine, accounting for
have been quantified, analyzed and modelled; one of
about 1/3 of the total engine weight, is of prime inter-
these models [AJ42] is compared in Figure 2 to exist-
est. The solution consisting in a reduced number of
ing models extracted from the literature (Roberts,
blades per row results in a new design philosophy
Mayle or Hatman and Wang). The main difference with
called the high lift design.
the models of Roberts and Mayle is the description of
the transition process inside the free shear layer of the
A front loaded, very high lift, low pressure turbine
separated flow. Roberts and Mayle consider that the
blade has been designed at the VKI, for both com-
complete transition to turbulent flow is reached before
pressible and incompressible flow regimes. The
the reattachment respectively as a punctual or an ex-
geometries were adapted in order to present the same
tended process. The present results agree better with
pressure coefficient distribution. The experimental
the bubble physics as described by Hatman and Wang.
study for the incompressible flow regime, carried out
The transition is initiated in the free shear layer and
in the low speed C-1 cascade wind tunnel of the labo-
ends before or after the reattachment depending on
ratory “Jacques Chauvin”, led to the characterization
the bubble type: long or short. The model developed
of the cascade’s overall aerodynamic performance
from the present results is valid for all bubble types
(losses and mean outlet flow angle at midspan) and
and can be used in numerical predictions as a criteri-
of the secondary flows. This investigation was per-
on for the separated flow mode of transition.
formed by varying inlet incidence and freestream
Reynolds number over a wide range. Conventional
pneumatic pressure probes were used to quantify lo- Figure 2: Local
cal total and static pressures as well as the pitch- and
Reynolds number at
yaw flow angles. A single hot wire probe provided the
turbulence characteristics, namely intensity and length
the maximum bubble
scales. A typical pitch and spanwise loss distribution displacement as a
is pre-sented in Figure 1 for the nominal flow condi- function of the local
tions; the main secondary flows are indicated as well. Reynolds number at
This investigation clearly showed, among other con- separation
clusions, how the profile losses measured at midspan
decreased when increasing Reynolds number or
when decreasing inlet flow incidence. The mean out-
let flow angle, measured from the axial direction, de-
creased when decreasing the Reynolds number or
when increasing the inlet incidence.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF COOLING

PASSAGES

Nowadays, the need for high power and high effi-

Figure 1: Downstream losses and secondary flows
ciency gas turbine engines leads to a continuous in-
crease of the turbine inlet temperature (TIT). The lat-
ter is usually far above the melting temperature of the
most advanced vane and blade materials. A safe op-
eration of the engine depends therefore on the effi-
ciency of the cooling system or systems and a com-
plete understanding of the convection mechanisms

46 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium

 Flow in Turbomachines

resulting from the cooling techniques is mandatory in events generated by the turbulent structures evolving
order to predict reliable metal temperatures and con- in the near wall regions. These events make the heat
sequently component lifetimes. The present contribu- transfer process more effective but also much more
tion therefore focuses on the analysis of the aero-ther- complicated to study and to understand. In order to
mal performance of a stationary rib-roughened get additional information on the flow behavior, some
cooling channel flow, as encountered inside high pres- numerical simulations using advanced turbulence
sure turbine vanes. modeling and Large Eddy Simulation are under way.
The analysis of the numerical results and a deeper in-
The analysis is carried out on the aerodynamic (ve- terpretation of the available data will lead to the final
locity field) and convective heat transfer data recent- definition of the flow mechanisms responsible for the
ly acquired in a large scale, stationary cooling chan- heat transfer field development.
nel test section. The selected channel and rib
geometries constitute a quite detailed test case under Figure 1: Comparison between heat transfer and
study at the VKI for the last few years [AJ67,MP6, velocity fluctuations normal to wall between two
MP30,MP35]. Several, sometimes redundant, meas- ribs
urement techniques were used for this purpose in or-
der to provide high quality data. Both the aerodynamic
and heat transfer data are acquired in between two
consecutive ribs. The use of a Digital Particle Image
Velocimetry (DPIV) technique allows the acquisition of
highly detailed flow field measurements over differ-
ent and mutually perpendicular planes in the full
interrib space. A quasi 3D view of the flow field is
therefore available and its interpretation provides an
exhaustive description of the mean flow topology.
The heat transfer data were gathered with the help of
a Liquid Crystal Thermometry technique. It was ap-
plied on all the channel walls, rib surfaces included,
and provided in this way the complete heat transfer
Figure 2: Comparison between velocity
coefficient distribution along the investigated channel fluctuations on top of the rib
region.

The combined analysis of the aerodynamic results

with the wall heat transfer data allows pointing out the
role played by the mean flow features and by the ve-
locity fluctuations in the heat transfer process. An early
analysis of the present data put in evidence a strong
correlation existing between high levels of heat trans-
fer and velocity fluctuations normal to the wall.
This is shown in Figure 1, on the ribbed wall, along the
channel symmetry line and also along a second line,
closer to the channel lateral wall. This correlation did
however not seem to be unique in all flow regions.
As a matter of fact, mainly on top of the rib, all the ve-
locity component fluctuations were of the same order,
as reported in Figure 2. The analysis of the PIV data,
also by means of a Coherent Structure Eduction tech- AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE
nique, pointed out the existence of a stationary
recirculation region located on top of the obstacle, INVESTIGATION OF FIXED RIB-ROUGHENED
which could induce different flow mechanisms re- COOLING PASSAGES
sponsible for the heat transfer process.

This analysis shows that it might be possible to de-

termine which are the flow field features directly re- In modern gas turbine engines, the continuous in-
sponsible for the heat transfer process development crease of power for an expected lifetime has resulted
and augmentation. In particular, the most promising in a continuous increase of cycle pressure ratio and
idea seems to be the one which looks at the wall turbine inlet temperature. The latter implies that

© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium 47

 Flow In Turbomachines
advanced materials and cooling techniques must be
adopted for a safe operation of the HP gas turbine
blades. Apart from the progress made in the metallur-
gical domain, a continuous cooling of the blades of the
turbine first stage allows operating at temperatures
which are far above the material’s melting point, with-
out affecting the component integrity and geometry. A
complete and correct understanding of the convection
mechanisms associated to the applied cooling tech-
niques is therefore of major importance. The present
experimental study therefore deals with the detailed
aerodynamic investigation of the turbulent flow inside
rib-roughened turbine blade cooling channels of vari-
ous geometries. Inside these passages, the forced con-
vection cooling process is significantly enhanced by
the presence of ribs (turbulence promoters) installed
on one or more walls of the channels.The effects of the
rib size and orientation on the flow behaviour, and
therefore on the heat transfer and pressure distribu-
tion along the channel walls, are closely related to the
safe operation of HP gas turbine blades.
The present research effort is devoted to the experi-
mental analysis of the flow inside two cooling chan-
nels of different geometries on the basis of detailed
aerodynamic measurements performed by Digital
Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV). The principal aims
are to provide new information about the behaviour
of such a complicated flow, useful for its understand-
ing, to complement the wall heat transfer coefficient
distributions already available and to create a wide and
reliable data base for numerical code validation [AJ67].
Figure 1: 3D flow
topology upstream
of the rib
The experiments are carried out on scaled-up models
of turbine nozzle blade cooling channels, working in
geometrical and flow similarity conditions. In both
configurations, ribs are installed on one wall. The first
geometry is characterized by a square section, the ribs
have an angle of attack with respect to the "mean" flow
direction equal to 90° and a high blockage ratio of
30%. The second channel presents a rectangular sec-
tion with the ribs inclined at 45° to the main axis of the
channel.
48 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
In both channels, a global three dimensional view of
the flow was attempted by measuring the whole flow
field in between two consecutive ribs over different
and mutually perpendicular planes. Where previous
information was available, comparisons were made
with, e.g., results from alternative measurement tech-
niques, showing most of the time a remarkable agree-
ment and providing complementary information.
Moreover, the data analysis provides a lot of informa-
tion regarding particular flow structures in terms of
their location and size, as shown in Figure 1 for the
square section channel. For some of these structures, a
model describing their evolution was proposed [MP6].
Figure 2: Comparison
between wall heat trans-
fer and streamlines
The combined interpretation of
the PIV results and of the avail-
able heat transfer measure-
ments on the channel walls,
highlighted the existing links
between the aerodynamic and
thermal behaviour of the flow
[MP30, MP35]. A typical exam-
ple, obtained in the second
cooling channel, is reported in Figure 2. The mean
flow path measured by DPIV as close as possible to
the ribbed wall and the Nu number distribution
(coloured contour plot) measured by Liquid Crystal
Thermometry on the ribbed wall are fully coherent with
respect to separation and reattachment area location.
COMPARISON OF TURBINE TIP LEAKAGE
FLOW FOR FLAT TIP AND SQUEALER TIP
GEOMETRIES AT HIGH-SPEED CONDITIONS
In modern gas turbine engines, the recent trend of in-
creased combustor outlet temperature to achieve
higher thermal efficiency and higher power output
poses a challenge to the aerodynamics, heat transfer,
and material capabilities of the first stages of the high-
pressure turbine. Tip leakage flows are a source of
aerodynamic inefficiency and high thermal loading
near the tip. It is quite difficult to cool the blade tip
through conventional film-cooling techniques. Not
only is the leakage flow path three-dimensional in na-
ture, but strong secondary flows also cause very hot
mainstream flow to enter the tip clearance region. The
blade tip is one of the most frequently inspected and
repaired parts of the turbine.
 Flow in Turbomachines

Within the EC-funded tip is relatively insensitive to changes in Reynolds

program AITEB, the number. The only region of the endwall where the
tip leakage flow char- squealer tip does not result in lower overall velocities
acteristics for flat and compared to the flat tip is near the leading edge. Flow
squealer tip geome- visualization results show evidence of flow impinge-
tries are studied in the ment existing near the leading edge of the squealer
von Karman Institute’s cavity.
Isentropic Light Piston
Compression Tube fa- Twelve heat transfer gauges (Figure 2) were distrib-
cility, CT-2, at different uted over the tip area, along the suction side and pres-
Reynolds and Mach sure side in the front part of the tip area and along the
number conditions for camberline on the rear part of the tip area. The tech-
a fixed value of the tip nique applied for this purpose is based on the use of
-a- -b-
gap in a non-rotating, thin films and a transient approach. During the blow-
Figure 1: Flow visualization on linear cascade arran- down, the gauges
squealer (a) and flat (b) tip gement. This repre- record the local sur-
blades sents one of the first face temperature
high-speed tip flow evolution as a func-
data sets for the flat tip tion of time. This in-
and squealer tip geometries. Static pressure meas- formation is used as
urements are made at the inlet and exit of the cascade, the main boundary
and the inlet endwall boundary layer profiles are ob- condition for an un-
tained to provide proper boundary conditions for CFD steady conduction
calculations. Static pressure measurements are made calculation within the
on the blade tip, blade surface, and on the correspon- substrate supporting
ding endwall. Aerodynamic losses are computed us- the heat transfer
ing total pressures measured downstream of the cas- gauges.
cade by a traverse of a 3-hole pressure probe. Finally,
tip heat transfer measurements are performed along This calculation finally provides the wall heat flux and
both a flat and a squealer tip configuration [MP133, subsequently the heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt
MP174]. number distributions. A typical example of normalized
Nusselt number distribution is presented in Figure 3.
Oil flow visualizations provide valuable information of It demonstrates the effect of freestream Reynolds
the flow on the tip and near-tip surfaces. While the number on the augmentation of heat flux. It also com-
main flow through the tip gap of the flat tip blade trav- pares the present larger scale stationary cascade re-
els from pressure to suction side, there is also a re- sults with the results obtained on the high speed tur-
gion just downstream of the leading edge region bine in rotation. Both configurations were run at
where the flow along the tip actually travels in the similar working conditions and present very compa-
streamwise direction. For the squealer tip blade, flow rable conclusions.
visualization results are in line with a recirculating flow
within the squealer tip cavity where the flow on the
cavity floor is moving from suction side to pressure EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
side.
OF THE TRANSITIONAL FLOW
Static pressure measurements made on the endwall IN AXIAL TURBOMACHINES
over the blade tip show that the squealer tip provides
a significant decrease in velocity through the tip gap
with respect to the flat tip blade. The flat tip blade
shows a region of high The actual evolution in gas turbine engines is to de-
velocity extending crease the production and maintenance costs through
downstream of the a reduction of the total engine weight. One of the so-
leading edge region. lutions consists in reducing the number of blades
For the flat tip, an in- keeping constant the total amount of work per blade
crease in Reynolds row. A high lift, high load design philosophy must
number causes a large therefore be applied. As a consequence, the suction
increase in tip velocity side boundary layer undergoes severe adverse pres-
Figure 2:Typical heat flux gauge sure gradients along its rear part. Considering the low
levels, but the squealer
implementation

© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium 49

 Flow In Turbomachines

Reynolds number environment prevailing in low pres-

sure turbines, this could eventually lead to a heavy
separation which will se-
riously hinder the blade
aerodynamic perform-
ance. A careful control
and understanding of
laminar to turbulent tran-
sition are therefore of ma-
jor importance.
Figure 2: Non dimension- Figure 3: Smooth blade
In order to tackle this al downstream losses velocity distribution
problem, the continuous
Figure 1: New cascade model high speed facility S-1 of
in the S-1 facility the von Karman Institute MULTIDISCIPLINARY OPTIMIZATION OF
was equipped with a new
test section for aerodynamic performance determination TURBOMACHINERY COMPONENTS
of low pressure turbine blades mounted in a linear cas-
cade environment (Figure 1). This continuous, cold-flow,
high speed cascade tunnel operates at Reynolds and
The basic principle of the VKI design and optimization
Mach numbers similar to those encountered in the low
method is to mimic the traditional design procedure
pressure section of a modern gas turbine (Re = 50 …
in which the designer makes a first optimization by
300 x 105 …, M = 0.5 … 1.0). Static and total pressure and
means of a geometry generation and an approximate
freestream turbulence characteristics are measured up-
but fast analysis method, followed by a more accurate
stream of the cascade, time-averaged and time-resolved
but computational computationally expensive verifi-
static pressure and semi-quantitative skin friction meas-
cation by a Navier-Stokes solver.
urements are performed along the airfoil and perform-
ance measurements are conducted downstream of the
This blade design algorithm, of which a flowchart is
blade row by pneumatic or fast response probes and op-
presented in Figure 1, starts from the user-defined
tical techniques. Provision is also made for periodic up-
aerodynamic and mechanical requirements as there
stream wake/boundary layer interaction. A rotating disk,
are: inlet and outlet flow angles, the outlet static pres-
equipped with cylindrical bars, generates wakes up-
sure, the Reynolds number, the maximum/minimum
stream of the cascade, with a correct simulation of the up-
blade cross-sectional area and moment of inertia (Imin
stream velocity triangle. The test section dimensions are
225 x 500mm. and Imax), maximum allowable lean and rake angles, etc.

The well-known T106 blade profile with an increased The Artificial

pitch-to-chord ratio was studied in this new setup un-
der steady conditions, at low Reynolds numbers. The
original profile was also equipped with a local rough-
ness element in an attempt to control the transition
onset along the suction surface. The evolution of the
downstream losses as a function of Reynolds number
is presented in non-dimensional form in Figure 2 with-
out (smooth) and with (rough) artificial roughness.
Along the smooth profile, the laminar suction side
boundary layer definitely separates at low Reynolds
number, leading to high losses and poor performance.
The importance of the separation depends on the
Reynolds number, as seen in Figure 3, presenting the
blade Mach number distribution for three different exit
Reynolds number values. The extension of the sepa-
ration, and therefore the losses, clearly reduce when
increasing the Reynolds number. The introduction of
artificial roughness resulted in an earlier induced tran-
sition, avoiding separation, and therefore leading to a
better performance for the Reynolds number range of
interest.
50
© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
 Neural
  Network (ANN) provides the  ap-
proximate P = f (G, B)  between the geometry G , the
boundary conditions B , and the performance P . The
ANN Learning defines this relation using the informa-
tion stored in the database. The optimizer is based on a
genetic algorithm using the trained ANN to evaluate the
performance of the new blade geometries.
The resulting geometry, which is optimum according
to the ANN predictions, is then verified by means of
the accurate Navier-Stokes solver TRAF3D. The geom-
etry and performance are added as a new sample to
the database and a new ANN learning is started. As
the database grows after each Navier-Stokes compu-
tation, the approximate relation is expected to become
more accurate. In this way the system is self-learning.
The approximate optimization cycle is repeated until
the performance check confirms that the ANN opti-
mum is also the real optimum geometry.

The cost of an opti-
mization mainly de-
pends on the accuracy
of the ANN because it
has a direct impact on
the required number
of Navier-Stokes cal-
culations. The DOE
(Design of Experi-
ment) technique is
used to create the
most representative
database with a mini-
mum number of sam-
Figure 1: Blade ples. Investiga-tions to
design algorithm find the optimal pa-
rameter setting of the
GA aim for an acceler-
ated convergence by reducing the number of function
evaluations of the optimizer [MP177].
Figure 2: Multidisciplinary optimization flow chart
A new topic of re-
search is multi-point
optimization, where
the optimum geome-
try is a function of the
performance at design
and off-design condi-
tions. This has been
achieved without an
increase of the design
time by a paralleliza-
Figure 3: 2D rotor stress dis- tion of the calcula-
tribution at reference blade tions, using as many
processors as the op-
height and thickness
erating points [MP217,
MP178].
The system is presently being extended to Multi
Disciplinary Optimization. It is an extension of the ex-
isting method (Figure 1) combining the mechanical and
aerodynamic optimization (Figure 2) [IB18, MP250]. The
GA searching for the optimum geometry gets its input
from a Finite Element Stress Analysis (FEA) as well as
from the Navier-Stokes flow analysis.
© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
Flow in Turbomachines
The main advantages of such an approach are:
- The existence of only one “master” geometry
i.e. the one defined by the geometrical parame-
ters used in the GA optimizer. It is input to the
fully automatic grid generators of both analysis
programs and eliminates possible approxima-
tions and errors when transmitting the geo-me-
try from one discipline to another
- The existence of a combined objective function
accounting for all disciplines. This allows a more
direct convergence to the optimum geometry
without iterations between the aerodynamically
optimum geometry and the mechanically accept-
able one.
- The possibility to do parallel calculations. The
FEA and NS analyses can be made in parallel if
each discipline is independent; i.e., if stress cal-
culations do not need the pressure distribution
on the vanes or flow calculations are not influ-
enced by geometry deformations.
The method has been used to optimize a 2D micro-
gasturbine impeller geometry by searching for the op-
timum combination of blade height and trailing edge
angle. It aims to maximize the efficiency while re-
specting the stress limitations (Figure 3).
MICRO GAS TURBINES
Micro gas turbines have experienced a growing interest
during the last decade. Their large energy density
(Whr/kg) makes them an attractive replacement for
much heavier batteries for the propulsion of small air-
planes (UAV) or portable power units [MP207,AJ64].
Designing micro gas turbines by a simple scaling of
large high performance gasturbines will not provide
good results because the scaling conditions are
not satisfied:
- The small dimensions result in a large heat
transfer between the hot turbine and cold com-
pressor and the assumption of adiabatic flow is
no longer valid [MP109,MP168]. A conjugate
heat transfer model (CHT) is needed to evaluate
the heat flux and its impact on the compressor
and turbine performance.
- Micro gas turbines operate at very low Reynolds
numbers (10000) and machining techniques may
not allow very smooth surfaces. The increase of
rotational speed results in larger Coriolis forces.
The large heat fluxes may induce buoyancy flows.
Hence the flow structure may be very different
from the traditional one and it is doubtful that the
turbulence models are still valid at the micro gas
turbine operating conditions.
51
 Flow In Turbomachines

Both topics are the subject of intense research in - The possibility to mix simpler axisymmetric and
recent years at VKI. more expensive full 3D calculations, as is demon-
strated in the next example.

The method is used to calculate the heat transfer in

Figure 1:
Cross section
of a regenera-
tive micro gas
turbine
Conjugate heat transfer method for turbomachines
Most CFD predictions restrict the computations to the
fluid domain assuming adiabatic walls or constant
temperature of the solid boundaries. The large heat
transfer in micro gas turbines however requires a
Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) calculation on a domain
covering both the fluid and solid parts of the micro gas
turbine.
micro gas turbines with 10, 20 and 40mm impeller di-
ameters. It aims to reveal the different contributions,
to quantify the impact of the heat transfer on per-
formance and to define possible ways to reduce it.
The computational domains are schematically shown
in Figure 2. Two separate 3D Navier-Stokes computa-
tions are made respectively for the compressor and
turbine. Two 3D Finite Element heat transfer Analyses
are required: one for the solid compressor and one for
the turbine. A 2D axisymmetric model is used for the
stator heat transfer analysis and for the leakage flow
between the rotor and stator.
Figure 2: Numerical
model

The VKI method couples a non-adiabatic Navier-

Stokes (NS) solver for the flow in the fluid domain with
a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for the heat conduc-
tion in the solid. Continuity of temperature and heat
flux at the common boundaries is obtained by an
iterative adjustment of the boundary conditions.
The temperature distribution in the solid of a 20mm
The method starts with an initial guess of the temper- steel impeller is shown in Figure 3. In spite of the large
ature distribution Tw at the solid boundary of the flow temperature difference between the compressor and
solver. Substituting the heat flux, predicted by the turbine impeller there is only a fairly small amount of
CFD, into the following relation qw=h(Tw -Tfl) and im- heat transfer in the 10mm long but small diameter
posing a value for the heat transfer coefficient h, pro- shaft. The analysis shows that the heat transfer by the
vides a relation that can be used as a boundary con- leakage flow is of equal importance. The largest heat
dition for the solid conduction computation. The transfer is through the diffuser and can be reduced by
resulting temperature Tw at the common boundary is installing a thermal barrier or by changing the mate-
then imposed as a new wall boundary condition to the rial. The loss in efficiency due to the heat transfer is
fluid solver. This loop is iterated until convergence. It evaluated at a few percent only.
can be shown that the value of h influences the con-
vergence rate but has no effect on the result once the Figure 3:Temperature and heat transfer
method has converged. [MP220,MP225,MP248] distribution in a micro gas turbine rotor
and stator (steel)
The main advantages of this approach are:
- The possibility to use standard NS and FEA solvers
that have been extensively verified and for which the
limitations and capabilities are well known.
- The possibility to reuse the solid grid to compute
stresses due to centrifugal forces and even thermal
stresses, using the calculated temperature field.
- The CHT methods using only one code for solid and
fluid calculations suffer from a slow convergence in
the solid part, because the time constants in solids are
one order of magnitude higher than in fluids.

52 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium


Time resolved PIV in a rotating channel
An accurate prediction
of the micro gas turbine
performance requires a
correct estimation of
the impact of Coriolis
forces and heat transfer
on low Reynolds num-
ber flows over rough
surfaces. The RC-1 facil-
ity has been specially
built to study these ef-
fects and to evaluate
their impact on turbu-
lence models. It allows
Figure 4: Close up high resolution, time re-
of the rotating channel solved Particle Image
Velocimetry in rotating
diverging channels. The aim is to build a database for
validation/modification of existing turbulence models
of the CFD codes.
The facility consists of a 0.7m long divergent Plexiglas
channel, mounted on a rotating disk. It has a 6° total
aperture angle, a 0.079m inlet hydraulic diameter and
represents a large scale model of a micro gas-turbine
impeller passage. The volume flow is measured with
a Venturi connected to the rotating channel and ad-
justed by means of an upstream fan / throttle valve
combination. It respects the main scaling parameters
of the radial impeller passage: i.e. Reynolds number
between 3 x 103 and 3 x 104, rotational number (Ro)
a) b)
a)
© 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
Flow in Turbomachines
between 0.1 and 0.55 and Buoyancy numbers up to
0.73. A protective cage, connected to an aspiration
system, collects the seeding particles at the channel
exit.
Relative velocity fields in the rotating channel are
measured by means of Particle Image Velocimetry us-
ing a high speed camera and a continuous laser, both
rotating with the channel. The CMOS camera can
record up to 7.8kHz with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution
and has a 2Gb internal memory to store the pictures.
The air-cooled laser diode provides up to 25W laser
light at 806nm wave length. It is coupled by an optical
fibre cable to the line generator. This compact system
allows a direct and hence more accurate measure-
ment of the relative velocity as well as time-accurate
measurements of the flow variations [MP236,MP229].
Measurements are taken in a plane parallel to the
channel bottom wall, halfway between inlet and out-
let. It corresponds to the blade plane in the micro gas-
turbine blade. Mean and instantaneous flow fields are
obtained in the stationary channel and at different ro-
tational speeds.
The increasing influence of rotation on the boundary
layer mean flow field can be noticed in Figure 5.
Boundary layer thickness increases on the suction side
and decreases on the pressure side. The flow is more
turbulent and less likely to separate on the pressure
side than on the suction side.
Figure 6 shows how at Ro = 0.33 the vorticity concen-
trates closer to the pressure side wall but spreads over
a large part of the domain near the suction side.
Figure 5: Velocity profiles in non
rotating channel (a); on suction
side (b) and pressure side (c) at
Ro = 0.33
Figure 6: Instantaneous velocity
vectors and vorticity in stationary
c ) channel (a), on suction side (b) and
pressure side (c) at Ro = 0.33
b) c)
53
 Flow In Turbomachines
DESIGN OF A HIGHLY LOADED AXIAL
COMPRESSOR STAGE
FOR THE INVESTIGATION
OF THE INFLUENCE OF CASING
TREATMENTS ON THE STABILITY MARGIN
Over the past 30 years, continuous research has been
carried out concerning the possible benefits of casing
treatments for improving axial compressor perform-
ance at off-design conditions. This problem has gained
recently new interest with the trend to increased blade
and stage loading to reduce costs and engine weight.
In the frame of the European FP6 project VITAL, it is
proposed to investigate new engine designs, with
higher bypass ratios but with reduced weight in order
to gain on propulsive efficiency and hence save on fuel
burn. It is also proposed to investigate new engine ar-
chitectures, like geared turbofans or contra-rotating
turbofan engines, which would enable substantial
noise reductions by lowering the fan speed. All these
objectives result in higher stage loadings and require
aerodynamic designs which go beyond classical
know-how.
Based on specifications provided by the engine man-
ufacturers, the VKI was in charge of performing the full
3D aerodynamic design of a highly loaded low
pressure compressor (booster) representative of a
contrafan architecture (Figure 1).
Figure 1: A 3D view of the axial compressor
stage
After calculation of the similarity parameters of non-
dimensional massflow, rotational speed and Rey-
nolds number to the test rig scale and conditions, the
meridional design has shown the necessity to use an
IGV row in order to meet the relative flow angles to
the rotor and hence the turning and diffusion for the
prescribed work distribution.
54 © 2006, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium
The blade profiles have been designed as Controlled
Diffusion Blades by the use of an inverse method de-
veloped at VKI starting from initial subsonic NACA 65
profiles.
A final design and off-design 3D Navier-Stokes calcu-
lation of the geometry permitted the validation of the
design against specifications and computed the oper-
ating map of the stage (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Performance map and predicted stall
margin from 3D Navier-Stokes calculations
In order to experimentally assess the performance as
well as the stability margin of this particular stage, the
VKI has designed a new test section for its high speed
axial compressor test rig R-4, which has been totally
reconditioned after 20 years of inactivity (Figure 3).
The stall inception mechanism as well as the tip leak-
age vortex structure and its evolution while ap-
proaching stall will be investigated in detail by fast re-
sponse pressure probes, hot wire measurements and
unsteady static pressure measurements in the rotor
casing wall.
It is proposed to investigate two types of casing treat-
ments and compare their effect with that of a smooth
casing. Based on preliminary literature research it is
suggested to adopt as a first configuration a grooved
casing with either circumferential grooves or oblique
grooves, the latter aligned with the blade chord. Both
types have shown large improvements in the operat-
ing range with little or
no loss in efficiency.
The exact geometry of
the grooves, their
spacing, width and
depth, has still to be
fixed. The second con-
figuration is to be de-
termined.