The unsteady aero-dynamics of a single-stage high-pressure turbine blade operating at design corrected conditions has been the subject of a thorough study involving detailed measurements and computations. The experimental configuration consisted of a single-stage high-pressure turbine and the adjacent, downstream, low-pressure turbine nozzle row. All three blade-rows were instrumented at three spanwise locations with flush-mounted, high-frequency response pressure transducers. The rotor was also instrumented with the same transducers on the blade tip and platform and the stationary shroud was instrumented with pressure transducers at specific locations above the rotating blade. Predictions of the time-dependent flow field around the rotor were obtained using MSU-TURBO, a three-dimensional (3D), nonlinear, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Using an isolated blade-row unsteady analysis method, the unsteady surface pressure for the high-pressure turbine rotor due to the upstream high-pressure turbine nozzle was calculated. The predicted unsteady pressure on the rotor surface was compared to the measurements at selected spanwise locations on the blade, in the recessed cavity, and on the shroud. The rig and computational models included a flat and recessed blade tip geometry and were used for the comparisons presented in the paper. Comparisons of the measured and predicted static pressure loading on the blade surface show excellent correlation from both a time-average and time-accurate standpoint. This paper concentrates on the tip and shroud comparisons between the experiments and the predictions and these results also show good correlation with the time-resolved data. These data comparisons provide confidence in the CFD modeling and its ability to capture unsteady flow physics on the blade surface, in the flat and recessed tip regions of the blade, and on the stationary shroud.

Aerodynamic measurements were acquired on a modern single-stage, transonic, high-pressure turbine with the adjacent low-pressure turbine vane row (a typical civilian one and one-half stage turbine rig) to observe the effects of low-pressure turbine vane clocking on overall turbine performance. The turbine rig (loosely referred to in this paper as the stage) was operated at design corrected conditions using the Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory Turbine Test Facility. The research program utilized uncooled hardware in which all three airfoils were heavily instrumented at multiple spans to develop a full clocking dataset. The low-pressure turbine vane row (LPTV) was clocked relative to the high-pressure turbine vane row (HPTV). Various methods were used to evaluate the influence of clocking on the aeroperformance (efficiency) and the aerodynamics (pressure loading) of the LPTV, including time-resolved and time-averaged measurements. A change in overall efficiency of approximately 2–3% due to clocking effects is demonstrated and could be observed using a variety of independent methods. Maximum efficiency is obtained when the time-average surface pressures are highest on the LPTV and the time-resolved surface pressure (both in the time domain and frequency domain) show the least amount of variation. The overall effect is obtained by integrating over the entire airfoil, as the three-dimensional (3D) effects on the LPTV surface are significant. This experimental data set validates several computational research efforts that suggested wake migration is the primary reason for the perceived effectiveness of vane clocking. The suggestion that wake migration is the dominate mechanism in generating the clocking effect is also consistent with anecdotal evidence that fully cooled engine rigs do not see a great deal of clocking effect. This is consistent since the additional disturbances induced by the cooling flows and∕or the combustor make it extremely difficult to find an alignment for the LPTV given the strong 3D nature of modern high-pressure turbine flows.

Aerodynamic and heat-transfer measurements were acquired using a modern stage and 1/2 high-pressure turbine operating at design corrected conditions and pressure ratio. These measurements were performed using the Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory Turbine Test Facility (TTF). The research program utilized an uncooled turbine stage for which all three airfoils are heavily instrumented at multiple spans to develop a full database at different Reynolds numbers for code validation and flow-physics modeling. The pressure data, once normalized by the inlet conditions, was insensitive to the Reynolds number. The heat-flux data for the high-pressure stage suggests turbulent flow over most of the operating conditions and is Reynolds number sensitive. However, the heat-flux data does not scale according to flat plat theory for most of the airfoil surfaces. Several different predictions have been done using a variety of design and research codes. In this work, comparisons are made between industrial codes and an older code called UNSFLO-2D initially published in the late 1980’s. The comparisons show that the UNSFLO-2D results at midspan are comparable to the modern codes for the time-resolved and time-averaged pressure data, which is remarkable given the vast differences in the processing required. UNSFLO-2D models the entropy generated around the airfoil surfaces using the full Navier-Stokes equations, but propagates the entropy invisicidly downstream to the next blade row, dramatically reducing the computational power required. The accuracy of UNSFLO-2D suggests that this type of approach may be far more useful in creating time-accurate design tools, than trying to utilize full time-accurate Navier-stokes codes which are often currently used as research codes in the engine community, but have yet to be fully integrated into the design system due to their complexity and significant processor requirements.

Aerodynamic measurements were acquired on a modern single-stage, transonic, high-pressure turbine with the adjacent low-pressure turbine vane row (a typical civilian one and one-half stage turbine rig) to observe the effects of low-pressure turbine vane clocking on overall turbine performance. The turbine rig (loosely referred to in this paper as the stage) was operated at design corrected conditions using the Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory Turbine Test Facility (TTF). The research program utilized uncooled hardware in which all three airfoils were heavily instrumented at multiple spans to develop a full clocking dataset. The low-pressure turbine vane row (LPTV) was clocked relative to the high-pressure turbine vane row (HPTV). Various methods were used to evaluate the influence of clocking on the aeroperformance (efficiency) and the aerodynamics (pressure loading) of the LPTV, including time-resolved and time-averaged measurements. A change in overall efficiency of approximately 2–3% due to clocking effects is demonstrated and could be observed using a variety of independent methods. Maximum efficiency is obtained when the time-average surface pressures are highest on the LPTV and the time-resolved surface pressure (both in the time domain and frequency domain) show the least amount of variation. The overall effect is obtained by integrating over the entire airfoil, as the three-dimensional effects on the LPTV surface are significant. This experimental data set validates several computational research efforts that suggested wake migration is the primary reason for the perceived effectiveness of vane clocking. The suggestion that wake migration is the dominate mechanism in generating the clocking effect is also consistent with anecdotal evidence that fully cooled engine rigs do not see a great deal of clocking effect. This is consistent since the additional disturbances induced by the cooling flows and/or the combustor make it extremely difficult to find an alignment for the LPTV given the strong 3D nature of modern high-pressure turbine flows.

The unsteady aero-dynamics of a single-stage high-pressure turbine blade operating at design corrected conditions has been the subject of a thorough study involving detailed measurements and computations. The experimental configuration consisted of a single-stage high-pressure turbine and the adjacent, downstream, low-pressure turbine nozzle row. All three blade-rows were instrumented at three spanwise locations with flush-mounted, high frequency response pressure transducers. The rotor was also instrumented with the same transducers on the blade tip and platform and the stationary shroud was instrumented with pressure transducers at specific locations above the rotating blade. Predictions of the time-dependent flow field around the rotor were obtained using MSU-TURBO, a 3D, non-linear, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Using an isolated blade-row unsteady analysis method, the unsteady surface pressure for the high-pressure turbine rotor due to the upstream high-pressure turbine nozzle was calculated. The predicted unsteady pressure on the rotor surface was compared to the measurements at selected spanwise locations on the blade, in the recessed cavity, and on the shroud. The rig and computational models included a flat and recessed blade tip geometry and were used for the comparisons presented in the paper. Comparisons of the measured and predicted static pressure loading on the blade surface show excellent correlation from both a time-average and time-accurate standpoint. This paper concentrates on the tip and shroud comparisons between the experiments and the predictions and these results also show good correlation with the time-resolved data. These data comparisons provide confidence in the CFD modeling and its ability to capture unsteady flow physics on the blade surface, in the flat and recessed tip regions of the blade, and on the stationary shroud.