a b s t r a c tThe response of orifices to incident acoustic waves, which is important for many engineering applications, is investigated with an approach combining both experimental measurements and numerical simulations. This paper presents experimental data on acoustic impedance of orifices, which is subsequently used for validation of a numerical technique developed for the purpose of predicting the acoustic response of a range of geometries with moderate computational cost. Measurements are conducted for orifices with length to diameter ratios, L/D, of 0.5, 5 and 10. The experimental data is obtained for a range of frequencies using a configuration in which a mean (or bias) flow passes from a duct through the test orifices before issuing into a plenum. Acoustic waves are provided by a sound generator on the upstream side of the orifices. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations of the same configuration have also been performed. These have been undertaken using an unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) approach with a pressure based compressible formulation with appropriate characteristic based boundary conditions to simulate the correct acoustic behaviour at the boundaries. The CFD predictions are in very good agreement with the experimental data, predicting the correct trend with both frequency and orifice L/D in a way not seen with analytical models. The CFD was also able to successfully predict a negative resistance, and hence a reflection coefficient greater than unity for the L=D ¼ 0:5 case.

This paper considers the use of perforated porous liners for the absorption of acoustic energy within aero style gas turbine combustion systems. The overall combustion system pressure drop means that the porous liner (or “damping skin”) is typically combined with a metering skin. This enables most of the mean pressure drop, across the flame tube, to occur across the metering skin with the porous liner being exposed to a much smaller pressure drop. In this way porous liners can potentially be designed to provide significant levels of acoustic damping, but other requirements (e.g., cooling, available space envelope, etc) must also be considered as part of this design process. A passive damper assembly was incorporated within an experimental isothermal facility that simulated an aero-engine style flame tube geometry. The damper was therefore exposed to the complex flow field present within an engine environment (e.g., swirling efflux from a fuel injector, coolant film passing across the damper surface, etc.). In addition, plane acoustic waves were generated using loudspeakers so that the flow field was subjected to unsteady pressure fluctuations. This enabled the performance of the damper, in terms of its ability to absorb acoustic energy, to be evaluated. To complement the experimental investigation a simplified one-dimensional (1D) analytical model was also developed and validated against the experimental results. In this way not only was the performance of the acoustic damper evaluated, but also the fundamental processes responsible for this measured performance could be identified. Furthermore, the validated analytical model also enabled a wide range of damping geometry to be assessed for a range of operating conditions. In this way damper geometry can be optimized (e.g., for a given space envelope) while the onset of nonlinear absorption (and hence the potential to ingest hot gas) can also be identified.

Gas turbine combustion systems are prone to thermo-acoustic instabilities, and this is particularly the case for new low emission lean burn type systems. The presence of such instabilities is basically a function of the unsteady heat release within the system (i.e., both magnitude and phase) and the amount of damping. This paper is concerned with this latter process and the potential damping provided by perforated liners and other circular apertures found within gas turbine combustion systems. In particular, the paper outlines experimental measurements that characterize the flow field within the near field region of circular apertures when being subjected to incident acoustic pressure fluctuations. In this way the fundamental process by which acoustic energy is converted into kinetic energy of the velocity field can be investigated. Experimental results are presented for a single orifice located in an isothermal duct at ambient test conditions. Attached to the duct are two loudspeakers that provide pressure fluctuations incident onto the orifice. Unsteady pressure measurements enable the acoustic power absorbed by the orifice to be determined. This was undertaken for a range of excitation amplitudes and mean flows through the orifice. In this way regimes where both linear and nonlinear absorption occur along with the transition between these regimes can be investigated. The key to designing efficient passive dampers is to understand the interaction between the unsteady velocity field, generated at the orifice and the acoustic pressure fluctuations. Hence experimental techniques are also presented that enable such detailed measurements of the flow field to be made using particle image velocimetry. These measurements were obtained for conditions at which linear and nonlinear absorption was observed. Furthermore, proper orthogonal decomposition was used as a novel analysis technique for investigating the unsteady coherent structures responsible for the absorption of energy from the acoustic field.

This paper considers the use of perforated porous liners for the absorption of acoustic energy within aero style gas turbine combustion systems. The overall combustion system pressure drop means that the porous liner (or ‘damping skin’) is typically combined with a metering skin. This enables most of the mean pressure drop, across the flame tube, to occur across the metering skin with the porous liner being exposed to a much smaller pressure drop. In this way porous liners can potentially be designed to provide significant levels of acoustic damping, but other requirements (e.g. cooling, available space envelope etc) must also be considered as part of this design process. A passive damper assembly was incorporated within an experimental isothermal facility that simulated an aero-engine style flame tube geometry. The damper was therefore exposed to the complex flow field present within an engine environment (e.g. swirling efflux from a fuel injector, coolant film passing across the damper surface etc.). In addition, plane acoustic waves were generated using loudspeakers so that the flow field was subjected to unsteady pressure fluctuations. This enabled the performance of the damper, in terms of its ability to absorb acoustic energy, to be evaluated. To complement the experimental investigation a simplified 1D analytical model was also developed and validated against the experimental results. In this way not only was the performance of the acoustic damper evaluated, but also the fundamental processes responsible for this measured performance could be identified. Furthermore the validated analytical model also enabled a wide range of damping geometry to be assessed for a range of operating conditions. In this way damper geometry can be optimized (e.g. for a given space envelope) whilst the onset of non-linear absorption (and hence the potential to ingest hot gas) can also be identified.

Gas turbine combustion systems are prone to thermo-acoustic instabilities, and this is particularly the case for new, low emission, lean burn type systems. The presence of such instabilities is basically a function of the unsteady heat release within the system (i.e. both magnitude and phase), and the amount of damping. This paper is concerned with this latter process and the potential damping provided by perforated liners and other circular apertures found within gas turbine combustion systems. In particular the paper outlines experimental measurements that characterise the flow field within the near field region of circular apertures when being subjected to incident acoustic pressure fluctuations. In this way the fundamental process by which acoustic energy is converted into kinetic energy of the velocity field can be investigated. Experimental results are presented for a single orifice located in an isothermal duct at ambient test conditions. Attached to the duct are two loudspeakers that provide pressure fluctuations incident onto the orifice. Unsteady pressure measurements enable the acoustic power absorbed by the orifice to be determined. This was undertaken for a range of excitation amplitudes and mean flows through the orifice. In this way regimes where both linear and non-linear absorption occur along with the transition between these regimes can be investigated. The key to designing efficient passive dampers is to understand the interaction between the unsteady velocity field, generated at the orifice, and the acoustic pressure fluctuations. Hence experimental techniques are also presented that enable such detailed measurements of the flow field to be made using PIV. These measurements were obtained for conditions at which linear and non-linear absorption was observed. Furthermore, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition was used as a novel analysis technique for investigating the unsteady coherent structures responsible for the absorption of energy from the acoustic field.