The objective of this work is to computationally investigate the impact of an incidence-tolerant rotor blade concept on gas turbine engine performance under off-design conditions. When a gas turbine operates at an off-design condition such as hover flight or takeoff, large-scale flow separation can occur around turbine blades, which causes performance degradation, excessive noise, and critical loss of operability. To alleviate this shortcoming, a novel concept which articulates the rotating turbine blades simultaneous with the stator vanes is explored. We use a finite-element-based moving-domain computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework to model a single high-pressure turbine stage. The rotor speeds investigated range from 100% down to 50% of the designed condition of 44,700 rpm. This study explores the limits of rotor blade articulation angles and determines the maximal performance benefits in terms of turbine output power and adiabatic efficiency. The results show articulating rotor blades can achieve an efficiency gain of 10% at off-design conditions thereby providing critical leap-ahead design capabilities for the U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

This work couples high-fidelity moving-domain finite element compressible flow modeling with a Surrogate Management Framework (SMF) for optimization to effectively design a variable speed gas turbine stage. The superior accuracy of high-fidelity modeling, however, comes with relatively high computational costs, which are further amplified in the iterative design process that relies on parametric sweeps. An innovative approach is developed to reduce the number of iterations needed for optimal design, leading to a significant reduction in the computational cost without sacrificing the high fidelity of the analysis. The proposed design optimization approach is applied to a novel incidence-tolerant turbomachinery blade technology that articulates the stator- and rotor-blade positions of an annular single-stage high pressure turbine to achieve peak performance. This work also extends our understanding of rotor–stator interactions by simulating complex internal flows occurring during multi-speed turbine operation. Potential variable-speed gas turbine stage designs and the proposed optimization approach are presented to provide valuable insight into this new turbomachinery technology that can positively impact future propulsion systems.

The objective of this work is to computationally investigate the impact of an incident-tolerant rotor blade concept on gas-turbine engine performance under off-design conditions. Currently, gas-turbine engines are designed to operate at a single condition with nearly fixed rotor speeds. Operation at off-design conditions, such as during hover flight or during takeoff, causes the turbine blade flow to excessively separate introducing performance degradations, excessive noise, and critical loss of operability. To address these issues, the benefits of using an incidence-tolerant rotor blade concept is explored based on a novel concept that articulates the rotating turbine blade synchronously with the stator nozzle vanes. This concept is investigated using a novel CFD/FSI framework based on finite element analysis. The model considers a complex single stage highpressure turbine geometry with 24 stator and 34 rotor blades operating under combustor exit flow conditions. The rotor speeds investigated are 44,700 rpm, 33,525 rpm, and 22,350 rpm corresponding to the design point at 100% speed down to 51% speed during off-design flight mode. This study focuses on determining the optimal performance benefits possible by exploring the limits of rotor blade articulation angles, as well as reporting its impact over a broad range of rotor speeds at Army relevant conditions. The key variables of interest include moments on the blade suction surface, torque, power, and turbine stage adiabatic efficiency. Further, sensitivity analysis of the uncertainties in boundary conditions is conducted to determine its influence on turbine efficiency. The results show that it is possible to increase efficiency increases of up to 10% by articulating rotor blades at off-design conditions thereby providing critical leap ahead design capabilities for the US Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.