A Design for Fouling Oriented Optimization of an HPT Nozzle

Abstract

Fouling and erosion are two problems that severely affect gas turbines. The shape of the blade, its roughness, and its structural stability can vary as a consequence of these phenomena. The outcomes of this occurrence can span from the efficiency reduction to the engine shut down according to the nature of the material ingested, to the concentration of contaminants in the air, the cleanliness of fuel and to the particular design of the machine. In this work, an axial turbine airfoil is modified according to the requirement of less sensibility to the phenomena above mentioned, utilizing an automatic optimization algorithm. An artificial neural network surrogate approach is used for searching the optimal shape, minimizing the computational cost of the entire process. The optimum design of the blade is therefore achieved, in order to reduce the effects of deposition on the performance. The methodology here proposed is fully general and it is applied to an HPT nozzle in the present analysis.

Dust Ingestion in a Rotorcraft Engine Compressor: Experimental and Numerical Study of the Fouling Rate

“…The interest in compressor fouling study is twofold: (i) from the maintenance point of view, the prediction of the amount of deposited mass over the gas turbine's operative life can help to schedule and optimize overhaul and washing operations [15], leading to a significant reduction of costs; while (ii) from the component design standpoint, a more robust approach may be introduced to minimize the losses derived from fouling [16]. Experimental and numerical techniques have been employed to reproduce and understand the complex phenomena underlying the particle adhesion on compressor blades and vanes.…”