This thesis presents the results of two 2-D computational studies of a circulation control Inlet Guide Vane (IGV) that takes advantage of the Coanda effect for flow vectoring. The IGV in this thesis is an uncambered airfoil that alters circulation around itself by means of a Coanda jet that exhausts along the IGV's trailing edge surface. The IGV is designed for an axial inlet flow at a Mach number of 0.54 and an exit flow angle of 11 degrees. These conditions were selected to match the operating conditions of the 90% span section of the IGV of the TESCOM compressor rig at the Compressor Aero Research Laboratory (CARL) located at Wright-Patterson AFB. Furthermore, using the nominal chord (length from leading edge of the IGV to the jet exit) for the length scale, the Reynolds number for the circulation control IGV in this region was 5e⁵. The first study was a code and turbulence model comparison, while the second study was an optimization study which determined optimal results for parameters that affected circulation around the IGV. Individual abstracts for the two studies are provided below. To determine the effect of different turbulence models on the prediction of turning angles from the circulation control IGV, the commercial code GASP was employed using three turbulence models. Furthermore, to show that the results from the optimization study were code independent a code comparison was completed between ADPAC and GASP using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. Turbulence models employed by GASP included: two isotropic turbulence models, the one equation Spalart-Allmaras and the two-equation Wilcox 1998 k-ω. The isotropic models were then compared to the non-isotropic stress transport model Wilcox 1998 Stress-ω. The results show good comparison between turning angle trends and pressure loss trends for a range of blowing rates studied at a constant trailing edge radius size. When the three turbulence models are compared for a range of trailing edge radii, the models were in good agreement when the trailing edge is sufficiently large. However, at the smallest radius, isotropic models predict the greatest amount of circulation around the IGV that may be caused by the prediction of transonic flow above the Coanda surface. The optimization study employed the CFD code ADPAC in conjunction with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model to determine the optimal jet height, trailing edge radius, and supply pressure that would meet the design criteria of the TESCOM (TESt COMpressor) rig while minimizing the mass flow rate and pressure losses. The optimal geometry that was able to meet the design requirements had a jet height of h/C_n = 0.0057 and a trailing edge Radius R/C_n = 0.16. This geometry needed a jet to inflow total pressure ratio of 1.8 to meet the exit turning angle requirement. At this supply pressure ratio the mass flow rate required by the flow control system was 0.71 percent of the total mass flow rate through the engine. The optimal circulation control IGV had slightly lower pressure losses when compared to the cambered IGV in the TESCOM rig. / Master of Science

An aerodynamic investigation was performed to assess the effectiveness of combined boundary layer suction and trailing edge blowing at reducing the blade profile losses and the wake momentum deficit of a cascade of tandem IGV's operating at realistic flow conditions. Two trailing edge blowing designs were tested: metal-angle blowing, which oriented the blowing jets very near to the blade exit angle, and deviation-angle blowing, which oriented the blowing jets at a significant deviation angle from the blade exit angle. Both blowing designs used the same boundary layer suction arrangement. A linear cascade of five IGV's was tested with a flap deflection angle of 40 degrees and an inlet Mach number of 0.3. The Reynolds number based on the overall IGV chord length for these experiments was greater than 500,000. The inlet and exit angles of the IGV at this flap setting were 0 degrees and 55 degrees, respectively. Tests performed with no flow control showed significant suction surface flow separation that generated large wakes with high losses and large momentum deficits. The application of boundary layer suction reduced the baseline pressure loss coefficient and wake momentum thickness by 22%. A suction mass flow of 0.4% of the passage flow was used to obtain these results. The addition of metal-angle blowing with the suction resulted in total reductions of 48% and 38% for the pressure loss coefficient and wake momentum thickness. A blowing mass flow of 3.1% of the passage flow was used in addition to 0.4% suction mass flow to obtain these results. The application of the deviation-angle blowing was detrimental to the aerodynamics of the IGV, as both the pressure loss coefficient and wake momentum thickness increased slightly over their suction-only values. This was attributed to a manufacturing defect which distorted the flow of the blowing jet. The results of the deviation-angle blowing experiments were not considered representative of the design intent and reinforced the importance of the hole design for creating a proper blowing jet. While low speed tests of this cascade showed results and trends very similar to those of previous research, the application of flow control proved to be less effective at higher speeds due to the generation of significantly larger wakes. / Master of Science

A series of experiments were conducted in a F109 turbofan engine to investigate the unsteady wake profiles of an Inlet Guide Vane (IGV) at a typical spacing to the downstream fan at subsonic and transonic relative blade velocities. The sharp trailing-edge vanes were designed to produce a wake profile consistent with modern IGV. Time averaged baseline measurements were first performed with the IGV located upstream of the aerodynamic influence of the fan. Unsteady experiments were performed with an IGV-fan spacing of 0.43 fan chords. High-frequency on-vane pressure measurements showed strong peak-to-peak amplitudes at the blade passing frequency (BPF) of 4.7 psi at the transonic fan speeds. High-frequency total pressure measurements of the IGV wake were taken between the IGV and fan. Results showed that the total pressure loss coefficient of the time averaged IGV wake is reduced by 30% for the subsonic fan, and increased by a factor of 2 for the transonic fan compared to the baseline. Time resolved wake profiles for subsonic fan speeds show constructive and destructive interactions over each blade pass generated by the fan potential flow field. Time resolved wake profiles for the transonic fan speeds show that shock interactions with the IGV surface result in the wake shedding off of the vane at the BPF. Furthermore, the effectiveness of trailing edge blowing (TEB) flow control was investigated. TEB is the method of injecting air aft of the IGV to reduce the low pressure regions (deficits) in the viscous wakes shed by the vanes. Minimizing the IGV wakes reduces the forcing function on the downstream fan blades, thereby reducing high cycle fatigue. The TE span of the vane contains discrete holes at the axial centerline for TEB. Baseline results showed that TEB eliminates the IGV wake, while using only 0.03% of the total engine mass flow per IGV. TEB for the subsonic fan at the close spacing shows complete wake filling using the same mass flow as the baseline. TEB for the transonic fan shows a reduction of 68% in the total pressure loss coefficient, while requiring 2.5 times the mass flow as the baseline. / Ph. D.

<p>  </p> <p>The focus of this work was to characterize the overall performance effects due to altering the stagger angle of a variable inlet guide vane (VIGV) on a multistage axial compressor. Data were collected from the Purdue three-stage axial compressor (P3S). The stagger angle from the VIGV was varied thrice from the baseline configuration in increments of 5 degrees resulting in four configurations with angles of 4 deg, 9 deg, 14 deg, and 19, where the baseline configuration was 9 degrees. </p> <p>Compressor performance data were collected and analyzed for each stagger angle configuration along three corrected speeds (68%, 80%, 100%). Each speedline consisted of approximately six loading conditions for which the corrected mass flow rate was matched for each configuration to allow for a basis of comparison among the configurations. Stalling mass flow rates and stall inception were also investigated. Total pressure and total temperature rakes were installed throughout the compressor to investigate the performance at interstage locations for each loading condition. In addition to the rakes, static pressure taps were distributed along the compressor and unsteady pressure measurements were distributed circumferentially. Capacitance probes were installed over each of the three rotors to evaluate rotor tip clearance measurements during the tests. The effects of the stagger angle on the stability margin of the compressor were also characterized. Each speedline presented, thus, includes a representative stall point in addition to the six loading conditions where detailed flow field traverses were conducted. </p> <p>The results of this investigation showed that while the total pressure ratio (TPR) increased as the stagger angle decreased, the stability margin was reduced. The opposite trend was observed with a decrease in overall TPR across the compressor and an increase in stability margin for increased stagger angles. Based on findings from previous authors, this trend was anticipated. A similar metric for monitoring compressor performance is isentropic efficiency. This investigation utilized both temperature-based and torque-based isentropic efficiency. The greatest effect of the VIGV stagger angle on compressor isentropic efficiency occurred at the lowest loading conditions, and there was no discernible impact on isentropic efficiency at high loading conditions for this case. As VIGVs typically have the greatest impact on off-design conditions, this trend was expected. The varied stagger angle configurations had no discernible effect on the type of stall inception mechanism experienced by the compressor. The primary effect on stall that was consistent across the configurations was a noticeable increase in the duration and strength of modal oscillations present throughout the compressor with increased stagger angles, indicating an increase in stability. </p> <p>The data collected and presented herein provide a unique, robust dataset to improve understanding of the effects of changing stagger angles on variable inlet guide vanes on multistage axial compressors. These data correspondingly provide a unique training set and validation method for predictive technology. </p>

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The turbine inlet guide vanes of a gas-turbine are subjected to extreme hot gas temperatures which increases the risk of mechanical failure and overall reduces the component lifespan. Hence, it is of great interest for gas-turbine manufacturers to establish methods for accurately estimating the temperature distribution along the vane surface. Due to the three-dimensional nature of turbine flow, it is of interest to establish Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology which capture these three-dimensional effects. This thesis is one in a collection of theses conducted at Siemens Energy AB on the subject. Previous studies have investigated and validated the implementation of RANS simulations on non-cooled turbine vanes and endwalls. In this study, the focus is on studying a film cooled vane and establishing one RANS as well as one hybrid modelling strategy for heat transfer coefficient (HTC) predictions. The HTC prediction capabilities are compared and validated against experimental data presented in the doctoral thesis by Fabrizio Fontaneto on the LS94 vane at Von Karman Institute. The chosen RANS modelling method was the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model, with γ-Reθ transition modelling, based on the findings by Enico (2021) and Daugulis (2022). The model proved capable in estimating the HTC well on mainly the suction side of the vane. The pressure side HTC was largely under-predicted, a common issue with the SST model also seen in the previous theses as well as the hybrid simulations. The strength of the SST k-ω turbulence model, with γ-Reθ transition modelling, is in accurately capturing the HTC magnitude, most likely due to the well-predicted turbulence intensity decay at the inlet. However, it largely under-predicts the HTC along the suction side film-coolant layer, implying that it may be over-estimating the film-cooling capabilities. The hybrid model chosen was the Scale Resolving Hybrid (SRH) model, with underlying RANS SST k-ω. Compared to RANS, hybrid results were under-estimated, seemingly offset from the experimental data by a constant 200 units along the entire vane midspan. This is likely due to the inaccurate turbulence intensity presented in the SRH simulations, which decays quickly along the inlet compared to RANS and experimental data. Yet still, the hybrid model showed potential in capturing certain results not seen with RANS, such as the secondary flow effects by the vane endwalls, as well as arguably capturing the general HTC trend at midspan seen in the experimental data. Additionally, the section of severely under-predicted HTC by the suction side film-coolant seen with RANS is not present in the hybrid results. Although the hybrid model has proven promising in many aspects, in its current state it is not a viable method for HTC predictions due to its general under-prediction of HTC. Largely, the authors suspect this is due to the undesirably coarse mesh around the cooling holes, which leads to RANS computation in regions where SRH is desired. Thus, improvements would need to be made to the model, where, for example, implementing a zonal hybrid RANS-LES model would be an option. Considering the hybrid model in its current state, RANS is the preferred method, especially when considering the greater computational cost and the labor associated with hybrid simulations which were experienced during this study. In conclusion, it is evident that the correct capture of inlet turbulence intensity decay as well as suitable mesh refinement by the cooling holes are crucial for obtaining the correct magnitudes of HTC, and thus, the capture of it should be of utmost priority in future work within the field.