Title
Articulating Axial-Flow Turbomachinery Rotor Blade For Enabling Variable Speed Gas Turbine Engine
Campus Units
Mechanical Engineering
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Conference
AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2018
Journal or Book Title
2018 Joint Propulsion Conference
First Page
4522
DOI
10.2514/6.2018-4522
Conference Title
2018 Joint Propulsion Conference
Conference Date
July 9-11, 2018
City
Cincinnati, OH
Abstract
Current technology gas turbine engines are generally optimized to operate at nearly a fixed speed with fixed blade geometries for the design operating condition. When the operating condition of the engine changes, the flow incidence angles may not be optimum with the blade geometries resulting in reduced off-design performance. But, if we have the capability of articulating the pitch angle of axial-flow compressor/turbine blades in coordination with adjustable stator vanes, it can improve performance by maintaining flow incidence angles within the optimum range for given blade geometries at all operating conditions. Maintaining flow incidence angles within the optimum range can prevent the likelihood of flow separation in the blade passage and also reduce the thermal stresses developed due to aerothermal loads for variable speed gas turbine applications. This paper discusses a recent invention of adaptable articulating axial-flow compressor or turbine rotor blade that can significantly impact developing a high efficiency variable speed gas turbine for rotorcraft or ground vehicles that may need to operate optimally at different torque/speed conditions during various maneuvers. U.S. Army Research Laboratory has partnered with University of California San Diego and Iowa State University Collaborators to conduct high fidelity stator-rotor interaction analysis for evaluating the aerodynamic efficiency benefits of an articulating axial flow turbine blade concept. In addition, a design study for articulating turbine or compressor rotor blade using smart material based actuators using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) has been carried out. Highly coupled fluid-structure interaction computational study of articulating turbine rotor and stator blades, together with a design concept of articulating axial-flow turbomachinery rotor blade using a smart material such as SMA is presented.
Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Murugan, Muthuvel; Ghoshal, Anindya; Bravo, Luis; Xu, Fei; Hsu, Ming-Chen; and Bazilevs, Yuri, "Articulating Axial-Flow Turbomachinery Rotor Blade For Enabling Variable Speed Gas Turbine Engine" (2018). Mechanical Engineering Conference Presentations, Papers, and Proceedings. 195.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/me_conf/195
Included in
Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Commons, Computer-Aided Engineering and Design Commons, Energy Systems Commons, Structures and Materials Commons
Comments
This proceeding is published as Murugan, Muthuvel, Anindya Ghoshal, Luis Bravo, Fei Xu, Ming-Chen Hsu, and Yuri Bazilevs. "Articulating Axial-Flow Turbomachinery Rotor Blade for Enabling Variable Speed Gas Turbine Engine." In 2018 Joint Propulsion Conference, (2018): 4522. doi: 10.2514/6.2018-4522. Posted with permission.