High Response Pressure Transducers Research Articles

Condensation shock topologies in carbon dioxide and a non-condensable gas mixture in supersonic nozzles

Condensation shock waves may occur in many flow expansion devices such as turbomachinery, gas ejectors, micro thrust-nozzles, and supersonic gas flow separators. However, their experimental analysis has been barely addressed as condensation shocks comprise complex phenomena such as compressible flow behavior, a shock-like phase transition, and a two-phase flow expansion. This work characterizes experimentally some condensation shock topologies of a mixture of carbon dioxide and dry air at several compositions in a Laval nozzle. Experiments were carried out in a test-rig instrumented with high-response pressure transducers installed along the Laval nozzle wall along with a Schlieren setup equipped with a high-speed video camera imaging the flow behavior within the nozzle. The nozzle wall profile was built by using the method of characteristics developed from a real equation-of-state suited for the testing mixture. Results revealed the influence of the nozzle wall profile on the condensation shock location and topology. Moreover, there types of flow behavior were captured and named as conventional, transition, and Mach wave condensation shocks. The transition from one topology to another occurred due to the interaction between cancelation waves originated from the nozzle wall and the phase-change phenomenon, giving rise to two distinct regions characterized by certain observable droplet population density. The current investigation presents an in-depth phenomenological discussion of the three types of condensation shock topologies as such assessment has not been previously developed.

Experimental Study on the Unsteady Characteristics and the Impact Performance of a High-Pressure Submerged Cavitation Jet

High-pressure submerged cavitation jet is widely used in the fields of material peening, petroleum drilling, and ocean engineering. The impact performance of the jet with intensive cavitation is related to the factors such as working condition and the nozzle geometry. To reveal the relationship between the nozzle divergent angle and the jet pressure on the unsteady characteristics of the jet, high-speed photography with frame rate of 20000 fps is used to record the image of the cavitation clouds. Grayscale analysis algorithm developed in MATLAB is used to study the effects of injecting condition on the special structure, unsteady characteristics, and shedding frequency of the cavitation bubbles. The impact load characteristics of the cavitation jet with different cavitation numbers and stand-off distances are recorded using a high-response pressure transducer. It is found that the cavitation number is the main factor affecting the cavitation morphology of the submerged jet. The lower the cavitation number is, the more intense the cavitation occurs. The outlet divergent angle of the convergent-divergent nozzle also has a significant influence on the development of the cavitation clouds. In the three nozzles with the outlet divergent angles of 40°, 80°, and 120°, the highest bubble concentration is formed usinga nozzle with a divergent angle of 40°, but the high-concentration cavitating bubbles are only distributed in a very small range of the nozzle outlet. The cavities generated by using the nozzle with a divergent angle of 80° can achieve good results in terms of concentration and distribution range, while the nozzle with divergent angle of 120° has lower cavitation performance due to the lack of the constraint at the outlet which intensifies the shear stress of the jet. According to the result of frame difference method (FDM) analysis, the jet cavitation is mainly formed in the vortex structure generated by the shearing layer at the nozzle exit, and the most severe region in the collapse stage is the rear end of the downstream segment after the bubble cloud sheds off. The impact load of the cavitation jet is mainly affected by the stand-off distance of the nozzle from the impinged target, while the nozzle outlet geometry also has an effect on the impact performance. Optimizing the stand-off distance and the outlet geometry of the nozzles is found to be a good way to improve the performance of the cavitation jet.

Unsteady Pressure Pulsation Measurements and Analysis of a Low Specific Speed Centrifugal Pump

Intense pressure pulsation, resulted from the flow structure shedding from the blade trailing edge and its interaction with the volute tongue and the casing, is detrimental to the stable operation of centrifugal pumps. In the present study, unsteady pressure pulsation signals at different positions of the volute casing are extracted using high response pressure transducers at flow rate of 0–1.55ΦN. Emphasis is laid upon the influence of measuring position and operating condition on pressure pulsation characteristics, and components at the blade passing frequency fBPF and root-mean-square (RMS) values in 0–20.66fn frequency band are mainly analyzed. Results clearly show that the predominant components in pressure spectra always locate at fBPF. The varying trends versus flow rate of components at fBPF differ significantly for different points, and it is considered to be associated with the corresponding flow structures at particular positions of the volute casing. At the near-tongue region, high pressure amplitudes occur at the position of θ = 36 deg, namely the point at the after tongue region. For different measuring points, angular distributions of amplitudes at fBPF and RMS values in 0–20.66fn frequency band are not consistent and affected significantly by the pump operating conditions.

Effects of inlet radial distortion on the type of stall precursor in low-speed axial compressor

Experimental investigations of the effect of inlet blade loading on the rotating stall inception process are carried out on a single-stage low-speed axial compressor. Temporal pressure signals from the six high response pressure transducers are used for the analysis. Pressure variations at the hub are especially recorded during the stall inception process. Inlet blade loading is altered by installing metallic meshed distortion screens at the rotor upstream. Three sets of experiments are performed for the comparison of results, i.e. uniform inlet flow, tip, and hub distortions, respectively. Regardless of the type of distortion introduced to the inflow, the compressor undergoes a performance drop, which is more severe in the hub distortion case. Under the uniform inlet flow condition, stall inception is caused by the modal type disturbance while the stall precursor switched to spike type due to the highly loaded blade tip. In the presence of high blade loading at the hub, spike disappeared and the compressor once again witnessed a modal type disturbance. Hub pressure fluctuations are observed throughout the process when the stall is caused by a modal wave while no disturbance is noticed at the hub in spike type stall inception. It is believed that the hub flow separation contributes to the modal type of stall inception phenomenon. Results are also supported by the recently developed signal processing techniques for the stall inception study.

The role of acoustic cavitation in liquid pressurization in narrow tubes

The liquid pressurization mechanism in narrow tubes as a result of high intensity ultrasonic field along the irradiation direction is discussed, with a focus on the physical behavior of acoustic cavitation bubbles formed at the tube's open end. The acoustic energy dissipated at the surface of the bubbles results in radiation pressure with a second harmonic frequency (2f). We show here that during the phenomenon, which resembles the functioning an ultrasonic pump, cyclical pressure fluctuations with the second harmonic frequency 2f are observed using a high-response pressure transducer. The maximum value of accumulating pressure is equivalent to the positive peak of the sound pressure in the tube without acoustic cavitation. It can be thought that the cyclic collapse and expansion of acoustic cavitation bubbles at the tube's open end contribute to the control of the inrushing sound pressure. In particular, the transmission behavior of the received pressure in a viscous liquid containing gas bubbles with high number density near the tube's open end (a quantity that is related to the kinematic viscosity of the medium liquid) plays an important role in this pressure accumulation mechanism. A dynamic model of this pressurization phenomenon is also discussed.

0410 インレットベーン付多段遠心ブロワで発生する非定常圧力変動に関する実験的研究(OS4-2 流体機械の研究開発とそれに関連した複雑流動現象,OS4 流体機械の研究開発とそれに関連した複雑流動現象)

This study experimentally examines unstable flow phenomena occur in a five-stage centrifugal blower equipped with inlet guide vanes (IGV) before the first stage. Six high response pressure transducers were mounted on several parts of the blower to detect a surge and a rotating stall. We confirmed three types of pressure fluctuation in low flowrate region; deep surge, spike-like rotating stall, and mild surge. At 4.5 percent IGV opening condition, mild surge was observed in the steep negative slope region of the total system head curve, where the whole compression system was supposed to be stable. We considered that mild surge was caused by a balance between a stabilization effect of the first stage with prewhirl and a destabilization effect of the other stages that had no prewhirl and stalled.

Unsteady behaviour of the tip clearance vortex in a rotor equivalent compressor cascade

From earlier experimental investigations in a single-stage axial-flow pump and different numerical calculations of the flow in single-stage axial-flow compressors, it is known that vortex breakdown of the tip clearance vortex can take place in turbomachines, although an experimental proof for subsonic compressors is lacking. Vortex breakdown, if existent, is a source of high instability in the sensitive tip region of axial-flow pumps and compressors and will also play an important role in the stall inception process. Therefore, the flow in a linear compressor cascade with a 3 per cent tip clearance to one side has been investigated at different flow angles from the design point up to the stability limit of the cascade. The cascade resembles the tip section of a single-stage, axial-flow, low-speed compressor that is also in use at the Technical University of Braunschweig. The measuring techniques used were (a) a commercial particle image velocimetry (PIV) system and (b) a pressure measuring system with several flush mounted high-response pressure transducers at selected locations where the vortex was expected. As the cascade approaches its stall limit, the analysis of the pressure signals in the frequency domain revealed a bump of increased amplitude at a certain non-dimensional frequency for some of the measuring positions. The measuring positions that exhibited the bump correlated very well with a paraboloid-shaped region of high standard deviation enveloping an area of very low momentum fluid. It is shown that the frequency of the striking bump corresponds to the rotational frequency of the vortex calculated from the PIV measurements.

Features of rotating stall cell in a diagonal flow fan (in case of mid-loading rotor)

The structure and behavior of rotating stall cell were experimentally clarified in a diagonal flow fan. The specific-speed of the fan was 1140 (r/min, m3/min, m), and the total pressure-rise coefficient at design flow-rate was 0.345. The static pressure on outer casing wall and the total pressure at rotor inlet and outlet were measured using a high response pressure transducer. The measured data were processed by the use of DPLA technique, and the structure and behavior of rotating stall cell were obtained. As a result, the stall cell extent for circumferential and spanwise direction and the pressure distributions inside stall cell were clarified. The details of stall cell propagation were also shown.

Comparative Studies on Short and Long Length-Scale Stall Cell Propagating in an Axial Compressor Rotor

In a low-speed compressor test rig at Kyushu University, multiple short length-scale stall cells appeared under a mild stall condition and turned into a long length-scale cell under a deep stall condition. Then, for the two types of stall cell, the pressure distribution on the casing wall and the velocity distributions upstream and downstream of the rotor have been measured by high-response pressure transducers and a slanted hot-wire, respectively. The time-dependent ensemble-averages of these distributions have been obtained phase-locked to both the rotor and the stall cell rotation using a “double phase-locked averaging technique” developed by the authors. The structures of the two stall cells are compared: The short length-scale stall cell is characterized by a concentrated vortex spanning from the casing wall ahead of the rotor to the blade suction surface. In the long length-scale stall cell, the separation vortices go upstream irregularly when blade separation develops in the front half of the cell, and re-enter the rotor on the hub side in the rear half of it. The unsteady aerodynamic force and torsional moment acting on the blade tip section have been evaluated from the time-dependent ensemble-averages of the casing wall pressure distribution. The force fluctuation due to the short length-scale cells is somewhat smaller than that for the long length-scale cell. The blade suffers two peaks of the force during a period of the short length-scale cells passing through it. The moment fluctuation for the short length-scale cells is considerably larger than that for the long length-scale cell.

Influence of Vane-Blade Spacing on Transonic Turbine Stage Aerodynamics: Part II—Time-Resolved Data and Analysis

This paper presents results of a combined experimental/computational investigation into the effects of vane–blade spacing on the unsteady aerodynamics of a transonic turbine stage. Time-resolved data were taken in a shock-tunnel facility in which the flow was generated with a short-duration source of heated and pressurized air. This data is compared with the results obtained from four unsteady Navier–Stokes solvers. The time-resolved flow for three axial spacings is examined. For each vane–blade spacing, the inlet conditions were nearly identical and the vane exit flow was transonic. Surface-mounted high-response pressure transducers at midspan were used to obtain the pressure measurements. The computed two-dimensional unsteady airfoil surface pressure predictions are compared with the Kulite pressure transducer measurements. The unsteady and axial spacing effects on loading and performance are examined. In general the numerical solutions compared very favorably with each other and with the experimental data. The overall predicted stage losses and efficiencies did not vary much with vane/blade axial spacing. The computations indicated that any increases in the blade relative total pressure loss were offset by a decrease in vane loss as the axial spacing was decreased. The decrease in predicted vane total pressure loss with decreased axial spacing was primarily due to a reduction in the wake mixing losses. The increase in predicted blade relative total pressure loss with a decrease in axial spacing was found to be mainly due to increased vane wake/blade interaction.

Experiments in active control of stall on an aeroengine gas turbine

This paper describes work carried out between 1989 and 1994 to investigate the application of Active Stall Control to a Rolls-Royce Viper turbojet. The results demonstrate that stall control is feasible and can increase the stable operating range by up to 25 percent of pressure rise. Stall disturbances were detected using rings of high response pressure transducers positioned at different axial planes along the compressor, and processed using a PC-based data acquisition and control system. Actuation was provided by six hydraulically operated sleeve valves positioned to recirculate air over all or part of the compressor. Stall was artificially induced using combinations of in-bleed into the combustor outer casing, fuel spiking, hot gas ingestion, and inlet pressure spoiling, thus replicating many of the transient conditions commonly observed to make a compressor prone to stall. Results are compared from a number of stall control strategies including those demonstrated at low speed by Paduano et al. (1993) and Day (1993). Best results were obtained with detection of nonaxisymmetric disturbances coupled with axisymmetric control action. A control system of this type is demonstrated to be capable of extending the stable engine operating range at all speeds and with each method of inducing stall.

Propagation of Multiple Short-Length-Scale Stall Cells in an Axial Compressor Rotor

Evolution and structure of multiple stall cells with short-length-scale in an axial compressor rotor have been investigated experimentally. In a low-speed research compressor rotor tested, a short-length-scale stall cell appeared at first, but did not grow rapidly in size, unlike a so-called “spike-type stall inception” observed in many multistage compressors. Alternatively, the number of cells increased to a certain stable state (a mild stall state) under a fixed throttle condition. In the mild stall state the multiple stall cells, the size of which was on the same order of the inception cell (a few blade spacings), were rotating at 72 percent of rotor speed and at intervals of 4.8 blade spacings. With further throttling, a long-length-scale wave appeared overlapping the multiple short-length-scale waves, then developed to a deep stall state with a large cell. In order to capture the short-length-scale cells in the mild stall state, a so-called “double phase-locked averaging technique” has been developed, by which the flow field can be measured phase locked to both the rotor and the stall cell rotation. Then, time-dependent ensemble averages of the three-dimensional velocity components upstream and downstream of the rotor have been obtained with a slanted hot-wire, and the pressure distributions on the casing wall with high-response pressure transducers. By a physically plausible explanation for the experimental results, a model for the flow mechanism of the short-length-scale stall cell has been presented. The distinctive feature of the stall cell structure is on the separation vortex bubble with a leg traveling ahead of the rotor, with changing the blade in turn on which the vortex leg stands. [S0889-504X(00)00701-7]

Experiments in Active Control of Stall on an Aeroengine Gas Turbine

This paper describes work carried out between 1989 and 1994 to investigate the application of “Active Stall Control” to a Rolls-Royce Viper turbojet. The results demonstrate that stall control is feasible and can increase the stable operating range by up to 25 percent of pressure rise. Stall disturbances were detected using rings of high response pressure transducers positioned at different axial planes along the compressor, and processed using a PC-based data acquisition and control system. Actuation was provided by six hydraulically operated sleeve valves positioned to recirculate air over all or part of the compressor. Stall was artificially induced using combinations of in-bleed into the combustor outer casing, fuel spiking, hot gas ingestion, and inlet pressure spoiling, thus replicating many of the transient conditions commonly observed to make a compressor prone to stall. Results are compared from a number of stall control strategies including those demonstrated at low speed by Paduano et al. (1993) and Day (1993). Best results were obtained with detection of nonaxisymmetric disturbances coupled with axisymmetric control action. A control system of this type is demonstrated to be capable of extending the stable engine operating range at all speeds and with each method of inducing stall.

Structures and Dynamics Committee Best Paper of 1996 Award: Inlet Distortion Generated Forced Response of a Low-Aspect-Ratio Transonic Fan

This paper describes a portion of an experimental and computational program (ADLARF), which incorporates, for the first time, measurements of all aspects of the forced response of an airfoil row, i.e., the flow defect, the unsteady pressure loadings, and the vibratory response. The purpose of this portion was to extend the knowledge of the unsteady aerodynamics associated with a low-aspect-ratio transonic fan where the flow defects were generated by inlet distortions. Measurements of screen distortion patterns were obtained with total pressure rakes and casing static pressures. The unsteady pressure loadings on the blade were determined from high response pressure transducers. The resulting blade vibrations were measured with strain gages. The steady flow was analyzed using a three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver while the unsteady flow was determined with a quasi-three-dimensional linearized Euler solver. Experimental results showed that the distortions had strong vortical, moderate entropic, and weak acoustic parts. The three-dimensional Navier–Stokes analyses showed that the steady flow is predominantly two-dimensional, with radially outward flow existing only in the blade surface boundary layers downstream of shocks and in the aft part of the suction surface. At near resonance conditions, the strain gage data showed blade-to-blade motion variations and thus, linearized unsteady Euler solutions showed poorer agreement with the unsteady loading data than comparisons at off-resonance speeds. Data analysis showed that entropic waves generated unsteady loadings comparable to vortical waves in the blade regions where shocks existed.

Measurement of Gust Response on a Turbine Cascade

The paper presents benchmark experimental data on a gust response of an annular turbine cascade. The experiment was particularly designed to provide data for comparison with the results of a typical linearized gust-response analysis. Reduced frequency, Mach number, and incidence were varied independently. Except for the lowest reduced frequency, the gust velocity distribution was nearly sinusoidal. For the high-inlet-velocity series of tests, the cascade was near choking. The mean flow was documented by measuring blade surface pressures and the cascade exit flow. High-response pressure transducers were used to measure the unsteady pressure distribution. Inlet-velocity components and turbulence parameters were measured using hot wire. In addition to the synchronous time-averaged pressure spectra, typical power spectra are included for several representative conditions.

Investigation of Unsteady Flow Through a Transonic Turbine Stage: Data/Prediction Comparison for Time-Averaged and Phase-Resolved Pressure Data

This paper presents time-averaged and phase-resolved measurements of the surface pressure data for the vane and blade of a transonic single-stage research turbine. The data are compared and contrasted with predictions from an unsteady Euler/Navier–Stokes code. The data were taken in a shock-tunnel facility in which the flow was generated with a short-duration source of heated and pressurized air. Surf ace-mounted high-response pressure transducers were used to obtain the pressure measurements. The turbine was operating at the design flow function, the design stage pressure ratio, and 100 percent corrected speed. A matrix of data was obtained at two vane exit conditions and two vane/rotor axial spacings.

Application of ultrasonic distance measurement to a manometer and its performance.

We report on a manometer with an ultrasonic distance measurement circuit which we have developed and found for practical measurements of low pressure differences in many fields. It uses a separate transmitting and receiving ultrasonic transducer pair with associated circuitary operating at 215 kHz. We explained it's structure, measurement principle and performance by comparing measurement results regarding the pressure difference (<70 mmH2O) with the results of a Gottingen manometer and high response pressure transducer. As a result, it was found that the present manometer provides measurement resolution as great as 0.01 mmH2O and that the maximum error was less than 0.2 mmH2O up to 70 mmH2O pressure difference.

An Experimental Investigation Into Unsteady Blade Forces and Blade Losses in Axial Compressor Blade Cascade

The unsteady flow problem in the axial compressor has been simulated in wind-tunnels by means of high-speed rotating cylinders upstream of the blade row. To obtain the dynamic changes in the flow properties 20 high-response pressure transducers and 20 high-response hot-film, which are embedded at the surface of the selected blade, have been used in connection with a periodic sampling and averaging technique in digital data acquisition and reduction. The fluctuating forces and the fluctuating drags acting on the blade due to passing wakes shedding through the blade row are carried out.

The Time-Variant Aerodynamic Response of a Stator Row Including the Effects of Airfoil Camber

An experimental investigation was conducted to quantitatively determine the validity and applicability of state-of-the-art transverse gust cascade analyses. This was accomplished by obtaining fundamental time-variant forced response data at realistic values of key parameters in a large-scale, low-speed, single-stage research compressor. The forcing function, the velocity defect created by the rotor blade wakes, was measured with a crossed hot-wire probe. The resulting time-variant aerodynamic response was measured by means of flush mounted high response pressure transducers on both flat plate and cambered airfoil stator vane rows over a wide range of incidence angles. These dynamic data were then analyzed to determine the chordwise variation of the unsteady pressure difference in terms of a dimensionless dynamic pressure coefficient and an aerodynamic phase lag referenced to a transverse gust at the leading edge of the vanes. These dimensionless pressure difference data were all correlated with predictions obtained from a state-of-the-art compressible transverse gust, flat plate cascade analysis. Correlation of the classical flat plate unsteady data with the predictions permitted the range of validity of the analysis to be assessed in terms of incidence angle. Correlation of the cambered vane unsteady data with those for the flat plate and with the predictions allowed the effects of airfoil camber as well as the applicability of the flat plate prediction to realistic cambered airfoils to be quantitatively determined.

Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Squeeze Film Bearing Damper Forces Induced by Offset Circular Whirl Orbits

A basic research program was conducted to investigate the hydrodynamic forces of a squeeze film bearing damper. These forces were induced by controlled offset circular whirl orbits of the damper journal. The orbits were mechanically produced by eccentric damper rings and cams in a specially designed, end sealed test rig. Aircraft engine damper geometry and operating conditions were simulated. The instantaneous circumferential pressure profiles, for specific orbits, were measured by eight high response pressure transducers. From these data, twelve composite pressure plots were developed; each was numerically integrated to determine the damper forces corresponding to every 30 deg position of the damper center, i.e., 0–360 deg. The variations in oil film thickness data were monitored via two proximity probes. A numerical method which uses the proximity test data and the damper geometry to calculate the instantaneous values of damper center eccentricity (e), phase angle (φ), radial velocity (e˙), and whirl velocity (φ˙) is presented. These test values are required to compare theory with test. Since the data reduction for offset orbits is extremely complicated, this simple method was found to be very useful in analyzing the test results. Test results for pressure profiles as well as damper forces were compared with theoretical predictions. Agreement was good. The analysis is based on “long bearing” solution of Reynolds equation and includes the effect of inlet and cavitation pressures. For the cavitated oil film, inlet pressure was shown to have important effect on damper forces.