Rotor Platform Research Articles

The loss mechanisms and vortex dynamics of rotor platform step geometries in a low-speed research compressor stage

The construction and assembly of an axial compressor blade row introduces real geometric features, which leads to the deviation of flow characteristics from the intended design. According to the realistic assembly errors observed in the four-stage low-speed research compressor developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, two representative step geometries at the rotor platform were abstracted. Unsteady simulations were carried out in the stage environment to study the influence of hub discontinuities on compressor performance and loss mechanisms. The comparisons of smooth hub, elevated hub (EH), and a wedged hub (WH) demonstrated that all the step geometries resulted in increased loss inside both rotor and stator rows. The loss induced by WH was more sensitive to step heights than EH. Under the influence of forward facing step, rotor incidence was reduced and horseshoe vortex (HV) was exacerbated, leading to the accumulation and separation of low momentum fluids at the pressure side corner. This led to a redistribution of losses across the span. In the lower half span, the relative total pressure loss increased almost linearly with step heights, while in the tip region, it reduced slightly. The backward facing step generated the step corner vortices (SCV) that shed and propagated downstream. The SCV interacted with the HV and cavity leakage vortex in the stator passage. Coupled with the augmented stator inflow angle, the corner separation at the suction side was dramatically intensified and led to a significant loss increase.

A Novel Physics-Informed Hybrid Modeling Method for Dynamic Vibration Response Simulation of Rotor–Bearing System

For rotor–bearing systems, their dynamic vibration models must be built to simulate the vibration responses that affect the safe and reliable operation of rotating machinery under different operating conditions. Single physics-based modeling methods can be used to produce sufficient but inaccurate vibration samples at the cost of computational complexity. Moreover, single data-driven modeling methods may be more accurate, employing larger numbers of measured samples and reducing computational complexity, but these methods are affected by the insufficient and imbalanced samples in engineering applications. This paper proposes a physics-informed hybrid modeling method for simulating the dynamic responses of rotor–bearing systems to vibration under different rotor speeds and bearing health statuses. Firstly, a three-dimensional model of a rolling bearing and its supporting force are introduced, and a physics-based dynamic vibration model that couples flexible rotors and rigid bearings is constructed using multibody dynamics simulation. Secondly, combining the simulation vibration data obtained using the physics-based model with measured vibration data, algorithms are designed to learn vibration generation and data mapping networks in series connection to form a physics-informed hybrid model, which can quickly and accurately output the vibration responses of a rotor–bearing system. Finally, a case study on the single-span rotor platform is provided. By comparing the signal output by the proposed physics-informed hybrid modeling method with the measured signal in the time and frequency domains, the effectiveness of proposed method under both constant- and variable-speed operating conditions are illustrated.

Experimental investigation of UAV rotor aeroacoustics and aerodynamics with computational cross-validation

The study provided a base of comparison of known computational techniques with different fidelity levels for performance and noise prediction of a single, fixed-pitch UAV rotor operating with varying flight parameters. The range of aerodynamic tools included blade element theory, potential flow methods (UPM, RAMSYS), lifting-line method (PUMA) and Navier–Stokes solver (FLOWer). Obtained loading distributions served as input for aeroacoustic codes delivering noise estimation for the blade passing frequency on a plane below the rotor. The resulting forces and noise levels showed satisfactory agreement with experimental data; however, differences in accuracy could be noticed depending on the computational method applied. The wake influence on the results was estimated based on vortex trajectories from simulations and those visible in background-oriented schlieren (BOS) pictures. The analysis of scattering effects showed that influence of ground and rotor platform on aeroacoustic results was observable even for low frequencies.

Turbine Endwall Contouring Through Advanced Optimization Techniques

AbstractNon-axisymmetric endwall profiling offers features to simultaneously mitigate aerodynamic losses and hot gas ingestion in axial turbines. This paper presents an optimization methodology to generate a contoured surface integrated with real geometrical effects such as blade fillets and a rim seal channel with the aim of achieving higher efficiencies while reducing hot gas ingestion. The contoured rotor platform is constructed using a B-spline surface clamped in the axial direction. In the azimuthal direction, the surface is unclamped to allow geometrical continuity across the periodic boundaries. The endwall parameterization is used to optimize a rotor hub platform of a high-pressure turbine stage. A differential evolution optimizer is used to rank individuals in terms of efficiency. The single-objective optimization is set to maximize the aerodynamic efficiency and it is defined such that it accounts for the flow non-uniformity through a mixed-out averaging procedure. Engine representative conditions typical of a two-stage high-pressure turbine are used as boundary conditions. Geometrical and aerodynamic constraints are set to guarantee a fair comparison among individuals and to meet engine requirements. Two surface parameterizations, which use a different number of design variables but share the same construction strategy, are presented to show the trade-off between the number of degrees-of-freedom and the aerodynamic improvement. Different purge flow conditions are considered to assess the robustness of the optimization results at off-design conditions for relevant geometries. The aim of this paper is to show the advanced shape flexibility of the implemented parameterization for contoured platforms featuring technological effects such as blade fillet and rim seal channel. The work provides design guidelines to setup engine-realistic constraints for endwall contour optimization of turbine stages.

Aero-thermal optimization of the rim seal cavity to enhance rotor platform thermal protection

Abstract The flow field in the rotor-stator rim cavity is controlled by both the instantaneous distortion caused by rotor and stator airfoils. Naturally one would then assume that the design of optimal rim seal geometries would require full unsteady turbine stage simulations, that would then require an experimental assessment. This manuscript presents a reduced-order approach, neglecting the obvious unsteady interaction effects, to optimize the cavity geometry with a two-dimensional axisymmetric approach, making it possible to explore a wide range of geometries followed by an experimental assessment in a linear cascade. Two parameterization strategies are presented, coupled with a genetic optimizer to maximize thermal protection to the rotor rear platform while minimizing the cooling massflow required. This reduced-order optimization scheme was then assessed at different levels of sophistication to assess the effect of rotation, the vanes, and the rotor geometry with a series of increasing levels of fidelity to the real turbine conditions. Finally, this paper demonstrated the sensitivity of the optimal geometries to variations in the axial gap and purge coolant total pressure.

Design and Analysis of Wind Amplifying Rotor Platform for Wind Turbine

Generally, annual wind speed available in India is close 6.5 m/s. Design of optimum, cost effective wind turbine for maximum annual energy extraction is a challenging task. The present work carried out the Design, Analysis and evaluation of Wind amplifying rotor platform module for cost effectiveness and suitability for Indian conditions. The degree of amplification depends on module and system configuration and is typically over 1.5 to 1.8 times of free stream velocity. Two micro wind turbines have been designed and analysed with respect to twist, thickness distribution, blade profile and aerodynamic characteristics using available airfoil data at National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore, India.

Multi-Parameter Measurement of Rotors Using the Doppler Effect of Frequency-Swept Interferometry

The Doppler effect of frequency-swept interferometry (FSI) is often seen as an obstacle to the dynamic ranging accuracy. However, the potential of this obstacle is rarely noticed and used. In this paper, by combining the periodical characteristics of the rotational Doppler effect, an FSI-based multi-parameter measurement method for the rotor is proposed. Through the establishment of the rotational Doppler formula of FSI, it is found that the frequency, direct component, and amplitude of the dynamic distance given by FSI can be utilized to estimate the angular velocity, axial clearance, and tilt angle of the rotor, respectively. A rotor platform and a fiber-optic FSI system were constructed, and a series of experiments were carried out to verify the proposed method. The experimental results showed that the relative errors of the measured axial clearance, angular velocity, and tilt angle were less than 3.5%. This work provides a new perspective on the multi-parameter measurement of the rotor and makes it possible to directly perform multi-parameter measurement inside the space-confined rotating machinery as only a single small-size fiber-optic probe is needed.

Using LiDAR Point Clouds in Determination of the Scots Pine Stands Spatial Structure Meaning in the Conservation of Lichen Communities in “Bory Tucholskie” National Park

Abstract The aim of the research carried out in 2018 and financed by the Forest Fund was the analysis of biometric features and parameters of pine stands in the area of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park (PNBT), where a program of active protection of lichen was initiated in 2017. Environmental analyses were conducted in relation to selected biometric features of trees and stands using laser scanning (LiDAR), including ULS (Unmanned Laser Scanning; RIEGL VUX-1) and TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning; FARO FOCUS 3D; X130). Thanks to the application of LiDAR technology, the structure of pine stands was precisely determined by means of a series of descriptive statistics characterizing the 3D spatial structure of vegetation. Using the Trees Crown Model (CHM), the analysis of the volume of tree crowns and the volume of space under canopy was performed. For the analysed sub-compartments, GIS solar analyses were carried out for the solar energy reaching the canopy and the ground level due to active protection of lichen. Multispectral photos were obtained using a specialized RedEdge-M camera (MicaSense) mounted on the UAV multi rotor platform Typhoon H520 (Yuneec). Flights with a thermal camera were also performed in order to detect places on the ground with high temperature. Plant indices: NDVI, NDRE, GNDVI and GRVI were also calculated for sub-compartments. The data obtained in 2017 and 2018 were the basis for spatial and temporal analyses of 4-D changes in stands which were related to the removal of some trees and organic layer (litter, moss layer).

Rational Design of a Rigid Fluorophore-Molecular Rotor-Based Probe for High Signal-to-Background Ratio Detection of Sulfur Dioxide in Viscous System.

Many viscous microenvironments exist in living systems. For instance, at the cellular level, the viscosity of subcellular organelles (mitochondria, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus, etc.) is much greater than that of cytoplasm; at the organismal level, compared with normal states of health, blood, or lymphatic fluid viscosity will increase to some extent in diabetes, hypertension, inflammation, tumors, and so on. However, due to the design shortcoming, there is a lack of efficient tools for detecting biomolecules in viscous living systems. Herein, we propose a rational design strategy for constructing ratiometric fluorescent probes with superior response signal-to-background (S/B) ratio in viscous systems based on rigid-fluorophore-molecular rotor platform, and a practical sulfur dioxide (SO2) probe (RFC-MRC) based on conmarin-cyanine dyad was prepared as a proof-of-concept. The probe performs a significant enhancement (71.5-fold) of ratiometric response signal stimulated by SO2 in viscous aqueous media. The cationic probe can selectively in mitochondria and was successfully utilized to sense SO2 in living HeLa cells through ratiometric fluorescence imaging. What's more, in the fluorescence imaging experiments of monitoring SO2 in apoptotic cells using probe RFC-MRC, a more obvious superior of S/B ratio was observed in the early apoptotic cells than in the lately apoptotic cells.

X-Type Tilted Quadrotor Flight Dynamic Modeling

Multirotor UAV such as quadrotor is ideal for photogrammetry application due to its hovering capability and flying at low altitude. It can be used for surveillance, photography, mapping, including Search and Rescue (SAR) operations. The flight of quadrotor requires that each motor produces the propulsion force against the gravitational force. Thrust differential approach is commonly used to control the movement of quadcopter (and also other type of multirotors). Control technique using thrust differential is not ideal to maintain platform attitude. The flight mission almost rely on additional stabilizer to carry a camera for capturing accurate images. Tilted rotor is an alternative control approach suitable for better platform flight attitude, which is horizontal flight. Flight dynamic behaviour of tilted rotor platform shall be understood. This paper shows an effort of development of the quadrotor flight dynamic mathematical model based on thrust differential and rotor tilted angle. X-type tilted configuration is used. Based on three dimensional kinetic analysis, the dynamic mathematical model were derived, and presented.Â

A Multifrequency Disturbances Identification and Suppression Method for the Self-Sensing AMB Rotor System

The self-sensing active magnetic bearing (SAMB) rotor systems own the benefits of reduced cost and better system integration, from the substitution of rotor displacement estimation for external sensors. However, the self-sensing errors between the real and estimated rotor displacement, together with the unbalance force and sensor runout, will act as disturbances that affect the SAMB rotor system, inducing current fluctuations and rotor vibrations. This paper presents a disturbance suppression method for the modulation-type SAMB rotor systems, in which both the amplitude and phase of disturbances are identified and real-time updated. A lumped multifrequency disturbances model is established. And a disturbances identification algorithm with object function value-based step vectors is proposed. The system stability and method convergence conditions are analyzed. The convergence rate, overshoot and antinoise capacity of the method are verified through simulations. In the end, the effectiveness and performance of the suppression method are validated through steady state and varying rotational speed experiments on a 4-DOF radial SAMB rigid rotor platform.

Effect of purge air on rotor endwall heat transfer of an axial turbine

AbstractIn order to gain in cycle efficiency, turbine inlet temperatures tend to rise, posing the challenge for designers to cool components more effectively. Purge flow injection through the rim seal is regularly used in gas turbines to limit the ingestion of hot air in the cavities and prevent overheating of the disks and shaft bearings. The interaction of the purge air with the main flow and the static pressure field of the blade rows results in a non-homogenous distribution of coolant on the passage endwall which poses questions on its effect on endwall heat transfer. A novel measurement technique based on infrared thermography has been applied in the rotating axial turbine research facility LISA of the Laboratory for Energy Conversion (LEC) of ETH Zürich. A 1.5 stage configuration with fully three-dimensional airfoils and endwall contouring is integrated in the facility. The effect of different purge air mass flow rates on the distribution of the heat transfer quantities has been observed for the rated operating condition of the turbine. Two-dimensional distributions of Nusselt number and adiabatic wall temperature show that the purge flow affects local heat loads. It does so by acting on the adiabatic wall temperature on the suction side of the passage until 30% of the axial extent of the rotor endwall. This suggests the possibility of effectively employing purge air also as rotor platform coolant in this specific region. The strengthening of the secondary flows due to purge air injection is observed, but plays a negligible role in varying local heat fluxes. For one test case, experimental data is compared to high-fidelity, unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes simulations performed on a model of the full 1.5 stage configuration.

Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing-Based Online Torque Detection on Coupled Bending and Torsional Vibration of Rotating Shaft

This paper has presented a novel approach based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing to analyze and decouple the coupled bending and torsional vibration of a rotating shaft. The theoretical FBG-based strain detection models under pure torsional vibration and coupled bending and torsional vibration have been derived. Two FBG sensors have been attached on the opposite sides of a rotating shaft with an angle of 45° with respect to the axial direction to support the use of the proposed decoupling method and determine the decoupled bending and torsion signals. A new supporting device has been designed to protect the fiber optical rotary joint from damage under large load impact, and ensure the stable signal transmit. The calibrated sensitivity of the pasted FBGs for measuring torque is 7.02 pm/ $\text{N}\cdot \text{m}$ . Dynamic experiments on a rotor platform under different rotating speeds have been performed to effectively decouple the bending strain and torsional strain in real time. The decoupled torque measurements have shown a close agreement with the data detected from a commercial tacho-torquemeter, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed decoupling method.

Visual Predictive Control of Spiral Motion

This paper deals with constrained image-based visual servoing of circular and conical spiral motion about an unknown object approximating a single image point feature. Effective visual control of such trajectories has many applications for small unmanned aerial vehicles, including surveillance and inspection, forced landing (homing), and collision avoidance. A spherical camera model is used to derive a novel visual-predictive controller (VPC) using stability-based design methods for general nonlinear model-predictive control. In particular, a quasi-infinite horizon visual-predictive control scheme is derived. A terminal region, which is used as a constraint in the controller structure, can be used to guide appropriate reference image features for spiral tracking with respect to nominal stability and feasibility. Robustness properties are also discussed with respect to parameter uncertainty and additive noise. A comparison with competing visual-predictive control schemes is made, and some experimental results using a small quad rotor platform are given.

Hardware in the Loop of Two Rotors Platform

This study is aimed to control unstable platform by introducing control system design through low-cost test rig for two rotor system with a feedback control. The rig is used to control the bank angle by adjusting the thrust from each rotor and useful as a teaching aid in control system design. In this paper, the transfer functions of the dynamic system for the two rotor platform was derived and introduce into the controller system. Inertia Measurement Unit (IMU) was installed to provide feedback to the control system. MATLAB Simulink is used to simulate the response of the system before going to the real application while LabVIEW is used to interface the hardware interface and programmed the control system.

Improving Turbine Stage Efficiency and Sealing Effectiveness Through Modifications of the Rim Seal Geometry

This paper presents an investigation of a range of engine realistic rim seals starting from a simple axial seal to different types of overlapping seals. The experiments were performed in a large-scale linear cascade equipped with a secondary air system capable of varying independently both the mass fraction as well as the swirl velocity of the leakage air. The experimental results were also complemented by computationally fluid dynamics (CFD) to provide better insight in the flow physics. It has been found that the key feature of the rim seals that affect their impact on overall loss generation and their ability to provide good sealing effectiveness was the location and the size of the recirculation zones within the rim seal. The requirements for good sealing and reduced spoiling effects on the main gaspath flow often led to contradictory designs. In general, the recirculation zones were found to improve sealing by reducing the effect of the pitchwise (circumferential) variation in the pressure distribution due to the blade's potential field, and thus reduce ingestion. However, at the same time the recirculation zones tend to increase the loss generation. The best compromise was found when the outer part of the seal and its interface with the rotor platform was as smooth as possible to minimize the spoiling losses, while the recirculation zones were confined to the inner part of the seal to maintain acceptable levels of sealing effectiveness. A new rim seal design, which utilizes the best attributes of the above mentioned designs was developed. Linear cascade tests showed the losses due to the leakage-mainstream interaction were reduced by 33% compared to the datum seal design. Further validation was performed by examining the new configuration using unsteady full-stage calculations under engine realistic conditions. These calculations suggest an improvement of nearly 0.2% in the stage efficiency.

Aerothermal Impact of the Interaction Between Hub Leakage and Mainstream Flows in Highly-Loaded High Pressure Turbine Blades

This paper describes experimental and numerical investigations of a highly-loaded rotor blade with leakage (purge) flow injection through an upstream overlapping seal. The effects of both leakage mass flow rates and swirl have been studied to examine their effects on the aerothermal performance. As the leakage mass flow rate was increased, the loss generally increased. The increase in the losses was found to be nonlinear with the three distinct regimes of leakage-mainstream interaction being identified. The varying sensitivity of the losses to the leakage fraction was linked to the effects of the upstream potential field of the blade on a vortical structure originating from the outer part of the seal. This vortical structure affected the interaction between the leakage and mainstream flows as it grew to become the hub passage vortex. Very limited cooling was provided by the leakage flows. The coolant was mainly concentrated close to the suction surface in the front part of the rotor platform and on the blade suction surface in the path of the passage vortex. However, the regions benefiting from cooling were also characterized by higher values of the heat transfer coefficient. As a consequence, the net heat flux reduction was small, and the leakage injection was thus deemed thermally neutral.

Study of an adaptive fuzzy algorithm to control a rectangular-shaped unmanned surveillance flying car

In this paper, we propose the concept of the rectangular-shaped unmanned surveillance flying car (RSUSFC), whose design is based on vehicles driven on the road. This RSUSFC offers driving and flying performance as an initial concept of a ground and aerial car. This RSUSFC is built around the previous quad rotor configuration because the quad rotor platform has significant advantages such as construction and maintenance simplicity, hovering ability, and vertical take-off and landing. Traditional quad rotor vehicles are squareshaped and move in the direction of the vertex. However, the RSUSFC moves in the direction of the one side of a rectangle like a traditional car to enhance driving performance. The dynamic modeling of the RSUFC is verified by analysis and simulation. Use of an adaptive fuzzy controller, which is very effective in a complex and nonlinear system, is suggested to stabilize the RSUSFC and is validated by MATLAB simulation.

Control Structure Impact on the Flying Performance of the Multi-Rotor VTOL Platform - Design, Analysis and Experimental Validation

The aim of this research is to examine the different control strategies for the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The control task is formulated as an angular stabilization of the four rotor platform, and also as a tracking problem of chosen state variables. The PID algorithm has been considered in three structures in respect of the optimal control signal applied to the actuators. For better performance of the quadrotor in hover mode the cascade control system has been proposed. The simulation results of attitude control with different PID controller architectures are presented, and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control structure and theoretical expectations. Moreover, the design and the practical realization of the control architecture on the experimental aerial vehicle are described. The fast prototyping method together with Matlab/Simulink software and DAQ hardware are used for both evolution and validation of control algorithms. The capacity of the attitude stabilization system is important in the development process of more advanced functionality of autonomous flying vehicles; therefore it needs to be highlighted and taken into careful consideration.

Parametric Study for Hovering Performance of a Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

This paper proposes a reliable aerodynamics analysis method designed for a coaxial rotor unmanned aerial vehicle. It is then used to investigate the effects of the selected design parameters on the hovering performance of the coaxial rotor. A coaxial rotor performance analysis code based on the source-doublet panel method is developed, and its accuracy is verified to be sufficient by comparing its results to various test data. Through a parametric study for the rotor design parameters, such as radius, twist, and taper, the effect of each parameter on the coaxial rotor design is investigated and a statistical analysis for the resulting data is conducted. The results show that the diameter has the biggest impact on the hovering performance of a coaxial rotor, whereas the taper has the biggest impact if the diameter is fixed. Based on these findings, a revised rotor platform is proposed, with 33 % improvement of the figure of merit over the baseline concept, which implies that the optimal design significantly improves the performance of the rotor under development.