Abstract
A computational analysis is performed to determine if particulate impact events on the external surfaces of gas turbine engine rotor blades can be faithfully replicated in an experimental rotor cascade. The General Electric (GE) Energy Efficient Engine (E3) first-stage turbine flow-field at cruise conditions is first solved using a steady state explicit mixing plane approach with non-reflecting treatment. To model flow in the cascade, a single E3 rotor periodic domain is then constructed with an inlet section matching the relative flow incidence angle from the mixing plane calculation. The mass-averaged relative flow conditions at the inlet and outlet of the mixing plane rotor section are imposed on the cascade boundaries and a steady solution is found. Particles with diameters ranging from 1 to 25 μm are tracked through each fluid domain using a Lagrangian approach, and the OSU Deposition Model is implemented to dictate the sticking and rebounding action when particles interact with solid surfaces. The impact locations on the blade are compared between the rotating (mixing plane) and stationary (cascade) cases. It is discovered that both the locations and parameters of the particle impacts in the cascade vary significantly from the engine environment. For smaller particles, this deviation is credited to a stronger upstream influence of the blade on the cascade flow-field. As particle size increases, this effect tapers off, and the differences in deposition are instead driven by the interaction of the full-stage vane with the particles. The lack of a vane in the cascade causes drastically different particle inlet vectors over the rotor than are seen in the engine setting. The radial differences of particle impact locations are explored, and the role that absolute pressure plays is considered.
