The implementation of new technology in the gas turbine industry is accelerating at a rate which demands increasing specialisation by its engineering design staff. Simultaneously, this industry has been adopting concurrent engineering practices to reduce product lead-time. Accordingly, the industry now requires its engineers to acquire competence in a wide range of technological disciplines together with a thorough understanding of the demands of design optimisation for the whole engine.
Against this background, educational providers must respond to these increasing demands with teaching programmes that enable a more rapid and deeper understanding of a very complex product. The ambition of the teacher, however, to prepare the student will continue to be limited by time constraints within lecture courses. Hitherto, this has normally resulted in class worked examples which are necessarily narrow in scope and confined to a limited range of design cases.
To overcome these limitations, a portfolio of multimedia computer programs has been developed specifically for rapid and relevant learning purposes. Each is structured to facilitate in-depth understanding of the key interactions between aerodynamics, thermodynamics and mechanical integrity needed in gas turbine design and performance assessment.
This paper describes an interactive teaching method for turbine design optimisation using only the multimedia turbine design and performance module. Through the example of a case study, the preliminary design of a high pressure and low pressure turbine combination is undertaken initially by hand.
This first pass design leaves substantial scope for design optimisation through a series of workshops using only the software. Final design recommendations are subsequently based on comprehensive tutor led but fully interactive discussion. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of design decisions on both the various technology issues and on the performance of other engine components.
