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AlAA Paper NO.69-525

PERFORMANCE OF A SINGLE-STAGE TURBINE AS AFFECTED BY VARIABLE STATOR AREA
by

THOMAS P. MOFFITT, WARREN J. WHITNEY and HAROLD J. SCHUM NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio

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U. S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, COLORADO/JUNE 9-13, 1969

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PERFORMANCE OF A SINGLE-STAGE TURBINE AS AFFECTED BY VARIABLE STATOR AREA by Thomas P. Moffitt, Warren J. Whitney, and Harold J . Schum
v

Lewis Research Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration Clevcland, Ohio

Abstract This paper summarizes the results of the experimental study of a single stage turbine iivestigated a t various stator setting angles. The turbine was tested a t the. Lewis Research Center and included stator assemblies set a t 70, 100 and 130 percent of design. Included i s a description of the turbine, the performance of the stator over the range of settings considering both blade loss a n d surface velocity distribution, and the overall performance of the turbine including both efficiency and wcight flow a s affected by the stator setting. Also presented i s a discussion of factors contributing to the observcd variation in efficiency. Introduction Engines for such advanced applications as the supersonic transport and multimission military aircraft must operate over a wide range of flight Mach numbcr and altitude. In o r d e r to accommodate those varying conditions and maintain the best engine performance, some degree of flexibility i s desired within the engine. Onc way of providing this flexibility is to incorporate varialrlc s t a t o r s within the turbine component. This rcsults in control of the turbine flow capacity, which in turn can he used to adjust the engine operating point to a conditio), m o r e favorable than that if fixed stators were uscd. In considering the potential of variable stator turbines, i t i s important that the advantago gaincd through its use i s not nullified by an associated reduction in turbine efficiency. Thus, i t i s essential not only to understand the effect of variahlc turbine geonictry on cfficiencv, hut also to have sufficient knowledge of the factors affccting this efficiency that such pcrformancc pcnaltics bc minimized. In view of these considcrations, an cxperimcntal study of the performance of a singlc stagc turbine with variable stator flow area was conducted a i NASA-Lewis Research Center. The turbine tested i s reprcscntative of the f i r s t stage of a two-stage turbine soitohlc for a high temperature turhojct engine in a supersonic aircraft. The design and performancc of thc base turhinc is reported in Refs. 1 to 3. The cffect on pe.rformance of opening the stator cxit a r e a to 130 percent of design i s reported in Refs 4 to 6 . The effect of closing the a r e a to 70 percent of design is reported in Refs. 7 to 9. The purpose of this paper i s to summarize the r c sults of the study. The primary b a s e s of comparison were the losses in kinetic energy of the flow within the stator and turbine efficiency. An approximate breakdown of the individual losses through the turbine w a s then made at the three stator setting angles in an attempt to
1

understand changes in internal flow conditions a s stator area was chanacd.

Symbols

c
Ah
N

Ikinctic cnergy loss cocfficicnt specific work output, BtuAh rotational speed, rpm absolute p r e s s u r e , psi rotor

p R

s
V

siator
absolute gas vclocity, ft/sec
mass flow r a t e , lh/sec

w
6

ratio of inlet p r e s s u r e to U . S . standard sea-level pressure turbine cfficiency based on total p r e s s u r e ratio squarcd ratio of critical velocity a t turbine inlet to critical vclocity of U . S. standard sea-level a i r

Ocr

Subscripts:

cr
h i t
0

condition a t IvIach 1 hub ideal tip station a t turbine inlet (see Fig. 5) station a t stator outlet, also rotor inlct station a t turbine outlet

1 2

Superscripk
a

total s t a t e Turbine Deacription

A sketch of the huh, mean, and tip sectional profiles of the blading used for the study i s shown in Fig. 1. Thick leading and trailing edges a r e noted for both the stators and rotors and w c r e selected to provide r o o m for internal coolant. A photograph of the stator assembly

installed in the test facility is shown in Fig. 2. The 50 blades a r e 4 inches long and have a constant outer diameter of 30 inches. A photograph of the accompanying r o t o r used in the investigation is shown in Fig. 3. The 61 rotor blades are also 4 inches long and have a constanf o u t e r diameter of about 30 inches. The design mean blade speed a t standard atmospheric inlet conditions was 500 ft/sec. Figure 4 shows the assembled turbine with the r o t o r pulled back to expose both s c t s of blading. The static p r e s s u r e s m e a s u r e d by the large number of p r e s s u r e lines shown were used to calculate the velocity distributions along the s u r f a c e s of the stator blade. A total of 90 p r e s s u r e taps w e r e distributed along the suction and p r e s s u r e surfaces of the blade at the hub, mean, and tip locations. T e s t Procedure
A schematic of the turbine t e s t section showing the measuring stations is shown in Fig. 5. A i r a t atmospheric inlet conditions was used for all tests, Two types of t e s t s w e r e conducted, with and without thc r o t o r in place. Stator efficiencies in t e r m s of kinetic energy loss coefficients w e r e determined with the r o t o r removed. For these t e s t s , total-pressure loss data w e r e obtained using a moveable total p r e s s u r e survey probe a t the s t a t o r exit plane, station 1. Blade surface p r e s s u r e distributions w c r e also obtained for these t c s t s to calculate surface velocity distributions. The r o t o r was then installed to obtain stage performance data. Typical torque, flow, speed, temperature and p r e s s u r e data w e r e obtaine d for this purpose.

o v e r the range of velocities tested. In other words, the design stator was about 96 percent efficient in t e r m s of developing kinetic energy. This includes the thick trailing edge (about 10 percent blockage) loss and i s indicative of a well designed stator channel. Figure 8 shows the velocity distribution around the blade surfaces obtained f r o m the static p r e s s u r c taps a t the hub, mean, and tip locations. These w e r e obtained at design p r e s s u r e ratio and a r e compared in the figurc to the predicted variations using the method of Ref. 10. Good agreement i s seen to e x i s t a t all three radial locations. The overall performance of the basic turbinc with the r o t o r installed is shown in Fig. 9 . The performance map shown is a typical way of presenting turbine data. It r e l a t e s work output to the flow-speed p a r a m e t e r for lines of constant speed and p r e s s u r e r a t i o . Supcrimposed on the plot a s dashed lines a r e contours of turhinc cfficiency based on total p r e s s u r e . A c i r c l e is shown whcre the design speed line intersects the design work output of 17 Btu p e r pound. At this condition, it i s noted that the turbine was a little over 92 percent efficient and rcquircd a p r e s s u r e ratio of about 1.75 to achieve dcsigv work. The work output continuously increascd with increasing pressure ratio for all speed lines. This indicatcs that limiting loading did not o c c u r for the range of t e s t conditions. Effect of Variable Stator Setting on Performance To compare the effect of variable stator a r e a on performance, any number of c r i t e r i a could b e used a s thc base. Because this study is not applied to any particular engine condition, an a r b i t r a r y basis was selected. F o r this paper. the various turbines a r e compared for the s a m e 100 percent design equivalent speed. F u r t h e r , the design work output of 17 Btu p e r pound is arbitrarily s e lected a s a point for comparison, The effect of opening and closing the stator exit a r e a on s t a t o r losses i s shown in Fig. 10. The immediate observation is that the overall losses were unaffectcd by Stator a r e a . F r o m 70 to 130 percent a r e a , then, the stator efficiency remained essentially constant a t about 96 percent. This a g r e e s with the predicted comparison of Rei. 8 and involves a trade-off between blade surface friction loss, trailing edge loss, mixing, and end-wall losses.
A comparison of stator hlade surface velocity distributions for the t h r e e settings is shown in Fig. 11. Only the tip velocities a r e compared f o r simplicity and because the effect of stator setting is most pronounced a t the tip regions. As noted, each e w e r i m e n t a l distribution is also compared to that predicted using the method of Ref. 10. For each setting, the experimentally obtained velocities are in f a i r agreement with those predicted. The most desireable type of loading a t the tip section appears to exist for the closed section. This is charact e r i z e d by a rapid r i s e to peak velocity on the suction surface with very little deceleration, or diffusion, occurring on the remainder of the suction surface. The type of loading at the tip section becomes less desireable as the stator is opened. This is noted by the high peak in

After testing the basic turbine (design s t a t o r a r e a ) , the s t a t o r was replaced with the "opened" and with the "closed" s t a t o r assemhlies. The s a m e t e s t s w e r e then r e r u n . Figure G shows how the stator exit a r e a was adjusted. The c e n t e r of the trailing edge of the stator was a radial line. To open and close thc a r e a , the blades w e r e pivoted around this trailing edge center until the exit orthogonals shown in the figurc wcre 70 and 130 percent of the design length. A s e p a r a t e stator assembly was then constructed f o r both thc opened and closed turbine. The s a m e rotor was used with all threc s t a t o r s . Results The experimental r e s u l t s a r e presented in thrcc p a r t s . First, r e s u l t s of the basic turbine t e s t s with the design (100%) stator a r e a assembly will b e prcsentcd. Then corresponding r e s u l t s of both thc opened (130%) end closed (70%) stator a r e a turbine t e s t s will he presented and compared. Finally, probable reasons f a r diffcrendes in performance as affectcd bv variable stator scltina will b e discussed Basic Turbine Performance The variation in overall kinetic energy loss coeffiwith velocity is shown in Fig. 7 f o r the design cient stator. This coefficient e x p r e s s e s the loss in kinetic energy a s a decimal p a r t of the ideal kinetic energy of the actual flow a t the measuring station involved. Efficiency, on a kinetic energy b a s i s , may be obtained by subtracting this coefficient f r o m 1 . Figure 7 indicates that the loss varied from ahout 4-1/2 to 3-1/2 percent

velocity along the suction surface followed by a rapid deceleration, o r diffusion, soon thereafter. The tip of the opened stator acted as a converging-diverging channel with the throat located upstream of the exit orthogonal (see Fig. 6 ) and supersonic velocities along the suction surface as noted in Fig. 11. This is discussed in m o r e detail in Ref. 4.
A comparison of the stage performance of the three turbines at design speed conditions i s shown in Figs. 12(a) and (b). The c i r c l e s shown on the figures a r e the conditions at which each turbine produced a work output of 17 Btu per pound. The m a s s flow curves of Fig. 12(a) a r e normalized to the choking, o r limiting, flow of the design turbine. Reference 9 states that the flow was choked, o r limited, in the rotor f o r the design stator and open stator turbines. For the closed stator turbine, the flow was limited by the stator a r e a . A s indicated by the figure, the choked flow increased only 17 percent when the stator a r e a was opened 30 percent. This choking in the rotor when the stator was opened was expected from considering the relative blade row a r e a changes. It i s also noted from Fig. 12(a) that all three turbines were unchoked when they produced 17 Rtu p e r pound of work. A comparison of the efficiency variation f o r the three turbines is made in Fig. 12(b). The efficiency decreased as the Stator w a s either opened o r closed f r o m the design setting. The peak efficiency obtai#ed a t design speed decreased from 0.923 at design stator setting, to 0.909 when opened, and to 0.869 when closed. To obtain the s a m e 17 Btu p e r pound of work obviously required a higher p r e s s u r e ratio as efficiency decreased. This i s indicated by a shift of the c i r c l e s of Fig. 12(b) to the right on the lower efficiency curves. It is seen that closing the stator effected a much l a r g e r drop in peak efficiency than occurred when the stator was opened (about 5 points compared to 1 point).

bine, Fig. 13 indicates that the rotor loss was significantly l a r g e r than that for either the design or opened turbine. This was felt to r e s u l t from the unfavorable r e action that occurred a c r o s s the r o t o r blade huh section at the closed stator setting. This is noted on Fig. 14, which shows the static p r e s s u r e change a c r o s s each blade row for the three turbines when they produced 17 Btu per pound of work at design speed. Although conditions a r e shown for both huh and tip radii, the hub section i s of most interest since this section is normally more c r i t i c a l from the standpoint of rotor reaction. F o r the opened turbine, subsonic expansion occurred a c r o s s the stator hub, with a large drop in p r e s s u r e occurring a c r o s s the rotor. The flow accelerated, then, within the r o t o r . A s the stator was varied to a closed position, overexpansion occurred a c r o s s the stator with high stator outlet, o r rotor inlet, velocities. A negative reaction, or p r e s s u r e r i s e , was experienced a c r o s s the rotor f o r the closed turbine. This resulted in flow decelerations within the rotor at the hub region and probably caused the flow to separate from,the blade surface. This, then, i s the probable cause f o r the relatively large rotor loss (about 1 0 points in efficiency) f o r t h e o l o s e d stator turbine.

A comparison of l o s s e s f o r the complete range of p r e s s u r e r a t i o s tested is now made in Fig. 1 3 for the three turbines. F o r the opened turbine, the efficiency peaked at a p r e s s u r e ratio of about 1 . G. For low p r e s s u r e r a t i o s , rotor incidence losses w e r e high due to low velocities from the stator at a reduced absolute flow angle caused by the open setting. For high p r e s s u r e r a t i o s , the rotor incidence loss decreases, hut the rotor losses become high, The rotor l o s s e s i n c r e a s e due to the increase in flow velocity at both the inlet and outlet of the r o t o r . A t the highest p r e s s u r e ratio indicated, pb /p' of 2 . 2 , the rotor l o s s e s for the open stator a r e Seen f r o m Fig. 1 3 to he about 18 points in efficiency.
The efficiency curve of the design stator turbine is 'seen f r o m Fig. 1 3 to he fairly flat and above 0.90 f o r the indicated range of p r e s s u r e ratio, The stator l o s s e s varied only slightly from 2 to 3 points, while the incidence loss was essentially zero. The rotor loss varied from 5 points in efficiency at a p r e s s u r e ratio of 1 . 4 to ahout 8 points at a p r e s s u r e ratio of 2 . 1 . At the higher p r e s s u r e ratios indicated in Fig, 13, the efficiency of the closed turbine decreased, hut at a much slower r a t e than that for the open turbine. This can be explained by the trend of rotor loss with p r e s s u r e ratio which r e s u l t s f r o m changing rotor reaction. A s explained previously, negative reaction ( p r e s s u r e r i s e ) existed a c r o s s the rotor huh at the indicated work output of 17 Rtu p e r pound. As p r e s s u r e ratio a c r o s s the turbine increased, the reaction a c r o s s the rotor huh changed from a negative towards a positive condition. The rotor thus experiences a more favorable condition and the losses within the rotor do not increase significantly a s p r e s s u r e r a t i o is increased above the design work output. The rotor loss increased less than 1 point between design work output and maximum p r e s s u r e ratio (2.2) f o r the closed stator turbine. The corresponding i n c r e a s e s in rotor losses w e r e about 2 points for the design stator and about 1 2 points f o r the opened s t a t o r .

change in perfotmance as a function of stator setting, an approximate b r e a k d o m of loss was made for each turbine This loss study was based on experimental r e s u l t s and simplified assumptions. The results of this study a r e shown in Fig. 13 for the three turbines. The loss breakdown obtained a t design speed i s shown as a function of overall p r e s s u r e ratio. The lower curve f o r each turbine is a repeat of the efficiency variation of Fig. 12(b). The c i r c l e s again represent 11 Btu p e r pound of work output. The difference between tho lower curve and an ordinate value of unity; then, represents the total losses for any given p r e s s u r e ratio. The top loss in each c a s e a r e calculated stator losses. The next loss, as indicaled, a r e calculated rotor incidence losses. The remaining difference, labeled rotor loss. i s assumed to occur within, or chargeable to, the rotor.

A comparison is f i r s t made for the three turbines when each produced the s a m e work output of 17 Btu per pound. At this condition, the efficiency difference hetween the opened and design turbine was due mostly to the incidence loss of the opened turbine. The stator and rotor losses were about the s a m e . For the closed tur-

Summary of Results A single-stage turbine with thick blading suitable f o r cooling was tested o v e r a range of turbine s t a t o r a r e a settings f r o m 7 0 to 130 percent of design. The basic turbine (100 percent s t a t o r a r e a ) had an overall stage efficiency of 0.923 at design operating conditions. This was a l s o the peak efficiency obtained for thc basic turbine. The general effect of varying s t a t o r a r e a on turbine performance was a s follows:
1. Turbine efficiency decreased a t any given p r e s s u r e r a t i o as the stator setting was changed from design to either opened o r closed.

extensions to the c a s e of the multistage turbine is the subject of future work in the program. References
1. Whihey, W. J . , Szanca, E. M., Maffitt, T. P . , and Monroe, D. E . , "Cold-Air Investigation of a Turbine For High-Temperature-Engine Application. I . Turbine Design and Overall Stator Performance,'' T N D-3751, 1967, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio. 2 . P r u s t , H. W . , J r . , Schum, H. J., andBehning, F. P . , "Cold-Air Investigation of a Turbine f o r High-Temperature-Engine Application. 11. Detailed Analytical and Experimental Investigation of Stator Performance, T N D-4418, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.

2. For the open setting, a peak overall efficiency of 0.91 was obtained at d e s i p speed. The tip section of the s t a t o r acted as a converging-diverging nozzle, with the throat upstream of the trailing edge within the guided channel. Due to the change in area distribution of the blade rows a s the s t a t o r a r e a was opened, a higher s t a t o r exit (rotor inlet) s t a t i c pressure was obtained for a given overall p r e s s u r e r a t i o than was obtained for the design stator turbine. Generally, then, lower s t a t o r exit velocities a t lower whirl angles, and more positive rotor reaction (velocity increase) r e s u l t e d when the s t a t o r exit area was increased. The net r e s u l t w a s a decreaso in peak efficiency of about 1 point due to this off-design condition of operation.
3. For the closed s t a t o r setting, a peak overall efficiency of only 0.81 was obtained a t design speed. The major reason the performance f e l l off so much m o r e when the s t a t o r was closed than when it was opened was the adverse p r e s s u r e gradients a c r o s s the blade rows due to the change in a r e a distribution. For ihe clbsed position, the p r e s s u r e r a t i o across the stator became super-critical with resulting high s t a t o r l o s s e s . At the s a m e time, a p r c s s u r e r i s e (or velocity decrease) occurr e d a c r o s s the rotor hub blade row which resulted in high r o t o r l o s s c s . The net r e s u l t was the decrease in peak efficiency of about 5 points.
4. At the highest p r e s s u r e r a t i o s tested (approxi-

3. Whitney, W. J . , Szanca, E. M . , Bider, B . , and Monroe, D. E . , "Cold-Air Investigation of a Turbine For High-Temperature- Engine Application. III. Over311 Stage Performance," TN D.-4389, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.
4 . Szanca, E. M., Behning,

P.,and Schum, 11. J., "Effect of Variable Stator Area on Performance of a SingleStage Turbine Suitable for Air Cooling. I. Stator Overall Performande With 130-Percent Design Area," TM X-1632, ,1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.
"Effect of Variable Stator Area on Performance of a Single-Stage Turbine Suitable for Air Cooling. 11. Stator Detailed Losses with 130-Percent Design Area," T M X-1635, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.

5. Moffitt, T. P . , P r u s t , H. W., J r . , and Bider, B . ,

6. Schum, H. J., Moffitt, T. P., and Behning, F. P., "Effcct of Variable Stator Area on Performance of a SingleStage Turbine Suitable f o r Air Cooling. 1 1 Turbine 1. Performance with 130-Percent Design Stator Area," TM X-1663, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.

mately 2.2) the performance of the closcd s t a t o r turbine improved relative to the opened s t a t o r turbine. This change in relative Performance resulted from a m o r e favorable reaction condition existing a c r o s s the closed turbine a t the higher p r e s s u r e r a t i o s . Concluding R e m a r k s F r o m the above r e s u l t s , it is evident that considerable change in such flow conditions a s choking point, efficiency, reaction, surface velocity, e t c . , o c c u r s as variable geometry is imposed on a turbine. The r e s u l t s t h e r e f o r e emphasize, even f o r a single stage unit, the need f o r determining these turbine c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a s related to the intended application, such that the b e s t design can ultimately be evolved. In addition, in most applications of interest, multistage turbines are r e q u i r e d . In addition to extending t h e s e effects to the additional s t a g e s of such turbines, the optimum variation among the Stators involved m u s t h e ascertained to minimize the effects on the o v e r a l l Derformance of the turbine. Such
4

7. Behning, F. P., Binder, B., and Szanca, E. M., "Effect of Variable Stator-Area on Performance of a SinglcStage 'Turbine Suitable for Air Cooling. IV.' Stator Overall Performance with 70-Percent Dcsign Area," TM X-1675, 1968, NASA, Clcveland, Ohio.
8 . P r u s t , H. W., Moffitt, T. P . , a n d B i d e r , B . , "Effect of Variable Stator Area on Performance of a Single-Stage Turbine Suitable for Air Cooling. V. Stator Detailed Losses with 70-Percent Dcsign Area," TM X-1696, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio. 9 . Schum, H. J., Szanca, E . M., and P r u s t , 11. W., Jr., "Effect Of Variable Stator Area on Performance of a Single-Stage Turbine Suitable for Air Cooling. VI. Turhine Performance with 70-Percent Design Stator Area;' TM X-1697, 1968, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.

1 0 . Katsanis, T. and Dellner, L. T., "A Quasi-ThreeDimensional Method for Calculating Blade Surface Velocities for an Axial Flow Turbine Blade," TM X-1394, 1967, NASA, Cleveland, Ohio.

Figure 2.

- Stator assembly inslalied i n test facility.

Fiyure 3.

- Photograph of turbine rotor assembly.

PRESSURE RATIO,

2 - a21l -sz_ 19
s 2
3

18

1 1

5 I6 0

15 14 13 12 11

-E3
a w

3 =
E

10

8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19x104 MASS FLOW-SPEfO PRRAMEER, WN14 (LBKRPMIISEC

.6

Figure 9. -Overall turbine performance based on total pres sure ratio.

lbl I.!@"

rection.

0
l.Ot

PREOlClED BY OtSiih PHnCEnilRE CALCULATED FROhl EXI't?lh!lNTAL PRESSURE OISTRIBIIIIUN SUCllON SURFACE PRESSURE %HIACE

o
v)

.05

DESIGN, AREA 0 OPENED, 131% AREA

A CLOSED, 7WoAREA

I
.5

I
.7

IDEAL EXIT VELOCITY RATIO; Figure 10. cient.

iv/v

.a
1 i,1

.9

Cr

- Effect of stator setting on stator loss coeffi-

1&

OPENED TURBINE

PERCENT DESIGN STATOR CHOKED FLOW, %

60

1.2

u
1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 TOTAL PRESSURE RATIO, pb/p>
2.2

la) Mass flow.

TURBINE

_____ CLOSEDN DESIGN

OPEN

82
80

.2 .4 .6 .8 1.0 FRACTION OF BLADE-SURFACE LENGTH

IC1 0Ve"fd
11810r.

78 I I I I \ i 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 TOTAL-PRESSURE RATIO, pblp>

(bl Turbine efficiency

Figure 11. -Effectof 11aIorraingan surf~ velocity distribution a l sfator tip sections and at derign preiiurc ralio.

Figure 12. - Performance of three turbines at design speed.

STATOR LOSS -, 1.00 ROTOR INCIDENCE LOSS'

MEASURING STATION

.801
I

WORK OUTPUT

FRACTION OF IDEAL ENERGY

l:rz
.70

(a) 130% stator area turbine.

.80

. 70

(b) Design stator area turbine.

w c
1.2
1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 TOTAL PRESSURE RATIO, pblp;

. 70

2.2

.3

STATOR- ROTOR^
0
1
MEASURING STATION

(c) 70% stator area turbine.

Figure 13. -Breakdown of losses for three turbines at design equivalent speed.

ibl T i p Figure 14. -Comparison Of static pressure variation thmugh turhiner. Experimental values correspond to equivalent design sped and equivalent work Output Of l1.W Btu per w u n d 139 572 Jfkgl.