In a modern annular aircraft gas turbine combustor, the phenomenon of lean blow out (LBO) is of major concern. To understand the physical processes involved in LBO, a research combustor was designed and developed to specifically reproduce recirculation patterns and LBO processes that occur in a real gas turbine combustor. A total of eight leading design criteria were established for the research combustor. This paper discusses the combustor design constraints, aerothermochemical design, choice of combustor configurations, combustor sizing, mechanical design, combustor light-off, and combustor acoustic considerations that went into the final design and fabrication. Tests on this combustor reveal a complex sequence of events such as flame lift-off, intermittency, and onset of axial flame instability leading to lean blowout. The combustor operates satisfactorily and is yielding benchmark quality data for validating and refining computer models for predicting LBO in real engine combustors.

A propane-fueled research combustor has been designed and developed to investigate lean blowouts in a simulated primary zone of the combustors for aircraft gas turbine engines. To better understand the flow development and to ensure that the special provisions in the combustor for optical access did not introduce undue influence, measurements of the velocity fields inside the combustor were made using laser Döppler anemometry. These measurements were made in isothermal, constant density flow to relate the combustor flow field development to known jet behavior and to backward-facing step experimental data in the literature. The major features of the flow field appear to be consistent with the expected behavior, and there is no evidence that the provision of optical access adversely affected the flows measured.

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A propane-fueled research combustor has been designed to represent the essential features of primary zones of combustors for aircraft gas turbine engines in an investigation of lean blowouts. The atmospheric pressure test facility being used for the investigation made it difficult to approach the maximum heat release condition of the research combustor directly. High combustor loadings were achieved through simulating the effects on chemical reaction rates of subatmospheric pressures by means of a nitrogen diluent technique. A calibration procedure is described, and correlated experimental lean blowout results are compared with well-stirred reactor calculations for the research combustor to confirm the efficacy of the calibration.

Experimental information is presented on the effects of back-pressure on flame-holding in a gaseous fuel research combustor. Data for wall temperatures and static pressures are used to infer behavior of the major recirculation zones, as a supplement to some velocity and temperature profile measurements using LDV and CARS systems. Observations of flame behavior are also included. Lean blowout is improved by exit blockage, with strongest sensitivity at high combustor loadings. It is concluded that exit blockage exerts its influence through effects on the jet and recirculation zone shear layers.

In a modern aircraft gas turbine combustor, the phenomenon of lean blow-out (LBO) is of major concern. To understand the physical processes involved in LBO, a research combustor was designed and developed specifically to reproduce recirculation patterns and LBO processes that occur in a real gas turbine combustor. A total of eight leading design criteria were established for the research combustor. This paper discusses the combustor design constraints, aerothermochemical design, choice of combustor configurations, combustor sizing, mechanical design, combustor light-off, and combustor acoustic considerations that went into the final design and fabrication. Tests on this combustor reveal a complex sequence of events such as flame lift-off, intermittency, and onset of axial flame instability leading to lean blowout. The combustor operates satisfactorily and is yielding benchmark quality data for validating and refining computer models for predicting LBO in real engine combustors.

Experimental information is presented on the effects of back-pressure on flame-holding in a gaseous fuel research combustor. Data for wall temperatures and static pressures are used to infer behavior of the major recirculation zones, as a supplement to some velocity and temperature profile measurements using LDV and CARS systems. Observations of flame behavior are also included. Lean blowout is improved by exit blockage, with strongest sensitivity at high combustor loadings. It is concluded that exit blockage exerts its influence through effects on the jet and recirculation zone shear layers.

The wind turbine industry is beginning to establish orthodoxies governing the repair of gearboxes, including policies governing the replacement of bearings during gearbox heavy maintenance events. Some maintainers recommend replacing all of the bearings, every time, regardless of condition or age. At the same time, others prefer to only replace the failed bearing. The former rationale achieves availability by spending more money than absolutely necessary; the latter sacrifices reliability in exchange for a lower shop visit cost. Even though neither approach results in the lowest Life Cycle Cost, no standard practice has yet been implemented to methodically determine what would be the best approach. Furthermore, as gearboxes approach the end of their planned service lives, a different strategy may be called-for. This paper presents an illustrative example of using a reliability-based statistical analysis to determine which strategy will yield the lowest Life Cycle Cost for wind turbine gearboxes.