Accurate characterization of compressor rotordynamic coefficients during the design phase reduces the risk of sub-synchronous vibration (SSV) problems occurring in the field. Although rotordynamists extensively investigate discrete compressor components (such as seals and front shrouds) to tackle instability issues, integrated or system-level analysis of compressor rotordynamics is rare. In reality, the impeller, eye labyrinth seal, and the front shroud heavily influence one another; and the collective dynamic behavior of the system differs from the sum of the dynamic behavior of isolated components. To further investigate, a CFD-based approach is taken to evaluate the dynamic behavior of the system as a whole. The geometry and operating conditions in this work are based on the recent experimental study of Song et al. (2019) on compressor seal and front shroud stiffness values. The compressor impeller is redesigned utilizing turbomachinery design software CFturbo. The commercial CFD code CFX 19.0 is used to resolve Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations to quantify eye labyrinth seal and front cavity stiffness, damping, and added mass, while the whole compressor stage is modeled to uncover the coupled behavior of the components, and assess the stability of the whole system instead of any discrete components. The coupled system is constructed by modeling the interacting upstream and downstream components to accurately capture key rotordynamic parameters such as damping, axial pressure, and pressure distribution evolution inside the cavities. Effect of turbulence is captured utilizing the shear stress transport (SST) k-ω model. In the current work, three CFD approaches, namely quasi-steady, transient static eccentric, and transient mesh deformation technique are tested, and predictions are made on stiffness, damping, and virtual mass. Effectiveness of each CFD method is evaluated by comparison with the experimental data. CFD results provide the non-axisymmetric pressure perturbation for the shroud and seal surfaces. Furthermore, rotordynamic coefficients are derived utilizing correlations from the literature, and compared with CFD based and experimental results.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) level 2 rotordynamic stability analysis requires determination of possible destabilization forces on a compressor or pump impeller. Dynamic forces in transient regimes are often excluded although a turbomachine impeller may experience transient operation intentionally or accidentally. The centrifugal pump head, flow direction, rotation and torque can be both positive and negative in transient regimes. For example, in a renewable energy application, pump flow direction and rotation are reversed to generate power from the imposed fluid head. The complete characteristics of a centrifugal pump correspond to all four quadrants (4Q) of operation, to encompass all possible operating conditions. It is required to understand centrifugal pump impeller dynamic forces and rotordynamic responses for all 4Q for design, fault diagnostic, instability analysis, upset conditions (such as water hammer, surge etc.) and for reliable operation of high energy density machines. In the open literature, whirling impeller rotordynamic analyses appears only for normal pump operation. Centrifugal pump dynamic forces, rotordynamic impedances and flow instabilities of an open impeller are reported for 4Q operating regimes in this paper. A transient Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based model is implemented which is applicable to nonaxisymmetric turbomachinery components, such as with a volute and/or vaned diffuser. Whirling motion of the impeller is modeled by imposing mesh deformation at the impeller walls. A phase modulated multi-frequency mesh deformation method is imposed for better numerical efficiency. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with the Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model along with a transitional bypass turbulence model are employed for the CFD solution. The results show the underlying flow field instability and stall cells responsible for the impedance shapes. Furthermore, the model is employed for determining the dependence of the outputs on specific speed to extract rotordynamic forces more efficiently. Impeller dynamic forces are found to scale with the size of the impeller for the same eccentricity ratio and the same flow coefficient. Strength of impeller rotating stalls has dependence on whirl frequency ratio.
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