Calculation of Pressure Pulsations in the Flow Part of the First Stage of an Axial Turbine in the Rotor-Stator Interaction Zone

Abstract

A serious problem in the development of reusable liquid-propellant rocket engines (LRE) is the provision of a high resource and reliability of gas turbines of turbopump, which supply fuel to the combustion chamber. This problem can be solved by reducing the level of pressure pulsations in the interaction zone of the turbine rotor-stator and dynamic loads acting on the working and stator blades. In this regard, a useful tool is the method of numerical simulation of the unsteady turbulent flow of a compressible gas in the turbine flow path with the determination of the amplitude of pressure pulsations in the axial clearance between the stator and rotor blade cascades. The calculation model includes the Navier-Stokes equations and equation of energy. Density, thermal conductivity and diffusion coefficient are linearly dependent on temperature and concentration. Calculations were performed on different meshes, proving the mesh convergence of the method upon reaching the quasi-stationary regime. The calculation results show that the pressure pulsations vary greatly with the axial clearance, and the main frequency of the pressure pulsations in the spectrum is the blade passing frequency. The frequency of dynamic moment acting on the blade also coincides with the indicated frequency.