Theoretical Analysis of Gas Turbine Blade by Finite Element Method
Theoretical Analysis of Gas Turbine Blade by Finite Element Method
Theoretical Analysis of Gas Turbine Blade by Finite Element Method
Abstract: Gas turbine is an important functional part of many applications. Cooling of blades has been a major concern since
they are in a high temperature environment. Various techniques have been proposed for the cooling of blades and one such
technique is to have axial holes along the blade span. Finite element analysis is used to analyze thermal and structural
performance due to the loading condition, with material properties of Titanium- Aluminum Alloy. Six different models with
different number of holes (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12) were analyzed in this paper to find out the optimum number of holes for good
performance. In Finite element analysis, first thermal analysis followed by structural analysis is carried out. Graphs are plotted
for temperature distribution for existing design (12 holes) and for 8 holes against time. 2D and 3D model of the blade with
cooling passages are shown. Using ANSYS, bending stress, deflection, temperature distribution for number of holes are
analyzed. It is found that when the numbers of holes are increased in the blade, the temperature distribution falls down. For
the blade configuration with 8 holes, the temperature near to the required value i.e., 800ºC is obtained. Thus a turbine blade
with 8 holes configuration is found to be the optimum solution.
Keywords: Gas turbine blade; Stress; Deflection; Temperature distribution.
1. INTRODUCTION from the optimum aero dynamic blade profile. The cooling of
the blade is achieved by conduction and convection,
Gas turbines are used extensively for aircraft propulsion, land- relatively hotter air after traversing the entire blade length in
based power generation, and industrial applications. Thermal the cooling passages escapes to the main flow from the blade
efficiency and power output of gas turbines increase with tips. Hollow blades can also be manufactured with a core and
increasing turbine rotor inlet temperature. The current rotor internal cooling passage. Cooling air enters the leading edge
inlet temperature level in advanced gas turbines is far above region in the form of a jet and then turns towards the trailing
the melting point of the blade material. Therefore, along with edge [3, 6].
high temperature material development, sophisticated cooling
scheme must be developed for continuous safe operation of 2.2. External Cooling:
gas turbines with high performance. Gas turbine blades are External cooling of the turbine blade is achieved in two ways.
cooled internally and externally; this paper focuses on turbine The cooling air enters the internal passages from the hub
blade internal cooling. In this type cooler air is bled from the towards the tips. On its way upwards it is allowed to flow the
compressor stage and then passing through internal passages blade surface through a number of small orifices inclined to
incorporated into blade designs for cooling purpose [1]. the surface. The cooling air thus flowing out of these small
holes forms a film over the blade surfaces. Besides cooling
2. METHODS OF COOLING
the blade surface it decreases the heat transfer form hot gases
2.1. Internal Cooling: to the blade metal.
Internal cooling of blades can be achieved by passing cooling 3. FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
air from the air compressor through internal cooling passages
from hub towards the blade tips. The internal passages may The FEM has become a powerful tool for numerical solution
be circular or elliptical and or distributed near the entire of wide range of engineering problems. The advance in
surface of blade. The shapes of such blades may deviate computer technology and high-speed electronic computers
Author for Correspondence: B.Deepanraj, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Adhiparasakthi Engineering College, Melmaruvathur, Tamilnadu,
India. Email: [email protected].
Finite element analysis can play a vital role by simplifying The transient thermal analysis was performed by applying
the analysis. In this work a turbine blade is analyzed for its the loading condition by using a time curve. For this, hot gas
thermal as well as structural performance due to the loading temperature was specified along the pressure side of the blade
condition. Six different models having different number of and the cool-ant temperature was applied on the cooling hole
holes were analyzed in this paper to find out the optimum surface area. The hub being fixed to the rotor disc, it is
number of holes for good performance. constrained in all six degrees of freedom. Different thermal
loads and convection boundary conditions were applied on
5. MODELING OF GAS TURBINE BLADE pressure side of the blade model.
3D model of a turbine blade with hub was done in two stages. 6.2. Structural analysis
Table 1: Dimensions of the blade For structural analysis, the model was re-meshed using Solid
92 elements. The pressure load was applied on the pressure
side of the blade and the analysis was performed. Since hub
side of the blade was fixed with disc, hub side of the blade
was fully arrested. Then structural loads were applied on
pressure side of the blade model.
Table 2: Material properties of Titanium-Aluminium Alloy
First for creating the 3D model of the turbine blade, key points
were created along the profile in the working plane. The points
were joined by drawing B Spline curves to obtain a smooth
contour. This contour was then converted into area and then
volume was generated by extrusion. Then working plane was
rotated by 90º to generate the hub part in the same way as the
Fig. 2: Temperature Vs time for existing design (12 holes)
blade. These two volumes were then combined to make a
Scientific World, Vol. 9, No. 9, July 2011 30
Fig. 3: Temperature Vs time for optimized design (8 holes) Fig. 7: Finite element model of the blade
Fig. 5: Two dimensional model of the blade Fig. 9: Temperature distribution for optimized design (8 holes)