Optical Heat Flux Measurements for Engine and Turbine Rigs to Accelerate Turbine Development

Optical Heat Flux Measurements for Engine and Turbine Rigs to Accelerate Turbine DevelopmentPI: Karen TholeDr. Steven Martens, Progr,am Officer, [email protected], Dept. Code 35, Div. Code 351 An advanced thermal imaging camera system is requested to measure,sfully demonstrated in a benchtop laboratory environment, but the proposed thermal imaging system would be the first to be used on a, test turbine, which will accelerate the development of engine cooling technology to save time and costs for the U.S. Navy.As turbin,e engine designs target improved efficiency through increased turbine inlet tempe,evelop new cooling technologies is paramount for the United States to remain competitive for U.S. warfighter needs. Beyond time and,cost restrictions, the development of new cooling technologies is constrained by the current inability to acquire meaningful data re,quired to make direct comparisons between cooling designs, as well as the inability to validate existing design codes.This proposal,requests an advanced thermal imaging system composed of a multi-wavelength infrared approach for use in an engine-relevant research,environment. Single-wavelength measurements, which provide only surface temperature measurements, have already been demonstrated by,the PIs and have shown breakthrough understanding of turbine cooling architectures. However, the combination of imaging in multiple,wavelengths provides the ability to measure surface temperatures in tandem with much needed heat flux on rotating blades. The propos,ed multi-wavelength measurement system represents the product of premier thermal imaging development for turbine applications over t,he past decade.In todays turbine development test rigs, limited validation data are available from point-based sensors such as ther,mocouples and heat flux gages. These localized measurements are incapable of measuring global component trends, and they also fail t,o capture thermal gradients. These gradients are increasingly steep in cooled turbine components and can lead to thermal stresses li,miting component life. In contrast to point-based sensors, non-contact thermal imaging systems offer spatially-resolved measurements, that capture critical spatial gradients and an ability to monitor multiple blades in a rotating system without the need for on-roto,r measurements. On-rotor measurements require: substantial installation time and cost; failure-prone sensor leads; and design modifi,cations to instrumented hardware that reduce part life. Spatially-resolved thermal imaging systems dramatically reduce installation,cost and time, providing an overall acceleration of the turbine development process. Furthermore, blade-to-blade variability quantif,ication is enabled by collecting measurements on every blade in a wheel, benefitting critical design for variation targets.The intro,duction of advanced heat flux thermal imaging technology into the Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) facility at Penn Stat,e offers a unique opportunity to accelerate turbine cooling technologies. The START Lab is a research Center of Excellence for a tur,bine manufacturer that supplies propulsion engines to the Navy, providing a direct benefit to DoD. Finally, the START Lab is leading, a major effort, supported by the Department of Energy, to develop a common turbine with partnership from four engine manufacturers., The proposed instrumentation will directly benefit DOEs National Experimental Turbine (NExT) program, which will provide a wealth,of data to U.S. turbine manufacturers and government agencies.This project summary is publicly releasable.