CENTER FOR

TURBOMACHINERY

AND

PROPULSION

RESEARCH

22nd ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL 22-23, 2009

2

SCHEDULE April 22, 2009

8:00 – 8:15 PM CTPR Overview - Dr. Srinath V. Ekkad

8:15 – 8:45 AM Richard Rivir, AFRL (Keynote)

8:45 – 9:15 AM Joe Schetz

9:15 – 9:45 AM Walter O’Brien

9:45 – 10:15 AM Walter O’Brien

10:15 – 10:30 AM (break)

10:30 – 11:00 AM Srinath Ekkad

11:00 – 11:30 AM Wing Ng & Srinath Ekkad

11:30 – 12:00 Cornel Sultan

12:00 – 1:00 PM (Lunch)

1:15 – 1:45 PM Romesh Batra

1:45 – 2:15 PM Rakesh Kapania

2:15 – 2:45 PM Danesh Tafti

2:45 – 3:15 PM Tom Diller

3:15 – 3:45 PM Ranga Pitchumani

3:45 – 4:00 PM (break)

4:00 – 4:30 PM Chris Roy

4:30 – 5:00 PM Gordon Kirk

6:00 PM Reception (Cash Bar)

7:00 PM Dinner (Banquet) – Dr. Hamid Mughal, VP from RR in Manu-

facturing as our Banquet Speaker

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April 23, 2009

8:00 – 8:45 AM Fay Collier, NASA (Keynote)

8:45 – 9:15 AM Anbo Wang

9:15 – 9:45 AM Brian Lattimer

9:45 – 10:15 AM William Devenport

10:15 – 10:30 AM (Break)

10:30 – 11:00 AM Uri Vandsburger

11:00 – 11:30 AM Shashank Priya

11:30 – 12:00 Panel – Recommendation for future CTPR meeting

12:00 Noon (Lunch)

1:30 – 5:00 PM (Lab tours)

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KEYNOTE

Progress Toward Aviation Environmental Goals

Fayette S. Collier

Principal Investigator

Subsonic Fixed Wing Project

NASA

NASA’s subsonic fixed wing project has engaged approximately 300 top-notch re-

searchers around the Agency as well as an impressive array of outside industrial and

academic organizations across the country to work toward concepts that meet speci-

fied aviation-related environmental goals. The project has developed a multi-

generational approach to breaking the technical challenges down, and identifying and

working long poles for near term, mid-term and far-term national needs. Fay Collier,

the Principal Investigator for the subsonic fixed wing project will briefly review the

environmental goals and discuss strategies being executed by the project, as well as

progress toward meeting them.

Overview of AFRL Interests

Dr. Richard B. Rivir, ST

AFRL/PR

1950 Fifth Street

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7251

Phone: 937/255-2744

E-mail: richard.rivir@wpafb.af.mil

A brief Overview of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate's

major programs will be presented. Programs to be covered include Turbine's AD-

VENT, HEETE, and PDE, Advanced Propulsion's Hy shot and X-51, Power's IN-

VENT, Fuel cells, BRITES, Alternative Fuels, Rocket's Hydrocarbon Boost, Elec-

tric propulsion, and Sustainment.

5

Damage Evolution during Impact Loading of Fiber Reinforced

Composites R. C. Batra

Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

We use the theory of internal variables, or equivalently of continuum damage mechan-

ics, to develop a mathematical model involving three variables that describe the progression of damage (fiber breakage, fiber/matrix debonding, matrix cracking) during impact loading of fiber-reinforced composites. The degradation of material parameters with the damage is con-sidered. Values of material parameters in the postulated evolution laws of internal variables are determined from the test data. The delamination mode of failure is simulated by hypothesizing a damage surface in terms of transverse normal and transverse shear stresses acting on an inter-face between two adjoining layers. When the stress state at a point on an interface lies on this surface, delamination is assumed to ensue from that point. Initial-boundary-value problems are numerically solved to validate the mathematical model by comparing computed results with test findings including blind tests in which predictions from the mathematical model are compared with results of tests totally different from those used to deduce values of material parameters. A Figure of Merit, equal to the percentage of work done by external forces dissipated by all failure mechanisms, is introduced to characterize the performance of laminated composites un-der shock loads; it is depicted in the fol-lowing Fig.

Fig. For different fiber orientation angles,

percentage of the work done by external

forces dissipated in all failure modes.

1. Hassan NM, Batra RC (2008) Modeling damage development in polymeric composites. Composites B 39: 66-82

2. Batra RC, Hassan NM (2008) Blast resistance of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites. Composites B 39: 513-536

3. Batra RC, Hassan NM (2007) Response of fiber reinforced composites to underwater explo-sions. Composites B 38: 448-458

Figure of Merit

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An Overview of Research

Walter F. O’Brien

CFD modeling of Low Reynolds Number Flows in Turbines Darius Sanders, Graduate Research Assistant

Flow separation with increased losses is known to occur when low pressure turbine

(LPT) blades are operated at high altitudes with a reduced inlet Reynolds number. The present

research has developed a methodology for the prediction of low Reynolds number aerodynamic

flow effects based on the Walters and Leylek transitional flow model. This new methodology

was then applied to a steady flow simulation of multistage LPT geometry and compared to a

conventional turbulence model. Based on the results, the CFD with Walters and Leylek transi-

tional flow model has the potential to provide improved prediction of separation and transi-

tional flow in low Reynolds number turbine applications.

Demonstration and Simulation of Ion Flow Control over a Flat Plate Capers Thompson, Graduate Research Assistant

This research studies the effects of ion flow control on boundary layer separation pre-

vention over a flat plate. A direct current corona discharge is used to add momentum to the

flow in the near wall region, thus delaying separation. Flat plate experimental data has been

used to calibrate a model of the flow control scheme with the ANSYS CFD software, Fluent.

Through the development of new electrode configurations, tests will be conducted in a low

speed compressor cascade to prevent separation and reduce wake thickness. These tests will

also examine the effects of ion flow control on pressure loss coefficient.

Hydrogen fuel conversion and operation of a Pratt and Whitney PT6-A20 Tur-

boprop engine Jordan Farina, Matt Perry, and Dan Villarreal, Graduate Research Assistants

The combustion section of a Pratt & Whitney PT6-A20 turboprop engine has been

converted to accomodate lean-premixed hydrogen fuel injection. The engine has been started,

operated at idlel and reduced power in numerous successful tests. Analysis, characterization

and tests of the lean-premixing injector operation have been completed, with results showing

areas for improvement. A redesigned injector is currently under development, with a near-

future goal of installation in the PT6-A20. In addition, a fuel control system has been designed

to allow computer-supervised operation of the engine using real-time data as feedback signals.

On-going improvements in the design will enable engine control over the full range of opera-

tion.

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Recent Research Projects

Wing Ng, Drew Newman, Colin Reagle, Santosh Abraham, Kapil

Panchal, Song Xue, Srinath Ekkad

An overview will be given on several research projects that are led by

Wing Ng and his colleagues. The presentation will emphasize capa-

bilities and expertise of the team, both experimentally and computa-

tionally, with the hope that future research programs can be formulated

and built on the existing programs. A brief description will be given

on each of the following research programs:

1. Turbine Aerodynamic

— A high turning blade is tested under transonic conditions using

CFD and measurements. This program is studying highly loaded

blades with detailed flow and heat transfer measurements to optimize

blade geometry. Endwall shape optimization is also conducted in addi-

tion to blade loading optimization.

2. Turbine Heat Transfer

—A new infrared technique is being used for heat transfer meas-

urement with film-cooled vanes and blades. The infra-red technique

provides both detailed heat transfer coefficient and film effectiveness

measurements from single transient blow-down test. Several view of

the test rig are required to map the entire blade surface. The detailed

measurements are compared to earlier point wise measurements using

thin film heat flux gages.

8

9

Machinery Dynamics: Current Interests at Virginia

Tech

by

R. Gordon Kirk, PhD, PE Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA

gokirk@vt.edu

The level of understanding of machinery dynamics is higher today than was ever

thought possible thirty-five years ago. In fact, a major source of excitation was overlooked and

thought to be coming from aerodynamic excitation forces in centrifugal compressors. The

evaluation of instability mechanisms has advanced to the point that standard procedures are

currently being proposed for all petrochemical rotating machinery. While this all sounds so

fine, a closer look reveals that much more work is necessary to fully understand the machinery

being built today and the advanced technology machinery that will be needed in future years.

Most major universities are not interested in machinery dynamics research due to the low level

of funding that the rotating machinery industry OEM’s and users have come to expect for such

research programs. If this trend continues, it will eventually be left to industry to self-teach and

advance the knowledge required to produce the necessary rotating machinery.

This paper will address the most interesting results from the author’s current research efforts in

three different areas. 1) A key area of research for the past twenty-five years has been the

proper prediction of labyrinth seal excitation in centrifugal compressors. 2) For the past fifteen

years, the fluid film bearing thermally induced synchronous instability has been the most inter-

esting and widespread source of a new excitation mechanism for modern machinery. 3) The

final area that has had a recent re-birth of interest in the last five years, is the instability of high

speed turbochargers. As modern engine requirements are demanding more efficiency, the use

of small high speed turbochargers will be necessary to increase the fuel economy for both pas-

senger cars and the trucking industry.

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Multimodal Energy Harvesting and Research at Center for

Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems

Shashank Priya

Virginia Tech

The vast reduction in size and power consumption of sensors and CMOS circuitry has

led to focused research effort on the power sources which can replace the batteries or

enhance their lifetime. The concern with batteries has been that they must always be

charged before use. In several applications the operation of externally recharging or

battery replacement can be tedious and expensive and may even be prohibited by the

infrastructure or location. Logically, the emphasis is on developing miniature cost-

effective systems that can transform locally available energy sources to electrical en-

ergy. The choice for environmental energy sources are several including vibrations,

light, temperature gradient, wind, acoustics, magnetic currents, water currents, and

human activity. The selection of the energy source and converter is case dependent.

This presentation reports the progress made in our research on developing energy

harvesting modules for platforms that are rich in vibrations, magnetic field and wind

emphasizing wireless sensor networks and fabrication of self-powered chips. This talk

will also introduce the research activities planned for recently launched Center for

Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems. The Center comprises of 24 faculties from

three different universities, Virginia Tech, UT Dallas, and Clemson University.

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IC3E – Advanced Fuel Gasification : A Coupled Experimental-

Computational Program

Brian Lattimer*, Francine Battaglia, Srinath Ekkad, Danesh Tafti, and Uri Vandsburger

Department of Mechanical Engineering

*lattimer@vt.edu

(540)-231-7295

Abstract

The ICTAS Center for Clean Coal Energy (IC3E) is focused on solving long-term chal-

lenges involving cost effective, efficient, environmentally sound technologies for power gen-

eration using the Nation’s natural resources as fuel. Power production plants based on the new

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) are being designed to be highly efficient, have

“zero” emission, and be capable of using the Nation’s natural resources. In the IGCC type

plant, a gasifier is used to convert solid particles of coal or biomass into gaseous fuel which is

used to power gas turbines. Scaling small laboratory size gasifier performance has been prob-

lematic creating reliability issues with some existing pilot-scale gasifiers. A better understand-

ing of the physics and chemistry inside the gasifier is needed to provide optimized gasifier de-

signs that provide more consistent fuel streams for power production.

The overall goal of this project is to develop tools and methods to predict the operation

and performance of gasifiers which will lead to more efficient gasifier designs. This multidis-

ciplinary, collaborative research project couples the use of experiments and computational fluid

dynamics (CFD) to increase the fundamental understanding of particle mixing behavior and

reactions in a fluidized bed gasifier used for solid fuel conversion. This research will primarily

focus on the fluidized bed gasifier because it can accommodate the widest range of fuels among

the existing gasifier designs. However, the tools and methods formulated in this research will

provide a foundation for predicting the performance of other types of gasifiers.

This research program will result in the following advances that can be applied to develop-

ing the next generation of gasifiers: Two-Fluid Model (TFM) capable of performing CFD simu-

lations to predict conditions and gaseous fuel formation on both small and large-scale gasifiers,

Discrete Particle Model (DPM) for use in conducting CFD simulations to investigate the more-

fine-grained physics and chemistry of the fluidized bed and refine interphase transfer models in

the TFM, small-scale, instrumented fluidized bed gasifier that will be used to perform non-

reacting and reacting fluidized bed experiments for understanding the unresolved difficulties of

multiphase flow and chemistry in reacting fluidized beds as well as support other IGCC related

programs, database of non-reacting and reacting fluidized bed experimental data for model vali-

dation, database for coal and biomass solid phase chemistry reactions for use as CFD model

input data, and visualization of high temperature response of materials for particle decomposi-

tion modeling. The project is being carried out at several laboratories on and off the Virginia

Tech campus by a team of faculty with expertise in CFD modeling, chemical kinetics, and ex-

perimental reacting flows.

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High Performance Computational Fluid-Thermal Science and

Engineering Lab

Danesh K. Tafti, Sai Shridharan, Sunil Patil

The HPCFD lab specializes in the development and use of advanced simulation techniques

for turbulent fluid mechanics and heat transfer. The presentation will give a brief summary

of capabilities with present and past activities in the turbomachinery and propulsion area.

Some representative results from two ongoing projects, one in combustor liner heat transfer

and another in Syngas ash deposition in the presence of film cooling will be presented.

LES of ribbed internal cooling

duct

LES of leading edge film cooling

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14

Overview of Research relating to Heat Transfer in

Turbomachinery and Other Cooling Issues

Srinath V. Ekkad, Santosh Abraham, Pritish Parida, Chris

LeBlanc, Teddy Sedalor

The ongoing research in the Hokie Heat Transfer Laboratory deals

with various aspects of cooling issues in turbine hot gas path.

Film Cooling Hole Designs

Several new film cooling hole shapes have been tested and studied to

improve film cooling performance with less amount of coolant and

also address manufacturability.

Internal Cooling inside blades

Several impingement configurations have been studied. A novel infra-

red thermography technique has been designed to make internal heat

transfer measurements in ribbed channels and in impingement cooling

systems.

Rotating Channel Heat Transfer

A new rotating channel test rig has been designed and built for testing

effects on rotation inside cooling channels. A novel liquid crystal tech-

nique will be implemented to study the detailed heat transfer behavior

inside internal cooling channel under rotating conditions

Combustor Liner Heat Transfer

A mock combustor has been designed and built to study convective

loading on combustor liner due to swirling flows.

15

Rotorcraft Dynamics, Energy Harvesting and Coordinated

Vehicles

Cornel Sultan

Aerospace and Ocean Engineering

This presentation is an overview of three research directions pursued at Virginia Tech by the

speaker. The first direction is in developing new rotorcraft models which are appropriate for

modern control design. The traditional approach, in which modeling and control are treated

separately, is fading away because of the increasing discrepancies between the simulation mod-

els and the current capabilities of control technology. Whereas simulation models are growing

increasingly complex, consisting of highly nonlinear PDE (at the least), the state of the art in

control theory is still mainly restricted to ODE models. Moreover, the state of practice in rotor-

craft (but not only) control is simplifies models even further by being limited to “single axis” or

decoupled systems control. Hence, the highly complex simulation models are not adequate for

control design and neither are the corresponding reduced order models, because they ignore

most of the physics of the system. The approach taken by the speaker in his research is to de-

velop control models from the perspective of the control designer. Thus, these models must

capture the essential dynamics to be controlled be physics, (rather than data) based and limited

to ODE equations. Moreover, since the limitations of current practice in rotorcraft are strongly

related to single axis, classical control, the new models will be targeted at modern, multivari-

able, eventually nonlinear control development.

A second direction of research is in the area of harvesting the kinetic energy of the environment

(i.e. due to ground, wind, or ocean waves). For this purpose the speaker proposes the use of

large displacement structures. The idea is to mimic certain biological systems capable of large

displacement such as tendon controlled articulated skeletons. These living organisms have

evolved over millions of years and developed motion strategies which exploit internal mecha-

nisms that allow them to move with minimal internal energy dissipation. By using inspiration

from these living organisms and reversing the process, the energy of the environment can be

absorbed with minimal losses. The man made structure which capture the essential properties of

skeletons are tensegrity structures. These are capable of large deformations and as such they

can absorb much of the otherwise detrimental energy of the environment into the potential elas-

tic field of the tendons. The absorbed energy can be later used to power the structure which can

become an energy self-sufficient device used to power macro to miniature vehicles.

The third research direction is in the coordination of vehicles, with a focus on heterogeneous

formations. Applications are pursued in the area of spacecraft, aerospace and ground or naval

vehicles. The main focus is on developing fast and robust trajectory generation algorithms,

which will account for collision avoidance, communication and information exchange con-

straints.

16

Design Environment for Optimization of Unitized Structures under Damage Tol-

erance and Acoustic Constraints

Rakesh K. Kapania, Pankaj Joshi, Sameer B. Mulani, Thi D. Dang, Sham P. Gurav Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061-0203, USA

Weight reduction while satisfying constraints on various performance measure is often of prime

importance in aerospace industry. Generally, essential ingredients to achieve efficient designs

are, a manufacturing technology that can make complex shapes, materials amenable to being

manufactured into complex shapes, and a computational design environment that could design

such structures. In addition to reducing the weight of the aircraft structures, it is required that

these structures are light-weight yet robust, durable, damage tolerance, and corrosion resistant.

In aircraft design, stiffening members (spars/ribs/stringers) are attached to the panel by using

rivets and therefore are often kept straight in order to make the manufacturing simple. How-

ever, if a more efficient design exhibits use of curved stiffeners, it can significantly increase the

manufacturing complexity of the fastening process. An alternative is to use unitized structures,

in which the stiffener forms an integral part of the panel and provides an elegant way to manu-

facture such complex aircraft components efficiently. Due to recent developments in high-speed

machining, use of materials like aluminum for making parts of complex shape has become pos-

sible. New developments such as Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and Electron Beam Free Form

Fabrication (EBF3) have made practical the use of unitized structures such as curved stiffened

panels. With the availability of such advanced manufacturing capability, the challenge is now to

create a design environment that can exploit these possibilities.

The optimization frameworks are developed using PYTHON/MATLAB (central processor),

MD.PATRAN (Geometry and FE modeling), MD.NASTRAN/ABAQUS (FE Analysis), and

VISUALDOC (an external optimizer). In the case of stiffened panel optimization having curvi-

linear stiffeners and supersonic wings with curvilinear SpaRibs, the optimization goal is to

minimize the mass of the structure against global buckling and Von Mises stresses constraints.

While optimizing using damage tolerance for stiffened panels, initial cracks are considered to

be present at each of the critical regions (for example, maximum stress). Crack growth analysis

using ABAQUS is carried out for such design to obtain Fracture parameters such as stress in-

tensity factors those are used as constraints in the optimization. The acoustic optimization for

stiffened panels involves multiple objective functions such as minimum mass and acoustic radi-

ating sound power. In the current strategy, as a first step before using pareto optimal front,

minimizing the acoustic sound power is kept as a main goal, while constraining the mass of the

structure to the selected baseline mass. This baseline panel mass is selected based on optimized

stiffened panel for buckling constraint. Optimization results for both damage tolerance and

acoustic power optimization will be presented and discussed.

17

Verification, Validation, and Uncertainty Quantification for Sci-

entific Computing

Christopher J. Roy

Associate Professor

Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Dept.

Virginia Tech

540-231-0080, cjroy@vt.edu

Verification and Validation (V&V) have emerged as a formal framework for assessing the reli-

ability of scientific computing simulations. Verification assesses the mathematical accuracy of

the numerical solution to a model, which is usually composed of a system of nonlinear partial

differential equations. Validation addresses the physical adequacy of the underlying model for

describing the phenomenon of interest and must incorporate comparisons to real-world observa-

tions (i.e., experimental data). For propulsion applications, the underlying models for com-

pressibility, turbulence, combustion, and multiphase flow can be extremely complicated, result-

ing in additional challenges during the V&V process. Uncertainty can occur due to a system’s

environment or arise during the modeling and simulation process itself. These uncertainties can

be classified as either aleatory (random) or epistemic (i.e., uncertainty due to a lack of knowl-

edge). Proper integration of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties is a key for assessing the over-

all predictive capability of a simulation.

High Temperature Fiber Optic Sensors

Anbo Wang, Gary Pickrell, Jiajun Wang, Evan Lally, and Yong Xu Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

This talk will review the recent development of various optical fiber sensors for harsh environ-

ments at Virginia Tech’s Center for Photonics Technology. These sensors include silica fiber

tip pressure for temperatures up to 600C, and single-crystal sapphire fiber sensors for single-

point and multiplexed measurement of high temperature above 1000C. The latest progress in

sapphire-to-sapphire direct bonding for pressure sensor construction will be also reported.

18

Injection and Mixing Studies for Scramjet Applications

Chris Rock, Scott Burger and Joe Schetz

This report will present current results of experimental studies in

the VT Supersonic and Hypersonic Wind Tunnels.

Airfoil Noise Studies

William Devenport

Leading edge noise measurements and calculations have been made on a

three airfoils immersed in turbulence. The airfoils included variations in

chord, thickness and camber and the measurements encompass integral

scale to chord ratios from 9 to 40% as well as 4:1 ratios of leading edge

radius and airfoil thickness to integral scale. Angle of attack is found to

have a strong effect on the airfoil response function but for the most part

only a small effect on leading edge noise because of the averaging effect

of the isotropic turbulence spectrum. Angle of attack effects can there-

fore be significant in non-isotropic turbulence and dependent on airfoil

shape. It is found that thicker airfoils generate significantly less noise at

high frequencies but that this effect is not determined solely by the lead-

ing edge radius or overall thickness. Camber effects appear likely to be

small. Angle of attack effects on the response function of a strongly

cambered airfoil are shown to be centered on zero angle of attack, rather

than the zero lift angle of attack.

19

Synchronously Actuated Response Atomizer

Chris Martin and Uri Vandsberger

Steve Lepera, Brian Tucker, Geoff Summers

The destructive power of combustion instabilities in liquid-fueled gas turbine engines

can be studied in detail and even suppressed by actuating the fuel injection. Past works have

demonstrated definitively that the instantaneous fuel flow rate, droplet size distribution, and

even instantaneous droplet placement in the combustor strongly influence the unsteady heat

release rate which, in turn, drives the detrimental thermo-acoustic phenomena we call combus-

tion instabilities. Our understanding of the impact of these physical phenomena on the flame is

limited by our ability to introduce them independently of one another and at the frequencies of

interest. The Synchronously Actuated Response Atomizer (SARA) project has yielded a design

prototype that can independently command droplet size distribution, mass flow rate, and cone

angle in order to target precisely these questions. This talk briefly addresses the design con-

cept, the static (low-frequency) characterization, and steps that are currently underway to pro-

duce a generation II high-frequency (~1,000Hz) model, and even how these technologies might

be useful to industry.

Deposition Characteristics of Particles on Turbine Blades

Eric Wood and Uri Vandsburger

Two series of tests were performed to simulate the deposition characteristics of synthe-

sis gas (Syngas) ash particles in the fuel stream on the first stage turbine blades. One study was

under isothermal conditions while the other study cooled the surface with backside impinge-

ment cooling while keeping the free stream temperature constant.

Test conditions were matched along non-dimensional temperatures, Stokes number,

and a particle loading factor to be compared to a previous study and actual engine conditions.

The deposition particles for this test were comprised of Teflon, a polymer made by DuPont.

The capture efficiency, which is a measure of how many particles deposit on the surface, was

found to have an exponential relationship with temperature.

For the isothermal case, a 15% drop in non-dimensional temperature resulted in a 85%

drop in capture efficiency. For the case with the cooled surface, a 25% drop in non-dimensional

temperature resulted in a 15% drop in capture efficiency. Compared to the previous study with

actual ash particles, an overall similar trend was found. However, the Teflon particles did not

show as strong of a dependence on temperature as the ash particles did. SEM images of the

surfaces were also taken for qualitative results and additional insight to the deposition charac-

teristics.

20

Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering

Virginia Tech is home to the

Commonwealth's leading College

of Engineering, known in Virginia

and throughout the nation for its

excellent programs in engineer-

ing education, research, and pub-

lic service. Overall, the college

ranked 28th in the 2008 U.S. News

and World Report graduate survey of engineering schools. Tech’s College of

Engineering, specifically the Mechanical Engineering Department, is one of

the few institutions with a strong background in propulsion and turbomachin-

ery research.

For more information about Virginia Tech’s Center for Turbomachinery and

Propulsion Research, feel free to contact:

Dr. Srinath Ekkad

Mechanical Engineering

106 Randolph Hall

Mail Code 0238

Blacksburg VA 24061

Center for Turbomachinery and

Propulsion Research

© 2008– Center for Turbomachinery and Propulsion Research - Virginia Tech- All Rights Reserved.

Phone: 540-231-7192

Fax: 540-231-9100