Challenges Associated With Replicating Rotor Blade Deposition in a Non-Rotating Annular Cascade

A computational analysis is performed to determine if particulate impact events on the external surfaces of gas turbine engine rotor blades can be faithfully replicated in an experimental rotor cascade. The general electric (GE) energy efficient engine (E3) first-stage turbine flow-field at cruise conditions is first solved using a steady-state explicit mixing plane (MP) approach. To model flow in the cascade, a single E3 rotor periodic domain is then constructed with an inlet section matching the relative flow incidence angle from the mixing plane calculation. The mass-averaged relative flow conditions at the inlet and outlet of the mixing plane rotor section are imposed on the cascade boundaries and a steady solution is found. Particles with diameters ranging from 1 to 25 µm are tracked through each domain and the OSU deposition model is implemented to dictate the sticking and rebounding action of particles impacting solid surfaces. It is discovered that both the locations and parameters of the impacts in the cascade vary significantly from the engine environment. For smaller particles, this is credited to a stronger upstream influence of the blade on the cascade flow-field. As size increases, differences in deposition are instead driven by the interaction of the full-stage vane with the particles. The lack of a vane in the cascade causes drastically different particle inlet vectors over the rotor than are seen in the engine setting. The radial differences of particle impact locations are explored, and the role that pressure plays is considered.