Acoustic absorption and the unsteady flow associated with circular apertures in a gas turbine environment

This work is concerned with the fluid dynamic processes and the associated loss of acoustic energy produced by circular apertures within noise absorbing perforated walls. Although applicable to a wide range of engineering applications particular emphasis in this work is placed on the use of such features within a gas turbine combustion system. The primary aim for noise absorbers in gas turbine combustion systems is the elimination of thermo-acoustic instabilities, which are characterised by rapidly rising pressure amplitudes which are potentially damaging to the combustion system components. By increasing the amount of acoustic energy being absorbed the occurrence of thermo-acoustic instabilities can be avoided. The fundamental acoustic characteristics relating to linear acoustic absorption are presented. It is shown that changes in orifice geometry, in terms of gas turbine combustion system representative length-to-diameter ratios, result in changes in the measured Rayleigh Conductivity. Furthermore in the linear regime the maximum possible acoustic energy absorption for a given cooling mass flow budget of a conventional combustor wall will be identified. An investigation into current Rayleigh Conductivity and aperture impedance (1D) modelling techniques are assessed and the ranges of validity for these modelling techniques will be identified. Moreover possible improvements to the modelling techniques are discussed. Within a gas turbine system absorption can also occur in the non-linear operating regime. Hence the influence of the orifice geometry upon the optimum non-linear acoustic absorption is also investigated. Furthermore the performance of non-linear acoustic absorption modelling techniques is evaluated against the conducted measurements. As the amplitudes within the combustion system increase the acoustic absorption will transition from the linear to the non-linear regime. This is important for the design of absorbers or cooling geometries for gas turbine combustion systems as the propensity for hot gas ingestion increases. Hence the relevant parameters and phenomena are investigated during the transition process from linear to non-linear acoustic absorption. The unsteady velocity field during linear and non-linear acoustic absorption is captured using particle image velocimetry. A novel analysis technique is developed which enables the identification of the unsteady flow field associated with the acoustic absorption. In this way an investigation into the relevant mechanisms within the unsteady flow fields to describe the acoustic absorption behaviour of the investigated orifice plates is conducted. This methodology will also help in the development and optimisation of future damping systems and provide validation for more sophisticated 3D numerical modelling methods. Finally a set of design tools developed during this work will be discussed which enable a comprehensive preliminary design of non-resonant and resonant acoustic absorbers with multiple perforated liners within a gas turbine combustion system. The tool set is applied to assess the impact of the gas turbine combustion system space envelope, complex swirling flow fields and the propensity to hot gas ingestion in the preliminary design stages

Acoustic quasi-steady response of thin walled perforated liners with bias and grazing flows

This paper considers the acoustic performance of a passive damper in which acoustic energy is absorbed by orifices located within a thin plate (i.e. a perforated liner). The perforated liner, which incorporates orifices of length to diameter ratios of ~0.2, is supplied with flow from a passage. This enables the liner to be subject to a flow that grazes the upstream side of each liner orifice. Flow can also pass through each orifice to create a bias flow. Hence the liner can be subjected to a range of grazing and bias flow combinations. Two types of liners were investigated which incorporated either simple plain or ‘skewed’ orifices. For the mean flow field, data is presented which shows that the mean discharge coefficient of each liner is determined by the grazing to bias flow velocity ratio. In addition, measurements of the unsteady flow field through each liner were also undertaken and mainly presented in terms of the measured admittance. For a given liner geometry, the admittance values were found to be comparable for a given Strouhal number (with the exception of the lowest bias to grazing flow velocity ratio tested) which has also been noted by other authors. The paper shows that this is consistent with the unsteady orifice flow being associated with variations in both the velocity and the area of the vena contracta downstream of each orifice. These same basic characteristics were observed for both of the liner geometries tested. This provides a relatively simple means of predicting the acoustic liner characteristics over the specified operating range

Measurements and computational fluid dynamics predictions of the acoustic impedance of orifices

The response of orifices to incident acoustic waves, which is important for many engineering applications, is investigated with an approach combining both experimental measurements and numerical simulations. This paper presents experimental data on acoustic impedance of orifices, which is subsequently used for validation of a numerical technique developed for the purpose of predicting the acoustic response of a range of geometries with moderate computational cost. Measurements are conducted for orifices with length to diameter ratios, L/D, of 0.5, 5 and 10. The experimental data is obtained for a range of frequencies using a configuration in which a mean (or bias) flow passes from a duct through the test orifices before issuing into a plenum. Acoustic waves are provided by a sound generator on the upstream side of the orifices. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations of the same configuration have also been performed. These have been undertaken using an unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) approach with a pressure based compressible formulation with appropriate characteristic based boundary conditions to simulate the correct acoustic behaviour at the boundaries. The CFD predictions are in very good agreement with the experimental data, predicting the correct trend with both frequency and orifice L/D in a way not seen with analytical models. The CFD was also able to successfully predict a negative resistance, and hence a reflection coefficient greater than unity for the L/D=0.5L/D=0.5 case

Interaction between the acoustic pressure fluctuations and the unsteady flow field through circular holes

Gas turbine combustion systems are prone to thermo-acoustic instabilities, and this is particularly the case for new low emission lean burn type systems. The presence of such instabilities is basically a function of the unsteady heat release within the system (i.e., both magnitude and phase) and the amount of damping. This paper is concerned with this latter process and the potential damping provided by perforated liners and other circular apertures found within gas turbine combustion systems. In particular, the paper outlines experimental measurements that characterize the flow field within the near field region of circular apertures when being subjected to incident acoustic pressure fluctuations. In this way the fundamental process by which acoustic energy is converted into kinetic energy of the velocity field can be investigated. Experimental results are presented for a single orifice located in an isothermal duct at ambient test conditions. Attached to the duct are two loudspeakers that provide pressure fluctuations incident onto the orifice. Unsteady pressure measurements enable the acoustic power absorbed by the orifice to be determined. This was undertaken for a range of excitation amplitudes and mean flows through the orifice. In this way regimes where both linear and nonlinear absorption occur along with the transition between these regimes can be investigated. The key to designing efficient passive dampers is to understand the interaction between the unsteady velocity field, generated at the orifice and the acoustic pressure fluctuations. Hence experimental techniques are also presented that enable such detailed measurements of the flow field to be made using particle image velocimetry. These measurements were obtained for conditions at which linear and nonlinear absorption was observed. Furthermore, proper orthogonal decomposition was used as a novel analysis technique for investigating the unsteady coherent structures responsible for the absorption of energy from the acoustic field