Using Active Learning and Team Competition to Teach Gas Turbine Cycle Design

An elective, Analysis and Design of Propulsion Systems, has been a traditional lecture course teaching gas turbine engines from a design perspective. This past fall semester additional active learning modules were introduced to make the course more interactive. Students formed teams of four and each team was designated a company. The task was to design a replacement engine for the B-52H which served as the basis for learning about gas turbine engine design. The companies picked a name, developed a logo, and wrote a mission statement. Competition was encouraged and the “companies” were tasked to eventually design the lowest cost, most efficient high bypass turbofan engine to replace the existing engine. A three part design project led to a final report on the engine design. To conclude the process, each team presented their engine as if they were a company trying to sell their product to a customer. The customer, the professor, picked an overall winner based on the information presented. Assessment of the course showed that the students appreciated the competitive environment giving them insight into how a gas turbine company, such as Rolls-Royce, GE, or Pratt & Whitney, might operate. In conclusion, the active learning modules and the design project were effective in challenging and exciting the students about the design of gas turbine engines. The company context for teams prepares students for what they might encounter in industry.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Investigation of Vapor-Phase Lubrication in a Gas Turbine Engine,"

ABSTRACT The liquid oil lubrication system of current aircraft jet engines accounts for approximately 10-15% of the total weight of the engine. It has long been a koal of the aircraft gas turbine industry to reduce this weight. Vapor-Phase Lubrication (VPL) is a promising technology to eliminate liquid oil lubrication. The current investigation resulted in the first gas turbine to operate in the absence of conventional liquid lubrication. A phosphate ester, commercially known as DURAD 6208, was chosen for the test. Extensive research at Wright Laboratory demonstrated that this lubricant could reliably lubricate rolling element bearings in the gas turbine engine environment. The Allison T63 engine was selected as the test vehicle because of its small size and bearing configuration. Specifically, VPL was evaluated in the number eight bearing because it is located in a relatively hot environment, in line with the combustor discharge, and it can be isolated from the other bearings and the liquid lubrication system. The bearing was fully instrumented and its performance with standard oil lubrication was documented. Results of this baseline study were used to develop a thermodynamic model to predict the bearing temperature with VPL. The engine was then operated at a ground idle condition with VPL with the lubricant misted into the #8 bearing at 13 ml/hr. The bearing temperature stabilized at 283°C within 10 minutes. Engine operation was continued successfully for a total of one hour. No abnormal wear of the rolling contact surfaces was found when the bearing was later examined. Bearing temperatures after engine shutdown indicated the bearing had reached thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings during the test. After shutdown bearing temperatures steadily decreased without the soakback effect seen after shutdown in standard lubricated bearings. In contrast, the oil lubricated bearing ran at a considerably lower operating temperature (83°C) and was significantly heated by its surroundings after engine shutdown. In the baseline tests, the final bearing temperatures never reached that of the operating VPL system. NOMENCLATUR

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

Vapor Phase Lubrication for Expendable Gas Turbine Engines

Vapor phase lubrication (VPL) is an emerging technology that is currently targeted for application in limited lif

Subscripts 1HE ROLE OF THE IMPINGEMENT PLATE IN ARRAY HEAT TRANSFER

96-GT-162 - The Society shall not be responsible for statements or opinions advanced in papers or discussion at meetings of the Society or of its Divisions orSections, or printed in its publications. Discussion is printed only if the paper is published in an ASME Journal. ABSTRACT Most research involving ways of impinging jets was conducted using steady state techniques which allow the impingement plate (through which the gas flows) to achieve an equilibrium (adiabatic) temperature during the test. Invariably, the impingement plate temperature was not reported for these tests as the floating temperature condition was taken to be representative of conditions in the application being modeled. Thermal analysis of gas turbine conditions showed the present authors that conditions in the engine could often be significantly different from this floating plate temperature state. Such conditions include engine operating point transients and situations in which the plate is fixed to the aerofoil in such a way to achieve good thermal contact. Furthermore, the capacity of the impingement plate to contribute to enhanced heat transfer by paying attention to the thermal boundary conditions at its support has not been realized. The influence of the impingement plate temperature on local target surfeit heat transfer was fully quantified b

2001-GT-0164 MEASUREMENTS IN A TURBINE CASCADE FLOW UNDER ULTRA LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER CONDITIONS

ABSTRACT With the new generation of gas turbine engines, low Reynolds number flows have become increasingly important. Designers must properly account for transition from laminar to turbulent flow and separation of the flow from the suction surface, which is strongly dependent upon transition. Of interest to industry are Reynolds numbers based upon suction surface length and flow exit velocity below 150,000 and as low as 25,000. In this paper, the extreme low end of this Reynolds number range is documented by way of pressure distributions, loss coefficients and identification of separation zones. Reynolds numbers of 25,000 and 50,000 and with 1% and 8-9% turbulence intensity of the approach flow (Free Stream Turbulence Intensity, FSTI) were investigated. At 25,000 Reynolds number and low FSTI, the suction surface displayed a strong and steady separation region. Raising the turbulence intensity resulted in a very unsteady separation region of nearly the same size on the suction surface. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface, but they appeared to do very little at this Reynolds number. At the higher Reynolds number of 50,000, the low-FSTI case was strongly separated on the downstream portion of the suction surface. The separation zone was eliminated when the turbulence level was increased to 8-9%. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface of the low-FSTI case. In this instance, the vortices were able to provide the mixing needed to reestablish flow attachment. This paper shows that massive separation at very low Reynolds numbers (25,000) is persistent, in spite of elevated FSTI and added vortices. However, at a higher Reynolds number, there is opportunity for flow reattachment either with elevated freestream turbulence or with added vortices. This may be the first documentation of flow behavior at such low Reynolds numbers. Though undesirable to operate under these conditions, it is important to know what to expect and how performance may be improved if such conditions are unavoidable