Method for parametrization of turbine inlet manifold for CFD-analysis

Abstract

In this master thesis a method is developed to deal with parametric studies in order to improve evaluation of aerodynamic performance in turbine inlet manifolds for high pressure turbo pumps used in space propulsion. The main objective has been to develop a method where the analysis engineer takes control of the entire pre-process from geometry to analysis, and more independently change geometry parameters. To facilitate large parameter studies, CAD automation is implemented together with a programmed mesh script to speed up the process. A parametric study has been performed using CFD for model verification. The performance parameters studied are the impact of inlet pipe angle and percentage blocking influence in the manifold torus. The blockage has been implemented as a porous media and the performance output investigated are flow recirculation, manifold pressure loss and stator inlet condition variation. Statistical software, ModeFRONTIER, has been used to set up the test plan, and to finally analyse the results to establish correlations between input and output values. To conclude, a relatively flexible geometry model is developed using CAD-automation. To enable fully automatic mesh generation for the manifold, challenges remain. This thesis work has been done in collaboration with GKN Aerospace Engine System, within the Space Business Unit, in Trollhättan Sweden.