See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/228416691

COMPARISON OF COUNTER–ROTATING AND TRADITIONAL AXIAL AIRCRAFT

LOW-PRESSURE TURBINES INTEGRAL AND DETAILED …

Article · September 2009

DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2009.HeatTransfGasTurbSyst.390

CITATIONS READS

3 1,149

4 authors, including:

Leonid Moroz
SoftInWay, Inc.
40 PUBLICATIONS   54 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Leonid Moroz on 02 March 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

COMPARISON OF COUNTER – ROTATING AND TRADITIONAL AXIAL AIRCRAFT

LOW-PRESSURE TURBINES INTEGRAL AND DETAILED PERFORMANCES

Leonid Moroz, Petr Pagur, Yuri Govorushchenko, Kirill Grebennik

SoftInWay Inc. 35 Corporate Dr., Burlington, MA 01803, USA
(* Contact author: k.grebennik@softinway.com)

ABSTRACT. Raising requirements for aircraft engine efficiency and fuel consumption level
combined with strong restrictions to engine weight and geometrical dimension pose serious
challenges for engineers who are working under the new generation of engine development. These
tasks require brand new flow path design approaches. The usage of a counter-rotating turbine is one
of the possible ways to successfully match all these requirements. Modern aerodynamic design
computational and optimization methodologies allow to fulfil this task in the shortest period of time
with the highest gain in turbine performances.

A counter-rotating turbine means that blade rows are joined to two shafts with opposite rotation
direction and different rotation speeds. Vanes elimination in a counter-rotating turbine helps to
solve three important tasks of turbine improvement:
• Increasing turbine efficiency by eliminating vanes and correspondingly losses in vanes;
• Decreasing turbine blading weight;
• Decreasing turbine axial length;
These improvements are impossible without such fundamental design changes.

In the current paper the steps of counter-rotating turbine aerodynamic design, optimization, and off-
design performances estimation are described. The comparison of traditional and counter rotating
turbines integral and detailed thermodynamic performances are presented.

INTRODUCTION

Traditional axial turbine consists of stationary vanes (stators) and rotating blades rows consequently
placed in the flow path. Vanes are guiding and accelerating the flow in the required direction and
moving blades are converting kinetic energy of moving fluid into mechanical work on the shaft. An
example of traditional axial turbine stage is presented in the figure below.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Figure 1. Traditional axial turbine sketch

The history of counter-rotating turbines starts at the beginning of 20th century. This very distinctive
form of multistage turbine was invented by Fredrik and Birger Ljungstrom in Sweden in
1910. Instead of the flow being parallel to the axis of rotation through blade rows as in an axial-
flow machine, the flow is radial in this kind of turbine, but this example could be considered as
invention of counter-rotating machine prototype
First modern-time theoretical works in the field of axial counter-rotating turbine development for
propulsion application are started in 1980’s and historically we can distinguish the following works
dedicated to this problem such as B.A. Ponomariev and J.F. Louis papers [1] and [2]
correspondingly.
The general idea of counter-rotating turbine is usage of two shafts which rotate in opposite
directions. Moving blades are located on these shafts successively without stators between them, i.e.
the previous stage blade playing the role of guiding vane for the next one. Such placement of flow
path elements gives benefits which were described above but needs special approach to organize
flow inside the turbine. Special attention must be paid to selection of optimal rotation speed and
flow radial equilibrium conditions. Layout presented in the figure below is one of a few possible
shaft and blade arrangements, but others can also be found depending on overall engine design. We
assume that at inlet to our counter-rotating turbine a single stator vane to guide the flow to first
blade is present.

Figure 2. Counter-rotating axial turbine sketch

STREAMLINE THROUGHFLOW DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF

COUNTER – ROTATING TURBINE

Initial Design A four-stage aircraft LP turbine was chosen as an initial design. On the next step
the redesign of this LP turbine keeping radial (meridional) dimensions in the same ranges was
performed. The design and optimization procedure of a counter-rotating prototype is described in
the figures below.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Initial turbine design data presented in table 1 and flow path sketch is presented below.

Table 1
Initial design data

1 total pressure at inlet Pa 533293

2 total enthalpy at inlet J/kg 1203438
3 total temperature at inlet K 1103
4 stat. pressure at outlet Pa 172000
5 mass flow rate at inlet kg/s 91.91575
6 inlet flow angle in abs frame deg 90
7 isentropic velocity ratio - 0.504
8 capacity MW 22.79
9 total-static pressure ratio - 3.015
10 axial length m 0.42

Figure 3. Initial turbine design

Counter-rotating Design (4 stages) Counter-rotating turbine design procedure was performed in

the following way: the vanes of the initial turbine were removed, and the number of stages was kept
in the counter-rotating turbine as in the prototype. We assume that the most correct comparison of
two designs could be made only in this case. In the figure below counter-rotating turbine flow path
obtained after redesign is presented. Blades which are joined to the first and the second shafts are
colored red and purple colors correspondingly.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Figure 4. Counter-rotating turbine design

Selection of second shaft rotation speed is dictated by overall engine layout, i.e. joined compressor
part rotation speed, gearbox presence or absence etc. It’s natural that higher rotation speed allows to
obtain more specific work from every stage of turbine.
Search region for the second shaft rotation speed was chosen in ranges 10-15% less than primary
shaft rotation speed. To receive exact resulting speed the design of experiment study was performed.
In the figure below response surface between total-to-total efficiency vs first and second shaft
rotation speeds (X and Y axis correspondingly) is shown. Basing on the highest total-to-total
efficiency criterion rotation the speed of 4500 RPM was chosen for the second shaft.

Figure 5. Efficiency chart vs rotation speeds (4 stages)

 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

As it is clear from flow paths comparison applying counter-rotating allows to decrease axial length
from 0.42 to 0.29 meters (by 30% approximately) and decrease total estimated mass of vanes and
blades up to 40% approximately.

Initial and counter-rotating turbine rows view on mean station is presented in the figures below with
velocity triangles.

Figure 6. Initial turbine rows and velocity triangles

Figure 7. Counter-rotating turbine rows and velocity triangles

Counter-rotating Design (6 stages) We found that counter-rotating design with 4-stage obtained
for direct comparison of flow paths gives significant decrease in length and weight of turbine.
Considering different design possibilities we assume that another variation of counter-rotating
design with 6 stages is applicable and will not exceed initial axial sizes and mass limitations. 6-
stage design was obtained by performing axial turbine design from scratch, removing vanes,
smoothing meridional dimensions and inlet metal angles adjustment to match minimal incidence
angle.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Figure 8. 6 stages counter-rotating turbine design

Selection of rotation speed for this design was performed in the same way, i.e. using DoE study for
range of rotation speed variables basing on the highest efficiency criterion. For 6 stages second
shaft rotation speed was chosen equal to 4500 RPM

Figure 9. Efficiency chart vs rotation speeds (6 stages)

COMPARISON OF INITIAL AND COUNTER-ROTATING

TURBINE PERFORMANCES

Integral Performances Comparison Comparison of integral and detailed thermodynamic

performances of both turbines is presented in this part. All results were obtained in 2D streamline
calculation on 7 stations spanwise along all flow path. Task formulation used for calculation was
“Finding mass flow rate for static outlet pressure”, calculation was performed with assumption of
turbine operating on design mode, i.e. with incidence angles corresponding to minimal losses.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Table 2
Turbines Integral Performances Comparison

Counter- Counter-
Rotating Rotating
Initial Design Design
Unit Design (4-stage) (6-stage)
1 mass flow rate at inlet kg/s 91 91 91
2 inlet flow angle in abs frame deg 90 90 90
3 shaft1 rotational speed rpm 4983 4983 4983
4 shaft2 rotational speed rpm - -4500 -4500
5 isentropic velocity ratio - 0.5050 0.2312 0.2273
6 volume flow rate at outlet m^3/s 129.570 129.651 130.018
7 capacity MW 22.779 22.841 23.048
8 internal total-to-static efficiency - 0.7962 0.7972 0.8041
9 internal total-to-total efficiency - 0.9143 0.9157 0.9214
10 axial length m 0.42 0.29 0.37

Figure 10. Calculated streamlines for 4-stage counter-rotating turbine

 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Figure 11. Static pressure distribution in traditional axial turbine

Figure 12. Static pressure distribution in 4-stage counter-rotating turbine

 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Figure 13. Static pressure distribution in 6-stage counter-rotating turbine

Aerodynamic design summary Flow path calculations show integral results presented above and
distribution of thermodynamic and kinematic parameters. Kinematic data investigation showed that
Mach number is in subsonic ranges for both designed counter-rotating turbines. This means that we
avoid additional shock losses and the necessity of applying special supersonic profiles.
The main resume from summarizing the integral performances is that it’s possible to obtain more
efficient counter-rotating flow path compared to traditional prototype with decreasing overall flow
path length. Counter-rotating turbine capacity with 6 stages is increased up to 0.2 MW (1%) and
total-to-total efficiency by 0.57% compared with 4-stage design and by 0.7% compared with initial
design.

Off-design performance analysis Initial axial turbine design and 4-stage counter-rotating design
was chosen for preliminary comparing off-design performances with the initial ones. The analysis
of off-design performances is the essential moment for every gas turbine, because they operate on
off-design modes a significant part of their working time. Of course, the analysis of jet engine
performances is incomplete without taking into account compressor maps, but in this article we will
consider only turbine characteristics. Initial data for off-design performances calculations is given
below. We assume that on partial modes the inlet pressure is lower due to nature of gas turbine
engine cycle and for off-design calculations we select the next conventional inlet pressures.

Table 3
Off-design performances study initial data

Inlet total pressure, Pa 450000 480000 510000 533293

Initial axial turbine (AT)
Primary shaft rotation speed, RPM 3000 3800 4200 4983
4-stage counter-rotating turbine (CR)
Primary shaft rotation speed, RPM 3000 3800 4200 4983
Secondary shaft rotation speed, RPM -2600 -3200 -3700 -4500
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

All results were obtained in 2D streamline calculation on 7 stations spanwise along all flow path for
geometry presented above. Task formulation used for calculation was “Finding mass flow rate for
static outlet pressure” and off-design thermodynamic and kinematic detailed parameters were
calculated individually for each point in the map.

As it is clear from the obtained performance charts the designed counter-rotating turbine (red lines
in the figure below) is more efficient on off-design operating modes than the traditional one (blue
lines). Especially it’s clearly seen for 3000 RPM charts (60% design rotation speed), where
efficiency of counter-rotating turbine is more than 4% higher.

0.92

0.9

CR 3000 RPM
0.88
Total-to-total efficiency

CR 3800 RPM
CR 4200 RPM
0.86 CR 4983 RPM
AT 3000 RPM
AT 3800 RPM
0.84
AT 4200 RPM
AT 4983 RPM
0.82

0.8

0.78
2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8
Total-static pressure ratio

Figure 14. Off-design performances comparison

Heat transfer coefficient comparison Heat transfer conditions are very important for the
reliability of the turbine at various operating modes. Influence of its conditions on design as well as
off-design modes of the whole turbine will be considered in detail; such as thermal stresses and
extensions, on further parts of this investigation. On the current stage we are evaluating and trying
to find the major differences between heat transfer coefficients for both designs. In the figures
below the heat transfer coefficient charts are presented for 2nd stage blade of initial and counter-
rotating turbines. The heat transfer coefficient presented in these charts is calculated in the gas
boundary layer.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

5000
Traditional Turbine
4500 Counter-Rotating Turbine

Heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2K) 4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
Trailing Edge Suction Side Leading Edge Pressure Side Trailing Edge

Profile Length

Figure 15. Heat transfer coefficient distribution on 2nd stage blade meanline section

It’s clear from the charts that the gas heat transfer coefficient in a counter-rotating turbine is lower
than in the traditional axial flow turbine with the same temperature conditions, it’s especially
noticeable at the leading edge. If we consider the heat balance the equation for a cooled turbine
blade in its simplest form can be written:

hg S g (Tg − Tb ) = hc Sc (Tb − Tc ) (1)

hg S g
Tc = Tb − (Tg − Tb ) (2)
hc Sc

Where Tb, Tg and Tc is blade, gas and coolant temperature, hg and hc are the gas-side and coolant-
side heat transfer coefficients, and Sg and Sc are the wetted perimeters of the blade profile and
combined coolant passages respectively.

Discussion of obtained results As a result of the heat transfer coefficient comparison sources a
few potential benefits from these differences, which could be useful in counter-rotating turbines in
case of equality of other thermal conditions in flow and materials. If it is necessary to apply cooling
to this blade, we can consider that lower gas heat transfer coefficient enables to use less cooling air
or higher cooling air temperatures to obtain the same resulting blade temperature as in the initial
case [3], [5].
Also, the second benefit is coming from the counter-rotating turbine part arrangement specialties.
As counter-rotating blades are joined to the second shaft in the tip section, they suffer not tensile,
but compression stresses and that’s why it could be possible to use ceramic materials for the second
shaft blades, due to the nature of ceramic materials to resist to compression stresses.
 Int. Symp. on Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Systems
9-14 August 2009, Antalya, Turkey

Software used All calculations presented in this article were performed in commercial
AxSTREAM turbomachinery design and optimization software developed and distributed by
SoftInWay Inc. (Burlington, MA, USA). Theoretical background of the software is described in [7].

Future development prospects Development of counter-rotating turbine for aircraft engine gives
a new opportunity for creation of counter-rotating fan or compressor, which also can significantly
decrease engine length and mass. This research is now intensively performed by scientific
institutions of different countries.
Possible improvement of counter-rotating turbine could be performed by adding variable-area vane
before it, but we need to keep in mind that this also increases design complexity.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences between traditional axial and counter-rotating turbines from prospects of integral and
detailed thermodynamic parameters in the flow path are summarized. Three designs were
considered: initial traditional axial turbine design which was chosen as prototype, and two
variations of counter-rotating designs with 4 and 6 stages. Summarizing the results obtained we can
find that using counter-rotating turbine with the same number of stages as in the prototype it’s
possible to obtain the same performance level, but to decrease turbine axial length by 30% and
weight by eliminating vanes. In this case we can balance all disadvantages which are coming from
the complication of design in counter-rotating turbine. The second counter-rotating design with 6
stages was considered as an example increasing performances keeping in the prototype dimensions
ranges, but increasing efficiency by 0.7% compared to initial design.
Calculation for off-design operating modes showed that counter-rotating turbine efficiency is higher
in wider ranges of rotation speeds which gives additional benefits, but for the final conclusion this
part of research needs to be conducted jointly with compressor performance calculations.
This means that use of a counter-rotating turbine gives the opportunity not only to decrease turbine
weight and length but also to create more advanced designs in terms of aerodynamic quality and
overall cost-efficiency.

REFERENCES

1 B. A. Ponomariov, Y.U. Sotsenko [1992], Using contra-rotating rotors for decreasing sizes
and component number in small GTE., ASME, 92-GT-414
2 J. F. Louis [1985], Axial flow contra-rotating turbines, ASME, 85-GT-218, Houston, TX,
USA
3 Cohen H., Rogers GFC, Saravanamuttoo HIH [1996], Gas Turbine Theory, 4th Edition,
Longman, Harlow Essex, UK
4 Fang Xiang-Jun, WANG Ping [2008], Research of Supersonic Axial Vaneless Rotor-Rotor
Turbine, GT2008-50509, Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo-2008, Berlin
5 Lakshminarayana, B. [1996], Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer of Turbomachinery, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York
6 Tang Fei, Zhao Xiaolu, Xu Jianzhong [2008], The Application of Counter-Rotating Turbine
in Rocket Turbopump, International Journal of Rotating Machinery, Volume 2008, Article
ID 426023
7 L. Moroz, Y. Govorushchenko, P. Pagur [2006], A Uniform Approach To Conceptual
Design Of Axial Turbine / Compressor Flow Path, The Future of Gas Turbine Technology
3rd International Conference 11-12 October 2006, Brussels, Belgium

View publication stats