Application of a Real-Fluid Turbomachinery Analysis to Rocket

Turbopump Geometries
Daniel J. Dorney

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Applied Fluid Dynamics Analysis Group
MSFC, AL 3!"#
Douglas L. Sonda$
%
&oston 'ni(ersity
)**ice o* +n*ormation ,echnology
&oston, MA -##"
&ogdan Marcu
.
,he &oeing Company
/oc$etdyne 0ropulsion and 0o1er
Canoga 0ar$, CA
ABSTRACT
A three2dimensional *lo1 sol(er has 3een
de(eloped *or tur3omachinery components
utili4ing real *luid properties. ,he code is
applica3le to 3oth incompressi3le and
compressi3le *lo1 *ields. +n this study, the code
has 3een applied to the analysis o* inducer and
impeller geometries representati(e o* those used
in roc$et engine applications. ,he predicted
results sho1 good agreement 1ith the a(aila3le
e5perimental data.
NO!NC"AT#R!
&# 2 Non2dimensional channel 1idth at e5it
6d 2 Design *lo1 rate
0 2 Static pressure
0" 2 +nlet static pressure
7 2 A5ial location
2 Flo1 coe**icient
$NTRO%#CT$ON
,ur3omachines *or propulsion applications
operate on many di**erent *luids and under a
1ide range o* *lo1 conditions. ,he 1or$ing
*luid may 3e air, li8uid or gaseous hydrogen,
li8uid or gaseous o5ygen, $erosene, etc. ,he
*lo1 may 3e incompressi3le, such as in the *uel
pump in a li8uid2*ueled roc$et engine, or
supersonic, such as in the tur3ine that may dri(e
the *uel pump.
&oth compressi3le and incompressi3le *lo1s are
go(erned 3y the Na(ier2Sto$es e8uations.
9o1e(er, in a nearly2incompressi3le *lo1 there
is a great disparity in 1a(e speeds, since the
speed o* sound approaches in*inity *or a truly
incompressi3le *luid. A compressi3le *lo1 sol(er
1ill encounter numerical sti**ness i* applied to a
nearly2incompressi3le *lo1, and the algorithm
1ill *ail. &ecause o* this, it is common practice
to use one algorithm *or incompressi3le *lo1s
and a di**erent algorithm *or compressi3le *lo1s.
,he General :8uation Set ;G:S< method ="> has
3een de(eloped to handle 3oth compressi3le and
incompressi3le *lo1s. +t can 3e used to sol(e the
*ull, unsteady, three2dimensional Na(ier2Sto$es
e8uations, and 1ith the introduction o* a single
input *lag can reduce to the pseudo2
compressi3ility method commonly used to sol(e
incompressi3le *lo1s. ?hen used in con@unction
1ith a dual time step, it pro(ides time accurate
simulations. +n addition, 1hen the Na(ier2Sto$es
e8uations are cast in their general *orm, 1ithout
applying the per*ect gas relation, they can 3e
sol(ed *or any 1or$ing *luid *or 1hich
properties are a(aila3le. ,he G:S techni8ue in
A
Aerospace :ngineer, Associate Fello1 A+AA.
% Senior Scienti*ic 0rogrammer, Senior Mem3er A+AA.
. Aerospace :ngineer, Senior Mem3er A+AA.
"
con@unction 1ith the e8uations cast in this
general *orm results in a general *lo1 sol(er
applica3le to most conditions encountered in
tur3omachinery applications. A code has 3een
1ritten to sol(e three2dimensional, unsteady
tur3omachinery *lo1s using the G:S method.
,ur3opumps *or upcoming space applications
1ill need to operate o(er a 1ider range o* *lo1
conditions than current designs. +mpro(ing these
designs re8uires detailed $no1ledge o* the time2
a(eraged and transient *lo1 *ields *or the
operating range o* interest. 0re(ious 1or$s on
this su3@ect include /e*s. #2B. ,hese re*erences
include 1or$s descri3ing the application o*
numerical codes to 3oth the analysis and design
o* roc$et engine tur3opump components. +n this
study, numerical simulations ha(e 3een
per*ormed *or a high2head impeller 1ith a (ane
island di**user operating in 1ater, and an inducer
operating in 1ater, li8uid hydrogen and air. ,he
simulations 1ere per*ormed o(er a range o* *lo1
conditions. ,he predicted results ha(e 3een
compared 1ith test data 1here a(aila3le.
N#!R$CA" &ROC!%#R!
,he general code structure is 3ased on a 1ell2
esta3lished compressi3le, 32D, unsteady
tur3omachinery *lo1 code

=!>. +t employs a
system o* o(erset )2grids and 92grids, 1ith the
(alues on the )29 3oundaries 3eing updated
each time step 3y 3ilinear interpolation *rom the
ad@acent grid. ,he in(iscid *lu5es are third2order
spatially accurate and are calculated using /oeCs
scheme =D>. ,he (iscous *lu5es are calculated
using second2order accurate central di**erences,
and the code is second2order accurate in time. A
modi*ied &ald1in2Loma5 tur3ulence model is
used *or tur3ulence closure ="->.
,he code contains t1o options *or the
determination o* *luid properties. ,he *irst option
is 3ased on the e8uations o* state,
thermodynamic departure *unctions and
corresponding state principles constructed 3y
)e*elein ="">. ,he second option, used only *or
li8uids, is 3ased on splines generated *rom the
N+S, ,a3les ="#>, and is computationally more
e**icient. ,he code currently contains *luid
property routines ;3oth gaseous and li8uid< *or
1ater, hydrogen, o5ygen, nitrogen, /02",
methane and car3on mono5ide.
Computational Grids
,he )2grids are 3ody2*itted to the sur*aces o* the
air*oils and generated using an elliptic e8uation
solution procedure. ,hey are used to properly
resol(e the (iscous *lo1 in the 3lade passages
and to easily apply the alge3raic tur3ulence
model. ,he alge3raically generated 92grids are
used to discreti4e the remainder o* the *lo1 *ield.
&oundary Conditions
For incompressi3le inlet *lo1 the mass *lo1,
total temperature, and the circum*erential and
radial *lo1 angles are speci*ied as a *unction o*
the radius. ,he static pressure is e5trapolated
*rom the interior o* the computational domain.
For incompressi3le out*lo1 t1o (elocity
components, static pressure, and the static
temperature are e5trapolated *rom the interior o*
the computational domain. ,he e5it mass *lo1 is
speci*ied.
0eriodicity is en*orced along the outer
3oundaries o* the 92grids in the circum*erential
direction.
At solid sur*aces the relati(e (elocity is set to
4ero, the normal deri(ati(e o* the pressure is set
to 4ero, and the sur*aces are assumed to 3e
adia3atic.
A detailed description o* the codeEalgorithm
de(elopment, as 1ell as its application to se(eral
tur3ine and pump test cases, is presented in /e*s.
"3 and "F.
N#!R$CA" T!ST CAS!S
Numerical simulations ha(e 3een per*ormed *or
t1o pump geometriesG
"< A high2head impeller design 1hich
contains si5 main 3lades and si5 splitter
3lades. ,he impeller is *ollo1ed 3y a
(ane2island di**user containing "3
air*oils. ,he impeller rotates at H3##
/0M and 1as tested in 1ater ;9#)<.
#< A lo1 pressure *uel pump inducer
containing *our inducer 3lades. At
design conditions the inducer rotates at
appro5imately "H--- /0M. Simulations
1ere per*ormed using 9#), li8uid
hydrogen ;L9#< and air to determine
any di**erences in the predicted *lo1
*ields.
#
9igh29ead +mpeller and Di**user
,he computational grid 1as generated using the
actual air*oil counts o* H main impeller 3lades, H
splitter 3lades and "3 di**user air*oils. ,he grid
re8uires the solution o* the *ull 3H-2degree
annulus, and the computational grid 1as
constructed using F.! million grid points. ,he
*ull2annulus grid *or the high2head impeller
geometry is sho1n in Fig. ".
,he *luid properties *or 9#) 1ere o3tained *rom
the N+S, data. ,he simulations 1ere per*ormed
using preconditioning 1ith t1o dual time steps
*or time accuracy. Simulations 1ere per*ormed
*or *lo1 rates o* -I, H-I, B-I, !!I, "--I
and "#-I 6d.
+nstantaneous and time2a(eraged non2
dimensional static pressure contours at mid2
height o* the channel are sho1n *or "--I 6d in
Figs. # and 3. +n Fig. 3 the static pressure 1as
time2a(eraged o(er a complete impeller
re(olution. ,here are signi*icant di**erences
3et1een the instantaneous and time2a(eraged
solutions sho1n in the t1o *igures. ,hese
di**erences are a direct result o* the presence o*
the di**user air*oils and its interaction 1ith the
passing impeller 3lades. ,he instantaneous
contours in Fig. # sho1 a signi*icant amount o*
unsteadiness that e5tends *rom upstream o* the
impeller to do1nstream o* the di**user (anes.
,he presence o* circum*erential (ariations 1ithin
the di**user in Fig. 3 suggests the presence o*
unsteadiness at a *re8uency less than one per
re(olution, such as that associated 1ith separated
andEor (ortical *lo1s.
Figures F and sho1 comparisons o* the
predicted mid2passage radial and tangential
(elocity distri3utions across the impeller e5it
plane 1ith e5perimental data =">. ,he
e5perimental data contain &# locations less than
4ero and greater than one 3ecause the actual
geometry has secondary *lo1 paths ;1here *lo1
is e5tracted and routed 3ac$ to the inlet< located
at the end1alls o* impeller e5it plane 1hich 1ere
neglected in the current study. +n general, there is
good agreement 3et1een the predictions and the
e5perimental data. &oth data sets sho1 increased
*lo1 to1ards the hu3 ;&#J-< o* the machine.
,his can 3e deduced 3y noting the shi*t in the
pea$ radial (elocity to1ards the hu3. ,he
decreased *lo1 near the tip ;&#J"< is caused 3y a
region o* secondary *lo1.
Figure H sho1s predicted and e5perimental time2
a(eraged static pressure distri3utions on the
di**user shroud, 3eginning at the di**user throat
and mo(ing do1nstream. ,he current simulation
o(er2predicts the static pressure near the throat o*
the di**user, 3ut sho1s good agreement 1ith the
e5perimental data do1nstream o* the throat. ,he
di**erences near the throat are li$ely caused 3y
neglecting the secondary *lo1 path ca(ities at the
impeller e5it.
Figures B and ! contain the predicted and
e5perimental static head coe**icients *or the
impeller and di**user at (arious *lo1 coe**icients
=">. &oth the data and the predictions sho1 the
impeller static head coe**icient remains relati(ely
constant o(er the range o* *lo1 coe**icients
in(estigated in this study ;see Fig. B<. ,he
predicted head coe**icients *or the di**user sho1
the rapid decrease in head coe**icient as the *lo1
coe**icient is reduced and the di**user stalls. ,he
predicted di**user stall occurs at a higher *lo1
coe**icient than in the e5periment, 3ut additional
simulations are needed 3et1een *lo1 coe**icients
o* -."- and -."3 to resol(e the shape o* the stall
region sho1n in Fig. !. &oth sets o* data sho1 a
decrease in the head coe**icient at *lo1
coe**icients greater than the design (alue o*
-."FF. )(erall, there is good agreement 3et1een
the predicted results and the e5perimental data.
Lo1 0ressure Fuel 0ump +nducer
,he computational grid 1as generated including
all *our inducer 3lades and contains #.! million
grid points. ,he sur*ace grid *or the inducer
geometry is sho1n in Fig. D. 'nless other1ise
speci*ied, all the results presented 3elo1 are *or
the inducer operating in L9# at a *lo1
coe**icient o* =-.B- ;appro5imately HI rated
po1er le(el<.
,he *luid properties *or L9# and 9#) 1ere
o3tained the N+S, data, 1hile the air 1as
assumed to 3e an ideal gas.
,ime2a(eraged non2dimensional static pressure
contours in the inducer are presented in Fig. "-.
,he lo1 pressure region near the leading edge tip
is characteristic o* most inducers, and is
coincident 1ith the location 1here ca(itation is
*re8uently o3ser(ed in e5periments. ,he
contours also suggest a nearly linear pressure
rise through the inducer. Figure "" sho1s
instantaneous non2dimensional pressure contours
on a cross2section o* the inducer. ,his *igure
3
*urther elucidates the pressure increase through
the inducer, and sho1s the e**ects o* the inducer
on the upstream pressure *ield.
,ime2a(eraged 3lade sur*ace pressure
distri3utions at "-I, -I and D-I o* the 3lade
height are presented in Fig. "#. ,he o(erall
3lade loading is o3ser(ed to increase 1ith
increasing span. ,he leading edge portion o* the
inducer is unloaded in the hu3 region, and is
hea(ily loaded in the tip region. ,he hea(y
loading near the leading edge tip coincides 1ith
the lo1 pressure region sho1n in Fig. "-.
Figure "3 sho1s unsteady pressure traces at
se(eral locations along the duct outer 1all
upstream o* the inducer. ,he inducer tip leading
edge is located at 5J-.- inches, so the locations
sho1n in Fig. "# correspond to ".-, #.-, 3.- and
F.- inches upstream o* the inducer. Note, the
inducer tip radius is appro5imately H inches. ,he
amplitude o* the unsteadiness " inch upstream o*
the inducer is large, on the order o* the *ree
stream pressure. ,his unsteadiness is due in part
to the large pressure di**erence across the leading
edge tip region ;tip clearance 1as not modeled in
this study<, 1hich generates 3ac$*lo1 *rom the
inducer. ,he potential *ield o* the inducer also
contri3utes to the unsteadiness upstream. ,he
unsteadiness decays e5ponentially upstream o*
the inducer, such that F inches upstream o* the
inducer leading edge little unsteadiness is
o3ser(ed. Figure "F contains the Fourier
decompositions o* the traces sho1n in Fig. "3.
,he primary *re8uency *or the unsteadiness is
the inducer 3lade passing *re8uency ;FN<, 1ith
unsteadiness also o3ser(ed at t1ice the 3lade
passing *re8uency ;!N< @ust upstream o* the
inducer.
,he decay o* the amplitude o* the unsteady
pressure upstream o* the inducer leading edge is
compared 1ith the results o* an analytical 1a(e
model ="H> and data *rom a hot *ire test
per*ormed at Stennis Space Center ="B> in Fig.
". ,he analytical 1a(e model re8uires the
unsteady pressure amplitude @ust upstream o* the
inducer as input. ,his (alue 1as o3tained *rom
the CFD solution. ,he test data and 1a(e model
are nearly coincident, 1hile the predicted 1a(e
decay sho1s good agreement 1ith 3oth the 1a(e
model and e5perimental data. ,he more rapid
1a(e decay in the simulations may indicate the
need *or increased grid density in either ;or 3oth<
the a5ial and radial directions.
Figure "H contains the static head coe**icients
*rom simulations in air, 9#) and L9#, along
1ith e5perimental data o3tained *rom recent
1ater *lo1 tests ="!>. ,he predicted (alue in L9#
at a *lo1 coe**icient o* J-.B- e5hi3its e5cellent
agreement 1ith the data, 1hile the L9# result at
J".-- is slighter larger than sho1n in the
e5perimental data. ,he predicted results *or air
and 9#) sho1 close agreement 1ith the L9#
results, suggesting that 1ater *lo1 tests are
ade8uate *or determining the o(erall
per*ormance o* pumps operating in cryogenic
*luids.
Figure "B sho1s a cross2sectional (ie1 o*
instantaneous (elocity (ectors and non2
dimensional pressure contours, highlighting the
3ac$*lo1 upstream o* the inducer. ,he 3ac$ *lo1
e5tends more than "3 inches upstream o* the
inducer leading edge, 1hich 8ualitati(ely agrees
1ith (ideo o* tu*ts placed upstream o* the
inducer in the e5periments. At this lo1 *lo1 rate
the radial e5tent o* the 3ac$ *lo1 is nearly 3I
o* the duct diameter *rom duct outer 1all.
CONC"#S$ONS
A real2*luid tur3omachinery analysis has 3een
applied to impeller and inducer geometries
operating in 9#), L9# and air. ,he predicted
results sho1 good agreement 1ith the a(aila3le
e5perimental data, and ha(e yielded insights into
the unsteady *lo1 mechanisms in these
tur3omachines.
Current 1or$ includes the de3ugging and
(alidation o* a ca(itation model implemented
into the code, and impro(ing the tur3ulence
modeling.
AC'NO("!%G!!NTS
,he authors 1ould li$e to ac$no1ledge the use
o* the supercomputer *acilities at NASA Ames
/esearch Center, and especially than$ Mr. Chuc$
Niggley *or his assistance. ,he authors 1ould
also li$e to than$ Mr. Morgan ?illiams o*
/oc$etdyne *or his many help*ul discussions,
and *or pro(iding the re*erence 1ith the linear
1a(e model.
R!F!R!NC!S
F
1. Ken$ates1aran, S. and Mer$le, C. L.,
LAnalysis o* 0reconditioning Methods *or
the :uler and Na(ier2Sto$es :8uations, Kon
Marman +nstitute Lecture Series, March !2
"#, "DDD.
2. Gra*, :. "DD3. LAnalysis o* Centri*ugal
+mpeller &:0 and /ecirculating Flo1sG
Comparison o* 6uasi23D and Na(ier2Sto$es
Solutions,N ASM: Fluids :ngineering
Con*erence Second 0umping Machinery
Symposium, June "DD3, ?ashington D.C.,
Kol. "F, pp. #32#F.
3. &ro4o1s$i, L. A., Ferguson, ,. K., Lee, G.
A., 0rueger, G. 9., and /o@as, L., "DD3.
LLaser Kelocimeter Measurements o* an
+mpeller Flo1 Field,N.ASM: Fluids
:ngineering Con*erence Second 0umping
Machinery Symposium, June "DD3,
?ashington D.C., (ol. "F, pp. "!B2"DH.
4. Chen, ?2C., 0rueger, G. 9., Chan, D. C. and
:astland, A. 9, "DD#. L)n the 'se o* a
,hree2Dimensional Na(ier2Sto$es Sol(er
*or /oc$et :ngine 0ump +mpeller Design,N
A+AAESA:EAS::, #!
th
Joint 0ropulsion
Con*erence and :5hi3it, Nash(ille, July H2!,
"DD#.
5. Garcia, /., Jac$son, :. D., and
Schut4enho*er, L. A. "DD#. LA Summary o*
the Acti(ities o* the NASAEMSFC 0ump
Stage ,echnology ,eam,N F
th
+S/)MAC,
9a1aii, April "DD#.
6. Guin43urg, A., ?illiams, M., &ro4o1s$i, L.,
and Chen, ?.2C. L:**ect o* +nlet Conditions
on the Numerical /esults o* a Centri*ugal
0ump Compared 1ith :5perimental
Conditions,N A+AA 0aper D!23DD!, "DD!.
7. Guin43urg, A. and ?illiams, M., LAd(anced
Deep ,hrottling 0ump Di**user Concept
De(elopment,N JANNAF #B
th
Air3reathing
Su3committee Meeting, Colorado Springs,
C), Dec. "2, #--3.
8. Dorney, D. J., and Sch1a3, J. /., L'nsteady
Numerical Simulations o* /adial
,emperature 0ro*ile /edistri3ution in a
Single2Stage ,ur3ine,OO ASME Journal of
Turbomachinery, Kol. ""!, No. F, )cto3er
"DDH, pp. B!32BD".
9. /oe, 0. L., NAppro5imate /iemann Sol(ers,
0arameter Kectors, and Di**erence
Schemes,CC Journal of Computational
Physics, Kol. F3, "D!", pp. 3B23B#.
10. &ald1in, &. S., and Loma5, 9., PP,hin Layer
Appro5imation and Alge3raic Model *or
Separated ,ur3ulent Flo1,CC A+AA 0aper B!2
#B, 9unts(ille, AL, January, "DB!.
11. )e*elein, J. C., Sandia Corporation,
Li(ermore, CA, 0ri(ate Communication,
Decem3er, #--#.
12. http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/!"i#
13. Sonda$, D. L. and Dorney, D. J., PPGeneral
:8uation Set Sol(er *or Compressi3le and
+ncompressi3le ,ur3omachinery Flo1s,OO
A+AA #--32FF#-, 3Dth
A+AAEASM:ESA:EAS:: Joint 0ropulsion
Con*erence and :5hi3it, 9unts(ille, AL,
July #-2#3, #--3.
14. Mer$le, C. L., Ken$ates1aran, S., Dorney,
D. J., and Sonda$, D. L., PPA Generali4ed
Fluid Formulation *or ,ur3omachinery
Computations,OO A+AA #--323DDD, 33rd
A+AA Fluid Dynamics Con*erence and
:5hi3it, )rlando, FL, June #32#H, #--3
15. &ro4o1s$i, L., PPAd(anced 0ump Di**user 2
Final /eportN, /oc$1ell +nternational,
/oc$etdyne Di(ision, /eport /SS2!!D2F#,
August, "DDH.
16. A3d2:l2Mala$, M. &., 9anna, S. N., PPSound
Attenutation in a Circular Duct o* a Kiscous
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Nonlinear Mathematical Physics, Kol. F,
No. "2#, "DDB, pp. #3"2#F-.
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18. S$elley, S. PPSSM: Lo1 0ressure Fuel
0ump ?ater Flo1 ,est ;0#3DB<N,
0reliminary Data /e(ie1 .#, NASA
Marshall Space Flight Center, August, "D,
#--F.

Figure ". Computational grid *or the high2head

impellerEdi**user.
Figure #. +nstantaneous static pressure contours.
Figure 3. ,ime2a(eraged static pressure contours.
Figure F. /adial (elocity at the impeller e5it.
H
Figure . ,angential (elocity at the impeller e5it.
Figure H. Static pressure on the di**user shroud.
Figure B. +mpeller static head coe**icient.
Figure !. Di**user static head coe**icient.
B
Figure D. Computational grid *or the inducer.
Figure "-. ,ime2a(eraged static pressure
contours in the inducer.
Figure "". Cross2section (ie1 o* the static
pressure in the inducer.
Figure "#. ,ime2a(eraged sur*ace pressure
distri3utions on the inducer.
!
Figure "3. 'nsteady pressure traces along the
outer duct 1all, upstream o* the inducer.
Figure "F. Decomposition o* the unsteady
pressure on the duct 1all, upstream o* the
inducer.
Figure ". 'nsteady pressure amplitude decay
along the outer duct 1all R predicted, analytical
and e5perimental.
Figure "H. 0redicted and e5perimental static head
coe**icient data *or the inducer.
D
Figure "B. Kelocity (ectors and non2dimensional
pressure contours sho1ing the e5tent o* the
inducer 3ac$ *lo1.
"-
Re)ions of
backflo*