Turbomachinery Distortion Characterization by Non-intrusive Measurement Methods
Navy SBIR FY2016.1


Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2016.1
Topic No.: N161-011
Topic Title: Turbomachinery Distortion Characterization by Non-intrusive Measurement Methods
Proposal No.: N161-011-0866
Firm: Applied University Research, Inc
605 Preston Ave.
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
Contact: Roger Simpson
Phone: (540) 961-3005
Web Site: http://www.aurinc.com
Abstract: The proposed Scanning Three-Velocity-Component Particle-Position-Resolving Laser-Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) and CompLDV (Sc-3VC-PPR-LDV/CompLDV) meets all requirements and is: (1) non-intrusive to the flow stream with ONLY ONE WINDOW FOR OPTICAL ACCESS, (2) is compact and not cause or be prone to extraneous excitation, (3) can be designed to be easily accessible from the turbomachinery exterior, and (4) can be designed for easy installation on different Navy engines without adversely affecting the flow stream, and (5) will be capable of characterizing the distortion to a better accuracy and in more detail than the current methods that are available only during development and testing. The Sc-3VC-PPR-LDV/CompLDV will provide much quantitative low uncertainty information on the mean flow distortion, the flow angles throughout the flowfield, flow unsteadiness amplitudes and frequencies, and the spatial length sizes or scales for the various frequency fluid motions for in-service aircraft engines. Much data can be processed during real-time and provide inflow distortion information during the test so test engineers can modify or vary the inflow conditions to observe flow sensitivities. AUR personnel have many years of experience on all of the needed technical aspects required to design and develop this system, including data acquisition and processing systems.
Benefits: The completed R&D will provide a previously unavailable fully functional non-intrusive sensor system to characterize flow distortion on a relevant engine platform. AUR will configure and transition validated systems to evaluate the inflow of fans and compressors of propulsion systems for military and commercial aircraft. The system will be widely applicable in commercial, ground based, marine, automotive and other areas, where distortion plays a significant role in reduced performance and operability.

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