Prediction of an axial turbomachine performance

degradation due to sand ingestion

A Ghenaiet
1
, S C Tan
2
, and R L Elder
3
1
Thermal Power Laboratory, Polytechnic School, Algiers, Algeria
2
National Institute for Aviation Research/Aircraft Icing, Wichita State University, USA
3
PCA Engineering, Bedford, UK
The manuscript was received on 27 July 2004 and was accepted after revision for publication on 13 January 2005.
DOI: 10.1243/095765005X7592
Abstract: Erosion of compressor blades due to operation in particulate environments is a
serious problem for the manufacturers and users of industrial and aeronautical gas turbines,
because of drastic degradations in performance, mostly through blunting of blade leading
edges, reduction of chord and increase of tip clearance and surface roughness. This paper pre-
sents a numerical study to assess the effects of erosion by sand ingestion on blade geometry
deterioration and the subsequent performance degradation. These computations were carried
out for an axial turbomachine in steps; rst, calculations of particle trajectories and erosion
resulting from cumulative impacts by sand particles (MIL-E 5007E, 01000 mm) were carried
out, then, the required data were used in the estimation of performance degradation based
on a mean-line method that included Lieblein and KochSmith loss correlations, in addition
to an erosion fault model derived from blade geometry deterioration. This global procedure
was successfully validated upon an axial fan stage, and can be generalized easily to other
axial compressor designs.
Keywords: axial turbomachine, particle trajectories, particle impacts, erosion, geometry
deterioration, mean-line method, pressure losses, performance degradation
1 INTRODUCTION
The reality of the danger posed by sand ingestion to
the front compressor stages of gas turbines has been
dramatically illustrated during Desert Shield/Desert
Storm operations in extremely erosive desert
environments polluted with particulates varying in
size from sub-microns to several millimetres, and
with quartz as the most abundant erosive constitu-
ent. The ingestion of sand particles and their abrasive
impacts are known to cause considerable erosion
near the leading edge and tip of axial compressor
blades [1]. Balan and Tabakoff [2] studied exper-
imentally the effects of sand ingestion on an axial
compressor and found severe erosion of the leading
edge and pressure side of rotor blades, with
increased roughness. Also, Dunn et al. [3] carried
out tests on a full-scale engine and found similar
characteristics during blades removal; increase of
tip clearance and erosion of blade leading edges,
which resulted in a substantial performance drop
in both HP and LP compressors. Traditional pro-
cedures (based on experiments) for assessing turbo-
machinery erosion and performance degradation
remain very expensive and revealed limited infor-
mation; consequently, research efforts are more con-
centrated on numerical simulations, because of the
lower cost and time, especially at early design stages.
This paper presents a complete numerical
procedure for simulating particle trajectories, ero-
sion, blade geometry deterioration and subsequent
aerodynamic performance degradation. Particle
trajectories were solved separately from the
ow eld, by using a Lagrangian tracking
method, and considering random particle size dis-
tribution (01000 mm) for sand particle type,
MIL-E5007E.
All authors were formerly at the School of Mechanical Engineer-
ing, Craneld University, UK.

Corresponding author: Thermal Power Laboratory, Polytechnic

School, BP339, Didouche Mourad, Algiers, Algeria.
273
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
The estimated drop in aerodynamic performance
(adiabatic efciency, pressure rise coefcient and
stall margin) was based on a mean-line method.
The blade prole loss and the endwall losses were
estimated from existing empirical correlations,
which have been extensively used for a wide variety
of axial compressors [4, 5]. Additional losses due to
blade erosion were modelled through an erosion
fault model derived from the deteriorated blade geo-
metry, which is presented herein. This complete pre-
dictive methodology was validated upon a tested
axial fan [6], consisting of ten twisted C4 rotor
blades rotating at a constant speed, and seven C4
inlet guide vanes made from cast aluminium
(Fig. 1). The details of the geometrical data and
design parameters for this turbomachine are avail-
able in Table 1.
2 PARTICLE TRACKING AND EROSION
COMPUTATION
2.1 Particle tracking
The simulation of particle motion in turbulent
ows requires the determination of the
instantaneous ow velocity, which consists of the
mean and uctuating ow components. The uctu-
ating uid velocity corresponds to a particular
eddy, and can be calculated from the local turbu-
lence properties of the ow and a random
number [7]. The full solutions of the ow eld at
several operating mass ow rates (0.61.0 kg/s)
were obtained by using the commercial code TASC-
ow. Then, the necessary ow parameters were
passed to an in-house developed trajectory code
(PARTRJ) in order to predict trajectories, locations
of impacts and erosion.
The equations of motion for solid particles within
turbomachinery blades are derived in cylindrical
coordinates, considering centrifugal, coriolis, gravity,
drag and Saffman force [8]. The drag force
(expression below) is usually written in the form of
a drag coefcient [9] based on a spherical particle,
and corrected using a shape factor, since particles
are irregularly shaped.
F
D

p
8
d
2
p
r
C
D
f
(W V
p
)kWj jV
p
k (1)
As a result, a set of second-order nonlinear differen-
tial equations is written in polar coordinates for the
rotating frame as
@
2
r
p
@t
2
G(W
r
V
pr
) r
p
V
V
pu
r
p
_ _
2
g 1
r
r
p
_ _
sin u
p

F
Sr
m
p
r
p
@
2
u
P
@t
2
G(W
u
V
pu
) 2V
pr
V
V
pu
r
p
_ _
g 1
r
r
p
_ _
cos u
p

F
Su
m
p
@
2
z
p
@t
2
G(W
z
V
pz
)
F
Sz
m
p
_

_
(2)
Fig. 1 The axial turbomachine
Table 1 Axial fan stage design parameters
Geometrical parameters Design point
Shroud diameter 170.02 mm Flow coefcient 0.5
Rotor root diameter 110 mm Pressure rise coefcient 0.4
Rotor tip diameter 169.37 mm Rotational speed 11 300 rpm
Rotor tip chord 45.57 mm
Rotor root chord 43.08 mm
Rotor tip stagger angle 55.258
Rotor root stagger angle 488
Rotor root inlet blade angle 67.728
Rotor tip inlet blade angle 72.698
IGV chord 57.14 mm
IGV stagger angle 27.368
Roughness R
a
2.95 mm
IGV-rotor spacing 15 mm
274 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
The aerodynamic factor G depends on uid and par-
ticle velocities.
G
3
4d
p
r
r
p
C
D
f

jW
r
V
pr
j
2
jW
u
V
pu
j
2
jW
z
V
pz
j
2
_
(3)
A developed trajectory code (PARTRJ) based on a
Lagrangian method [6] was used for particle tracking.
The nonlinear differential equations (2) governing
particle motion were solved by the seventh-order
RungeKutta Fehlberg method [10], considering a
three-dimensional structured grid (shown in meri-
dional plane, Fig. 2). Particle trajectories were
obtained in the physical coordinates, but the tracking
of particles in the different cells constituting inlet
guide vane (IGV) and rotor domains was based on
their local coordinates calculated by the nite
element method [7].
The initial release points and velocities of particles
conformed to the measured concentration distri-
bution and particle velocity obtained by means of
laser transit anemometer [6]. A high concentration
(775 mg/m
3
) of sand particle MIL-E5007E was used
in these computations, similarly to the experimental
work.
The computation of the trajectory proceeded
through the periodic planes and the statorrotor inter-
face planes. At a point of impact on a solid surface, the
velocity and angle of impingement were used for ero-
sion calculation, and the trajectory computation was
then continued using the rebound factors (restitution
ratios) obtained experimentally by Tabakoff et al. [11].
2.2 Erosion prediction
The intensity and pattern of erosion are dependent
on the physical properties of particle, size,
concentration, velocity and angle of impingement,
the geometry and material of blades. The erosion
rate (dened as mass of material removed per mass
of impacting particle) depends on kinetic energy
exchange between an impacting particle and a
target surface, which was estimated by an existing
semi-empirical correlation [12].
1 K
1
f (b
p1
)(V
2
p1u
V
2
p2u
) f (V
p1n
) (4)
The overall erosion rate per blade is related to the
total ingested mass of particles through one blade
passage by the following expression.
1
0

Dm
e
Q=(NB)
(5)
The nodal values of erosion on the blade, hub
and shroud surfaces were calculated by means of
bilinear interpolation. Because sand particles are
assumed to be spherical, the depths of penetration
are easily calculated. As a result, the eroded blade
prole is regenerated (Fig. 3), and percentages of
chord and tip clearance deteriorations are com-
puted as follows.
. The mean reduction of blade chord:
Dc
m
(%) 100 1
1
c
m
in
h
_
h
0
Dc dh
_ _
(6)
. The mean increase of tip clearance:
Dt(%) 100
1
t
in
A
t

k
i1
t
i
DA
i
1
_ _
(7)
Fig. 3 Deteriorated rotor blade
Fig. 2 The computational grid showing IGV and rotor
blades, with periodic boundaries
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 275
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
3 AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE
DEGRADATION
The aerodynamic performance degradation was
determined in terms of the blade geometry, axial
ow velocity, ow angles, and upstream pressure,
temperature and Reynolds number. The blade prole
loss [4] and endwall losses [5] were estimated from
existing empirical correlations, which had been
applied to a wide variety of axial compressors. The
reference stage efciency excluding tip clearance
and secondary losses is calculated as
h
ref
1
4
IGV
(V
1
=U)
2
4
R
(W
1
=U)
2
2(DH
t
=U
2
)
_ _
(8)
IGV losses. The total pressure loss contains the
prole and secondary ow losses, which are esti-
mated by analogy to a turbine nozzle guide vane
(NGV) [13].
4
IGV
4
s
4
p
(9)
Rotor prole loss. The minimum prole loss par-
ameter is based on the defect of ow momentum at
the blade trailing edge, which is correlated against
the equivalent diffusion factor [14].
4
p
2
u

c
_ _
s
cos b
2
cos b
1
cos b
2
_ _
2
2
3 1=H
2
_ _
1
u

c
_ _
sH
2
cos b
2
_ _
3
(10)
The effect of roughness is usually specied in terms of
an equivalent sand grain roughness, which is related to
the surface centre-line-averaged roughness [15]. Above
the dimensionless roughness Reynolds number of 90,
the boundary layer characteristics depend only on
the ratio of surface roughness to chord length.
The losses due to the wall boundary layer and sec-
ondary ow are usually lumped together into the
so-called endwall losses, [16]. Koch and Smith [5]
related the efciency loss due to the presence of end-
wall effects to the two properties of the endwall
boundary layer, the displacement and tangential
force thickness, which are related to the effective
stage static pressure rise coefcient ratio dened
according to Koch [17].
h h
ref
1 (2
"
d

=s cos j)(s cos j=h)

1 (2" n=2
"
d

)(2
"
d

=s cos j)(s cos j=h)

(11)
3.1 Additional losses due to erosion
Aerodynamic losses due to erosion by sand particles
are mainly attributed to blade chord reduction and
increase of tip clearance [18]. As the percentage of
blade chord reduction was calculated from
expression (6), the eroded blade chord is computed
by an expression derived from the basic C4 aerofoil
and blade geometry deterioration model (Fig. 4) as
c
e
c

R
c
_ _
2

Dc
m
c

1
2
_ _
2
_

R
c
_ _
2

1
4
_ _
_
_
_
2
_
_
_
1
Dc
m
c
_ _
2
_
1=2
(12)
The variation of blade stagger and camber angle were
computed by expressions derived according to Fig. 4.
Dj tan
1

R
c
_ _
2

Dc
m
c

1
2
_ _
2
_

R
c
_ _
2

1
4
_
1 (Dc
m
=c)
(13)
u
e
2 tan
1
4
R
c
e
_ _
2
1
_ _
1=2
(14)
The inlet blade angle is computed from the tangent
to the camber line.
b
eG1
tan
1
4
R
c
e
_ _
2
1
_ _
1=2
(15)
The absolute variation of inlet blade angle is the
summation of the relative variations of blade angle
and stagger angle.
Db
G
(b
G1
b
eG1
) Dj (16)
Fig. 4 Modelling of blade geometry deterioration
276 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
For noncircular blade proles, these equations are at
best an approximation.
The signicant rotor blade erosion (predicted and
measured) was concentrated around the blade lead-
ing edge, spanning two-thirds of blade height and
extending over a large area of the pressure side
towards the tip. This deterioration in rotor blade pro-
le is accompanied by a drop in aerodynamic lift
coefcient, which is estimated by an expression
derived from classical thin airfoil theory [6].
DC
L
2p Db
1
p
_
p
0
cos u(cos u 1)

4(R=c)
2
cos
2
u
_ du
_

1
p
_
p
0
cos u(cos u 1)

4(R=c
e
)
2
cos
2
u
_ du
_
(17)
The effect of changes in chord and leading edge due
to erosion appears as a supplement to the drag coef-
cient.
DC
D
C
De
C
D
(18)
The new value of drag coefcient is calculated from
the variation of ow angle and the drop in lift coef-
cient given as follows.
C
De

1
tan b
me
_
C
D
tan b
m
DC
L
2
_
s
c
_ _
cos b
m
tan b
1
tan b
2
_ _

s
c
_ _
e
cos b
me
( tan b
1e
tan b
2e
)
__
(19)
The drop in adiabatic efciency is related to the
supplement in drag coefcient, computed by
expressions (18) and (19).
Dh
e
DC
D
cos b
2
1e
cos b
3
me
c
s
_ _
e
(W
2
1
=U
2
m
)
2(DH
t
=U
2
m
)
e
(20)
An additional term for the increase in endwall losses
due to relative changes in tip clearance is also esti-
mated by the Koch and Smith correlation.
3.2 Off-design performance
The off-design performance was calculated by the
mean-line method at different operating mass ow
rates. The variation of blade prole loss is estimated
from a relationship between the minimum prole
loss and ow conditions. The minimum prole loss
(at minimum ow incidence) is obtained from
equation (10), whereas the minimum incidence
angle can be obtained iteratively by calculating the
maximum lift drag ratio, and taking the reference
incidence angle as an initial guess.
i
ref
(K
i
)
sh
(K
i
)
th
(i
0
)
10
Nu (21)
At high stagger angle, a blend between cascade and
isolated aerofoil design methods is used for the devi-
ation parameter via a modied graphical relation due
to Wallis [19].
m 10
8
j
4
10
6
j
3
0:0001j
2
0:001j
0:2307 (22)
The rotor ow deviation angle is dependent on inci-
dence and inlet ow angle. For a xed stagger angle
the variation in ow angle is equal to the variation
in incidence. Hence, the derivative of the deviation
with incidence is taken as the summation of the
two components.
dd
di

@d
@i

b1

@d
@b
1

i
_ _
(23)
The rst derivative was introduced by Lieblein [20],
whereas the second derivative is developed in the fol-
lowing expression.
@d
@b
1

@d
@b
1

ii
ref

@d
@i

b
1
_ _
@i
@b
1
_ _
ii
ref
(24)
By knowing the slope of the deviation angle at a con-
stant stagger angle, the variation of deviation ow
angle is related to incidence angle by an approximate
linear relation.
d d
ref

dd
di
_ _
j
(i i
ref
) (25)
As the minimum blade prole loss is known at the
minimum incidence angle, the off-design blade pro-
le loss between choking and stalling incidence are
estimated by using a graphical relation due to
Miller and Wasdell [21]
4
4
m
f
i i
min
i
s
i
min
_ _
(26)
The endwall losses are strongly dependent on tip
clearance, aspect ratio and stage loading. These
losses were computed at different operating con-
ditions and used for calculating stage adiabatic
efciency.
The IGV prole used for this type of turbomachine
is geometrically similar to a turbine NGV, thus, the
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 277
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
outlet ow angle is simply related to the exit throat
area and the blade pitch by a relation given in refer-
ence [14].
The stage-loading factor is derived from the Euler
pump equation and velocity triangles for this type
of contra-whirl axial fan stage (Fig. 5). The central
region of the rotor blade section will therefore do
less work than is estimated from the velocity tri-
angles based on the mean axial velocity, thus a cor-
rection for the axial velocity was introduced in
terms of blockage factor estimated according to
reference [22]. A work done factor was introduced
in expression (27) in order to compensate for the
deteriorating axial velocity prole near the hub and
shroud downstream of the IGV blade, as conrmed
by computational uid dynamics (CFD) compu-
tations [6]. A value equal to 0.975 for this factor
was selected [22] to give extra work to cater for a
margin of error [23].
DH
t
U
2

0:975( tan b
1
K
b
tan b
2
)
tan b
1
tan a
1
(27)
The stage total pressure increase and the stage load-
ing factor are related by the total-to-total adiabatic
efciency as
DP
t
" rU
2
h
DH
t
U
2
(28)
The pressure rise coefcient is equivalent to the total
pressure head normalized by the square of the tip
rotational speed.
c
DP
t
rU
2
t
(29)
The stall limit for this type of axial fan depends on high
blade staggering and endwall effects and is related to
the tip clearance and aspect ratio. The stalling pressure
rise coefcient for a blade passage, which was corre-
lated against the two-dimensional diffuser perform-
ance [17], was adopted here as a criterion for
predicting stall onset. Thus, the estimation of drop in
stall margin was related to the reduction of chord
and increase of blade tip. The surge margin was calcu-
lated according to a denition [24], which considers
the change in the outlet ow function (mfr
p
c
p
T
t
/AP
t
)
between the working line (design point) and the
surge line for the given rotational speed. After simpli-
cations the surge margin was related to pressure rise
and inlet mass ow rate by
SM(%) 100 1
P
W
P
s
mfr
s
mfr
w
_ _
(30)
4 DISCUSSION
Because of the pre-rotation induced by the IGV
(Fig. 5), high rotational speed and the ow velocity
and direction upstream rotor blade leading edge
(Fig. 6), several particle impacts were found around
the leading edge, extending to two-thirds of the
blade height, with the strongest erosion levels on
the upper corner of the blade pressure side and
towards the tip. Particles entrained by ow leakage
from pressure to suction side through tip clearance,
induced erosion on the blade tip and shroud, as
shown by particles trajectories in Fig. 7(a) and the
impacts locations depicted in Fig. 7(b). Predicted
erosion patterns (Figs 8, 9, and 10) are seen to
Fig. 6 Flow velocity vectors at mid span near the
design point Fig. 5 Off-design velocity triangles
278 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
depend on the axial fan operating conditions, for
example, the throttling of mass ow rate. At a high
mass ow rate, the predicted erosion pattern is
shown to occupy a larger area of the rotor blade
pressure side starting from the leading edge. At a
very low mass ow rate, for example, near stall, a
large eroded area is also evident near the trailing
edge, in addition to an eroded area near the leading
edge. However, erosion of the rotor blade suction
side is insignicant in all operating conditions.
The predicted mass and rate of erosion per blade
near design mass ow rate were 1146 mg and
0.6783 mg/g, respectively, compared to experimental
values of 999 mg and 0.653 mg/g [6]. The predicted
blade mass erosion at different operating mass ow
rates (0.61.0 kg/s) tends to increase with air mass
ow (Fig. 11), and becomes steeper above the value
of 0.9 kg/s, because of the higher ow velocity and
number of particles involved. In all operating con-
ditions the measured and predicted geometry
changes for the IGV blade were negligible.
The computation of blade geometry deterioration
for the rotor blade was based on the procedure out-
lined in section 2.2. In order to obtain a relation
between the air mass ow and the blade geometry
deterioration, particle trajectories and erosion simu-
lations were performed at a constant concentration
(775 mg/m
3
) for different operating conditions over
a period of 9 hours. As a consequence, the material
removal and geometry deterioration were related to
Fig. 7 (a) Predicted sand particles trajectories; (b) predicted impacts on the rotor blade pressure
side, with fan operating near the design point
Fig. 8 Erosion of rotor blade pressure side by sand
(MIL-E5007E); axial fan operating near design
point 0.8 kg/s, over a period of 9 h
Fig. 9 Erosion of rotor blade pressure side by sand
(MIL-E5007E); axial fan operating at mass ow
1.0 kg/s, over a period of 9 h
Fig. 10 Erosion of rotor blade pressure side by sand
(MIL-E5007E); axial fan operating near stall
limit 0.6 kg/s, over a period of 9 h
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 279
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
mass of sand ingested and duration. The results
deplicted in Figs 12 and 13 show evidence of vari-
ations in blade prole with air mass ow, by a
reduction of blade chord and noticeable increase
of tip clearance. When operating near the design
point, the predicted deterioration of tip chord
and tip clearance were 5.27 and 49.30 per cent,
respectively, compared to the measured values of
10.42 and 65.75 per cent [6]. The underprediction
of the chord reduction might be attributed to the
progressive changes of ow pattern around the
eroded blade tip corner, which was not considered
in the CFD modelling prior to particle trajectories
and erosion computations within periods of sand
ingestion. It is also noted that there is a slight discre-
pancy in tip and hub chord from design, due to the
manufacturers accepted tolerance for such low-
cost fans; thus, measurements were different from
the intended design as used for the simulations.
Table 2 gives the steps of performance degradation
according to experiments [6], where sand particles
were injected at a high concentration (775 mg/m
3
)
for a pre-dened duration near the design point.
This was repeated at several discrete points with
the same rotor, simulating a total period of 9 hours
of sand ingestion. The reason for this is to evaluate
the step change in aerodynamic performance of
this axial turbomachine. Table 3 and Fig. 14 show
that the predicted performance degradation based
on eroded rotor blades obtained from erosion exper-
iments are generally good compared to test results of
performance degradation. The predicted degra-
dations in adiabatic efciency and pressure rise at
the design mass ow were 5.40 and 8.23 per cent,
respectively, compared to the measured values of
6.70 and 3.44 per cent, respectively (Table 3). The
predicted stalling mass ow was 0.695 kg/s, com-
pared to a measured value of 0.71 kg/s, which is
Fig. 11 Rotor blade erosion (mg) over a period of 9 h of
sand (MIL-E5007E) ingestion
Fig. 12 Blade tip clearance increase over a period of
9 h of sand (MIL-E5007E) ingestion
Fig. 13 Blade chord decrease over a period of 9 h of
sand (MIL-E5007E) ingestion
Table 2 Measured performance degradation based on the original blade prole
Time
(hours)
Efciency at
design ow
Degradation
efciency (%)
Pressure rise
coefcient at
design ow
Degradation of
pressure rise
coefcient (%)
Mass ow
at stall (kg/s)
Stall margin
(%)
Degradation of
stall margin (%)
0 0.8025 0.3952 0.616 20.94
2.2 0.7815 2.616 0.3930 0.556 0.634 20.37 2.718
4.6 0.7687 4.211 0.3878 1.872 0.648 18.83 10.085
6.9 0.7492 6.641 0.3813 3.517 0.680 15.57 25.651
9 0.7487 6.704 0.3816 3.441 0.710 10.07 51.892
280 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
equivalent to a stall margin degradation of 51.8 per
cent compared to the measured value of 54.2 per
cent. The difference between the predicted and
measured performance degradation at low mass
ow could be attributed to underestimated endwall
losses, which are related to the effective pressure
rise coefcient, ow condition and the geometry of
eroded blades (rounded leading edge). Table 4
shows the predicted performance degradation
based on predicted eroded blade prole (obtained
by particle trajectories simulation and erosion
model). The results as seen from Table 4 depict a
similar trend with the measurements shown in
Table 2, but differ at the later periods of sand inges-
tion, where measured degradation was higher than
predicted. This might be attributed to the difference
between the predicted and measured geometry of
deterioration, where the nonlinear process of erosion
could not be accounted for in the prediction model.
In addition, the complex eroded shape of the leading
edge, spanning two-thirds of the blade height,
had a signicant inuence on the stall limit due to
increased ow leakage around the blade corner and
shift of the leading edge stagnation point.
The erosion damage is found to have a signicant
effect on lift coefcient, because of static pressure
redistribution over the eroded prole, owing to an
increase of tip clearance and rounding of the blade
leading edge. CFD computations carried out for the
eroded blade (as measured) gave an estimation of
the deterioration in aerodynamic lift coefcient of
5.6 and 1.2 per cent for the tip and mid-span blade
prole, respectively. Figures 15(a) and (b) show
static pressure distribution at mid-span and tip of
the blade, respectively. The loss of the prole lift
coefcient is clearly evident from the reduced area
between the curves of static pressure distributions
over the pressure and suction side of the rotor
blade. Figures 16(a) and (b) illustrate the pitchwise
averaged ow incidence and relative velocity with
Table 3 Predicted performance degradation based on measurements taken from actual blade prole
Time
(hours)
Efciency at
design ow
Degradation
efciency (%)
Pressure rise
coefcient at
design ow
Degradation of
pressure rise
coefcient (%)
Mass ow
at stall (kg/s)
Stall margin
(%)
Degradation of
stall margin (%)
0 0.797 0.394 0.608 14.86
2.2 0.780 2.133 0.387 1.776 0.608 18.53
4.6 0.765 4.015 0.379 3.807 0.658 11.1 25.271
6.9 0.751 5.771 0.369 6.345 0.685 8.54 42.487
9 0.740 7.151 0.360 8.502 0.699 6.8 54.219
Fig. 14 Predicted performance degradation of the
axial fan
Table 4 Predicted performance degradation based on changes in the blade prole computed by the erosion fault model
Time
(hours)
Efciency at
design ow
Degradation
efciency (%)
Pressure rise
coefcient at
design ow
Degradation of
pressure rise
coefcient (%)
Mass ow
at stall (kg/s)
Stall margin
(%)
Degradation of
stall margin (%)
0 0.8020 0.3890 0.5966 16.92
2.2 0.7859 2.005 0.3784 2.738 0.6021 16.70 1.30
4.6 0.7676 4.294 0.3662 5.855 0.6599 11.95 29.37
6.9 0.7475 6.798 0.3533 9.17 0.7038 7.66 54.71
9 0.7264 9.429 0.3402 12.55 0.7384 5.64 66.62
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 281
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
blade height upstream of the rotor blade leading
edge before and after erosion, as computed by
CFD. A greater difference is illustrated for ow inci-
dence along the blade height, which means that ero-
sion not only affects ow over the eroded corner, but
also the ow pattern, globally. Figure 18 as compared
to Fig. 17 shows further evidence of the increase
of losses in the blade tip and over eroded upper
corner of the rotor blade.
This complete computational procedure was
repeated for different operating conditions (throt-
tling), over a range of mass ow rate from 0.6 to
1.0 kg/s, in order to generate the intermediate
curves of performance degradation, such as
adiabatic efciency, pressure rise coefcient and
stall margin, as shown by Fig. 19 (for different oper-
ating mass ow rates). The overall performance
degradation curves as plotted in Fig. 20 were
deduced from Fig. 19 by taking values of pressure
rise coefcient and adiabatic efciency correspond-
ing to sand injection at different throttling. The
curves as plotted in Fig. 20 describe the general
trend in performance degradation at different oper-
ating conditions in extremely polluted environments
by sand particles. Figure 21 represents the relative
performance drop (in percentage), and shows a
minimum occurring near the design mass ow rate;
this is because of low ow incidence at that
Fig. 15 (a) Pressure around rotor blade at mid span, axial fan operating near design point; (b)
pressure around rotor blade near tip, axial fan operating near design point
Fig. 16 (a) Averaged ow incidence upstream leading edge of rotor blade, axial fan operating
near design point; (b) averaged relative ow velocity upstream leading edge of rotor
blade, axial fan operating near design point
282 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
particular working condition, whereas at low and
high mass ow rates, the increased relative drop
might be attributed to higher incidence angles.
The main contributors to performance degra-
dation for this type of turbomachine are: chord
reduction and blunting of the blade leading edge,
which affect ow incidence, aerodynamic lift coef-
cient, and stall inception. Near the design point the
estimated percentage of pressure rise and adiabatic
efciency degradation due to chord reduction are
71.85 and 73.27 per cent, respectively (Fig. 22). At
the maximum air mass ow, these degradations are
83.9 and 89.5 per cent, respectively. At the minimum
mass ow rate these percentages are 59.63 and 56.28
per cent, respectively, as seen from Fig. 22. Another
parametric analysis using the mean-line method
revealed that a reduction of 1.5 per cent in rotor
blade chord produced a loss of 14 per cent in stall
margin, which is also equivalent to an increase of
150 per cent in tip clearance. As a conclusion, there
is a predominant effect of blade prole erosion, com-
pared to the effect of tip clearance increase.
Rotor blade erosion and geometry deterioration
are strongly dependent on particle concentration
and duration of sand ingestion. In order to derive a
relation between sand particle concentrations and
duration of exposure, the particle trajectory, erosion
and performance degradation computations were
carried out for several concentration levels and
Fig. 17 Relative total pressure in tip clearance of the
original rotor blade, axial fan operating near
design point
Fig. 18 Relative total pressure in the tip clearance of
the eroded rotor blade, axial fan operating
near design point
Fig. 19 Predicted intermediate performance
degradation after 9 h of sand (MIL-E5007E)
ingestion
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 283
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
periods of sand ingestion. In this way, a relationship
between adiabatic efciency drop with time of run-
ning was obtained and presented graphically as
shown in Fig. 23. The life time of this turbomachine
was related to a certain limit of adiabatic efciency
drop, which was generally specied at 10 per cent
by gas turbine users. From the curves of adiabatic
efciency degradation (Fig. 23), the life time was esti-
mated graphically for different concentration. As a
result, an interpolated curve for the life time was
obtained for these rotor blades made from cast alu-
minium, which tends to follow an exponential
decay with sand concentration, as shown by Fig. 24.
In order to study the effect of material hardness
on rotor blade geometry deterioration and the sub-
sequent degradation in aerodynamic performance
and the expected life time, these numerical com-
putations were repeated for harder materials
such as stainless steel 510. As a result, an approxi-
mate expression for the life time was modied to
include the Brinell hardness of materials, which
can be used for other blade congurations and
materials based on similar turbomachinery designs.
lifetime
HB
HB
al
1
_ _
B
1
exp ( C=b
1
)
_
B
2
exp ( C=b
2
)
_
A
0
HB
HB
al
1
_ _
A
1
exp ( C=a
1
)
A
2
exp ( C=a
2
) (31)
Fig. 20 Predicted overall performance degradation
after 9 h of sand (MIL-E5007E) ingestion
Fig. 21 Relative performance degradation over a
period of 9 h of sand ingestion
Fig. 22 Relative performance degradation over a
period of 9 h due to chord reduction only
Fig. 23 Predicted adiabatic efciency degradation
with time of running for different sand
particle concentrations
284 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
where A
0
0.536, A
1
929.73, A
2
48.32,
B
1
3.23 10
5
, B
2
0.17 10
5
, a
1
91, a
2
860,
b
1
17.6, b
2
305.2, and HB
al
110.
Erosion patterns in multistage axial compressors
are strongly inuenced by the nonuniform particle
distribution in both tangential and radial directions
between each pair of sequential blade rows, due to
centrifugation and impacts on the previous rotor
blade pressure side, through which sand particles
acquire circumferential velocities and are sub-
sequently centrifuged to the outer annulus. These
tendencies continue throughout the latter stages,
with few particles in the inner half span, leading to
increased particle concentration toward the outer
annulus. As a consequence, blade impacts for these
stages are expected to be found mostly near the
outer radii and extending from the leading edge
further along the blade chord. Erosion of the latter
stages is particularly severe as the erodent particles
crowd near the outer annulus in a region with the
smallest blade height and a reduced ow path; con-
sequently, erosion intensity per unit surface area is
expected to be higher. On the other hand, because
of the reduced particle size and inertia due to particle
fragmentation following repeated impacts, in
addition to the increased drag force due to higher
ow density in these latter rotor blade rows, a large
fraction of particles is diverted towards the blade
trailing edge after impacting the tip of the blade
and shroud. The frequency of impacts at the trailing
edge upper corner region as well as the local rates of
wear are increased, which leads to thinning and
material break-up by cutting from the upper corner
of the blade trailing edge.
5 CONCLUSIONS
High erosion levels were predicted near the leading
edges and at the tip corner of the rotor blades due
to direct exposure to a ux of sand particles at high
concentration and peripheral velocity. This eroded
area covered the upper corner of the pressure side,
extending to the tip of the rotor blade, due to cen-
trifugal force. The erosion patterns were found to
depend on the operating conditions (throttling),
because of variations in ow velocity and incidence.
Erosion was insignicant over the rotor blade suction
side in all operating conditions.
The derived mean-line method involving erosion
fault model and loss correlations gave reasonably
good results in comparison with experimental data
and showed that the Lieblein and KochSmith corre-
lations were sufcient for the current method. The pre-
dicted results for performance degradation indicated
erosion of the blade leading edge and tip clearance
were the main contributors to the degradation of the
pressure rise coefcient, adiabatic efciency and stall
margin. However, the blade chord reduction had a pre-
dominant effect compared to tip clearance. The
derived overall degradation characteristics and the
generalized life time expression for this turbomachine
can be used as a tool by engineers for estimating
performance degradation and the life time expectancy
of similar turbomachinery designs, due to in-service
erosion resulting from operation in environments
excessively polluted by sand particles.
REFERENCES
1 Tabakoff, W. Review turbomachinery performance
deterioration exposed to solid particulate environment.
ASME J. Fluids Engng, 1984, 106, 125134.
2 Balan, C. and Tabakoff, W. Axial ow compressor
performance deterioration, AIAA paper 84-1208, June
1984.
3 Dunn, M. G., Padova, C., Moller, J. E., and Adams,
R. M. Performance deterioration of a turbofan and a
turbojet engine upon exposure to a dust environment.
ASME J. Engng Gas Turbine Power, 1987, 109, 336343.
4 Lieblein, S. Experimental ow in two dimensional
cascades, NASA SP-36, Chapter VI, 1965.
5 Koch, C. C. and Smith, Jr. L. H. Loss sources and
magnitudes in axial ow compressors. J. Engng Power,
1976, 411424.
6 Ghenaiet, A. Turbomachinery performance degra-
dation due to erosion effect, PhD thesis, Craneld Uni-
versity, 2001.
7 Ghenaiet, A., Elder, R. L., and Tan, S. C. Particle trajec-
tories through an axial fan and performance degra-
dation due to sand ingestion, 2001GT0497, ASME
paper TURBO EXPO Land Sea & Air, New Orleans,
USA, 46 June 2001.
8 Sommerfeld, M. Theoretical and experimental model-
ling of particulate owoverview and fundamentals,
Lecture series 2000-06, 37 April 2000 (Ed. J.-M.
Buchlin), 2000 (Von Karman Institute, Belgium).
Fig. 24 Predicted life time (aluminiumblade) function
with sand particle concentration
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 285
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy
9 Morsi, S. A. and Alexander, A. J. An investigation of
particle trajectories in two phase ow system. J. Fluid
Mech., 1992, 55(2), 193208.
10 Fehlberg, E. Classical fth, sixth, seventh and eighth
order RK formulas with step size control, NASA TR-
287, October 1968.
11 Tabakoff, W. Hamed, A., and Murugan, D. M. Effect of
target materials on the particle restitution character-
istics for turbomachinery application. J. Propulsion
and Power, 1996, 12(2), 260266.
12 Grant, G. and Tabakoff, W. Erosion prediction in
turbomachinery resulting from environmental solid
particles. J. Aircraft, 1975, 12(5), 471478.
13 Horlock, J. H. Axial Flow Turbines, 1973 (R.E. Krieger
Pub. Co, Huntington, N.Y.).
14 Gordon, D. W. and Korakianitis, T. The Design of High
Efciency Turbomachinery and Gas Turbines, 1998
(Prentice Hall, New Jersey).
15 Schafer, A. Experimental and analytical investigation
of the effects of Reynolds number and blade surface
roughness on multistage axial ow compressors,
ASME paper 79-GT-2 16 April 1979.
16 Lakshminarayana, B. Fluid Mechanics and Heat
Transfer of Turbomachines, 1996 (John Wiley & Sons,
New York).
17 Koch, C. C. Stalling pressure rise capability of axial ow
compressor stages. ASME J. Power, 1981, 103, 645656.
18 Ghenaiet, A., Tan, S. C., and Elder, R. L. Numerical simu-
lation of the axial fan performance degradation due to
sand ingestion, GT-2002-30644, ASME Turbo Expo 2002,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 36 June 2002.
19 Wallis, R. A. The development of blade sections for
axial ow fans, Mech. Chem. Engng, Trans IE, 1992,
MC8 (2), 111116.
20 Lieblein, S. Incidence and deviation angle correlations
for compressor cascades. J. Basic Engng, 1960, 82,
575586.
21 Miller, D. C. and Wasdell, D. L. Off design prediction
of compressor blade losses, C279/87, IMechE
Proceeding.
22 Howell, A. R. and Calvert, W. J. Axial ow compressor
performance prediction by stage stackingdetermi-
nation of stage aerodynamics, NGTE Report No.
R81002 UDC 621.45.037-154, June 1981.
23 Wall, R. A. Axial ow compressor performance predic-
tion, (Rolls-Royce, Derby, 1971)Modern Prediction
Methods for Turbomachine Performance AGARD-LS-
83, 1418 June 1976.
24 Cumpsty, N. Compressor Aerodynamics, 1989
(Longman Scientic & Technical, UK).
APPENDIX
Notation
A area
c chord
C concentration, mg/m
3
C
D
drag coefcient
C
L
lift coefcient
c
p
specic heat at constant pressure
d
p
diameter of particle
F
D
drag force
F
S
saffman force
h blade height
g gravitational constant
H enthalpy
H
2
boundary layer shape factor
i incidence angle
(i
0
)
10
incidence angle for zero camber
(K
i
)
sh
shape correction for incidence angle
(K
i
)
th
thickness correction for incidence angle
K
1
material constant
K
b
blockage factor
m
p
mass of a particle
Dm
e
eroded mass
m deviation parameter
mfr mass ow rate
N slope of the incidence angle variation with
camber
NB number of blades
P pressure
R radius of camber line
r radial coordinate
Q mass of ingested sand, g
s pitch of blade cascade
SM stall margin
t time
U peripheral velocity
V absolute ow velocity
W relative ow velocity
V
p
particle velocity
z axial coordinate
Greek letters
a absolute ow angle
b relative ow angle
b
G
blade angle
b
p
particle impact angle
d deviation ow angle
d

displacement thickness
1, 1
0
erosion rate, overall erosion parameter,
mg/g
f particle shape factor
h adiabatic efciency
v loss coefcient
V speed of rotation, rad/s
n endwall boundary layer tangential force
thickness
r density
P pressure ratio
s solidity
t tip clearance
c pressure rise coefcient
j stagger angle
286 A Ghenaiet, S C Tan, and R L Elder
Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy A09204
#
IMechE 2005
Subscripts
al aluminium
e eroded
in initial
le leading edge
m mean
min minimum
n normal
p prole
r radial
R rotor
ref reference
t total, tip
te trailing edge
s secondary, stall
z axial
u tangential
CFD computational uid dynamics
IGV inlet guide vane
1, 2 inlet and outlet/exist of a blade row, at
impact and rebound from a surface
w working point (design point)
Degradation of turbomachine performance due to sand ingestion 287
A09204
#
IMechE 2005 Proc. IMechE Vol. 219 Part A: J. Power and Energy