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Experimental optimization of Rolls-Royce AE3007 sump design

Chandra, Budi; Collicott, Steven; Munson, John

Authors

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Budi Chandra Budi.Chandra@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Director (Mobility Technologies)

Steven Collicott

John Munson



Abstract

The original sump design of Rolls-Royce AE3007 central sump is a tangential sump. An experimental program at Purdue University was conducted to investigate the characteristics of a tangential sump design. The research employed a bespoke experimental rig consisting of modular transparent chamber to allow unprecedented view of the two-phase flow inside the bearing chamber. It was found that a persistent liquid pooling near the drain entrance of a tangential sump obstructs the outflow to the scavenge off-take. While space requirement is minimal, the scavenge performance of a tangential sump is poor. A prototype advanced sump was proposed and built with features to address various issues found in the tangential sump.

In this paper, further experimental work on the refinements of the advanced sump is presented. This includes experimental study on the effect of a fence and splitter plate, off-take hole diameter and its location, the effect of gravity by tilting, upstream wall fairing, as well as the depth of the sump itself. The experiments showed that the faired upstream wall modification can reduce residence volume significantly across different operating conditions, indicating improvement in scavenge performance. The other modifications help to reduce residence volume only in certain operating conditions. The results of this study helped towards the birth of an optimized sump design, known as Indy sump. The Indy sump has been accepted as a superior sump design and has been used as a benchmark in many sump design studies.

Citation

Chandra, B., Collicott, S., & Munson, J. (2017, June). Experimental optimization of Rolls-Royce AE3007 sump design. Paper presented at ASME Turbo Expo 2017: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Presentation Conference Type Conference Paper (unpublished)
Conference Name ASME Turbo Expo 2017: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition
Conference Location Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Start Date Jun 26, 2017
End Date Jun 30, 2017
Acceptance Date Jun 26, 2017
Publication Date Jun 26, 2017
Deposit Date Oct 31, 2017
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
ISBN 9780791850770
Keywords experimenal optimization, Rolls-Royce, AE3007, sump design
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/885592
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/GT2017-64030
Additional Information Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition 2017