TURBINES

CONTENTS

7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 TURBINE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
7.3 GENERAL CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES
7.4 TURBINE WHEEL
7.5 NOZZLE VANES
7.6 TURBINE DISC
7.7 TURBINE STAGING
7.8 TURBINE TYPES
7.9 TURBINE AERODYNAMICS
7.10 TURBINE BLADE OPERATING LIMITATIONS
7.11 THERMAL CYCLE/FATIGUE
7.12 CREEP

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 1

7.1 INTRODUCTION
The turbine assembly converts part of the energy of the working fluid into mechanical work.
In the turbo-jets, approximately three-quarter of the energy in the gases is converted into
shaft horsepower to drive the compressor and accessories. The remaining energy is
converted into velocity in the propelling nozzle of the exhaust unit to produce jet-thrust. In
the turbo-props, turbine is designed to extract almost all of the energy from the gas (about
90%), leaving a small amount to produce jet thrust (about 10%).
The turbine assembly is one of the most highly stressed parts in the engine. Not only must it
operate at temperatures of approximately 928C (1800F), but it must do so under severe
centrifugal loads imposed by high rotational speeds of over 6000 rpm for small engines to
8000 rpm for the larger ones.

7.2 TURBINE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Turbine has to work in the most stringent environment in terms of temperature, centrifugal
force and gas loading. The problems that are common to turbine are:

Thermal Fatigue

Heat cracking

Over temperature burns

Creep

Deformation

Figure 7.1 shows some of the turbine blade damages as a result of the exposure of the
turbines in the worst environment of temperature and loading.
The limiting factor of how much power will be allowed to generate by a designed engine is
the material of the turbine that will withstand the working environment. Considerable
research has been carried out with the object of devising improved blades for this purpose.
Three main trends have been revealed:

Development of new alloys with still-higher, safe operating temperatures.

Application of non-metallic materials, principally ceramics

Use of blade cooling

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 2

Figure 7.1: Turbine damage due to high temperature & loading

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 3

7.3 GENERAL CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES

The turbine section comprises basically of two main elements, the turbine wheel and nozzle
vanes.
A stage consists of a set of nozzle guide vanes/nozzle diaphragm followed by a row of rotor
blades. The row of blades is installed on the periphery of rotor disc and that of nozzles on
the casing by proper design attachment. Blades and Nozzle guide vanes have required
features in the design of roots and tips for attachment to respective discs/drum and stator
cases. They have proper reactive or impulsive or combination reactive-impulsive shape and
curvature.
Figure 7.2 illustrates turbine rotor and stator assembly.
Blades and nozzle guide vanes in the rear stages (in the LPT section) are longer and
consequently prone to vibration. So they are constructed with shrouds (called shrouded
turbines) to have a better torsional rigidity when installation is completed.
For efficient cooling of blades, turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes are fabricated with
cooling provisions.

7.4 TURBINE WHEEL

The turbine wheel consists of contoured blades attached to a disc. This in turns is attached to
the power-transmitting shaft of the engine. The jet gases leaving the combustion chamber is
accelerated and directed by the stationary nozzle vanes to act upon the turbine wheel, turning
it at very high speed. The turbine wheel then extracts energy from the hot gases by
expanding them to lower pressure and temperature. High stresses are involved in this
process, and for efficient operation, the turbine blade tips may rotate at speeds up to 1300
ft/s. The continuous flow of gas to which the turbine is exposed may have an entry
temperature between 700 and 1200C and may reach a velocity of 2000 ft/s in parts of the
turbine.
Root designs of turbine blades are similar to those of the compressor blades; fir tree and
serrated dovetail being the widely used methods. Figure 7.3 shows some of the root
designs and tip designs of turbine blades. Note that in the tip, some blades, specially the
longer blades at later stages may have tip shrouding; such turbines having such tip-designs
are called shrouded turbine.
In the fir tree designs, blades are attached to the disc by means of the 'fir tree' root to the
serrations in the disc; such attachment allows for different rates of expansion between the
disk and the blade while still holding the blade firmly against centrifugal loads. The blade is
free in the serrations when the turbine is stationary and is stiffened in the root by centrifugal
loading when the turbine is rotating. The blade is kept form moving axially either by rivets,
locking tabs or devices, or another turbine stage.

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 4

Figure 7.2: Turbine Rotor and Stator and drives

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 5

The actual area of each turbine blade cross-section is fixed by the permitted stress in
material used and by the size of any holes, which may be required for cooling purpose. High
efficiency demands thin trailing edges to the sections, but a compromise has to be made so
as to prevent the blades cracking due to temperature changes during engine starting and
stopping.
Some turbine blades are open at the outer perimeter, whereas in others a shroud is used.
The shroud acts to prevent blade-tip losses and excessive vibration. Distortion under high
loads, which tend to twist the blade toward low pitch, is also reduced. The shrouded blade
has an aerodynamic advantage in that thinner blade sections can be used and tip losses can
be reduced by using a knife edge or labyrinth seal at this point. Another advantage is that
shrouding dampens the blade vibration permitting the use of reduced blade chords, and this
results in a shorter and lighter engine. Shrouding, however, requires that the turbine run
cooler or at a reduced rpm because of the extra mass at the tip.
Blades are forged from highly alloyed steel and are passed through a carefully controlled
series of machining and inspection operations before being certified for use. Many engine
manufacturers will stamp a 'moment weight number on the blade to retain rotor balance
when replacement is necessary.

7.5 NOZZLE VANES

This is a stationary section consisting of a plane of contoured vanes, concentric with the axis of
the turbine, and set at an angle to form a series of small nozzles which accelerate and discharge
the gases from the combustion chamber onto the blades of the turbine wheel. For this reason,
the stationary vane assembly is usually referred to as the turbine nozzle, and the vanes
themselves, are called nozzle guide vanes. Turbine-nozzle area is a critical part of the turbine
design. If too large, the speed of the discharging gases will be too low and the turbine will not
operate-at its best efficiency. If too small, the nozzle will have a tendency to 'choke' under
maximum thrust conditions. The jets of escaping gases which are formed by the discharge
nozzle area directed against the rotating turbine blades in a direction which enables the kinetic
energy of the gases to be transformed efficiently into mechanical energy by the rotating turbine
wheel.
The nozzle guide vanes are of aerofoil shape, the passage between adjacent vanes
forming a convergent duct. The vanes are located in the turbine casing in a manner
that allows for expansion. Nozzle vanes may be either cast or forged. Some vanes are
made hollow to allow a degree of cooling using compressor delivery air to reduce high
thermal stress and gas loads. In all cases the nozzle assembly is made of very high
temperature, high-strength steel to withstand the direct impact of the hot, highpressure, high-velocity gas flowing from the combustion chamber.
The vanes are located in the turbine casing in a manner that allows for expansion.
Nozzle vanes may be either cast or forged. Some vanes are made hollow to allow a
degree of cooling using compressor delivery air to reduce high thermal stress and gas
loads. In all cases the nozzle assembly is made of very high temperature, high-strength
steel to withstand the direct impact of the hot, high-pressure, high-velocity gas flowing
from the combustion chamber. Figure 7.4 shows attachment of turbine nozzles.
Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 6

(a)

(a) Shrouded turbine rotor blades

(b) The fir-tree method o f attaching a turbine
blade to the disk allows the blade to be loose when
it is cold, but it becomes rigid at operating
temperature.

(b)

Figure 7.3: Turbine blade root and tip designs & attachment to disk

Figure 7.4: Turbine nozzles

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 7

7.6 TURBINE DISC

The turbine disc is a machined forging with an integral shaft or with a flange on to which
the shaft may be bolted. The disc also has around its perimeter provision for the attachment
of the turbine blades.
To limit the effect of heat conduction from the turbine blades to the disc a flow-of cooling air
is passed across both sides of each disc. The disc or wheel is a statically and dynamically
balanced unit of specially alloyed steel usually containing large percentages of chromium,
nickel and cobalt. After forging, the disk is machined all over and carefully inspected using
X-rays, sound waves, and other inspection methods to assure structural integrity.

7.7 TURBINE STAGING

To produce the necessary driving torque for the compressors and accessories, the turbine may
consists of several stages, each having one row of stationary nozzle guide vanes and one row of
rotating blades. The number of stages depends on whether the engine has one shaft or two and
on the relation between the power required from the gas flow, the rotational speed at which it
must be produced and the diameter of the turbine permitted. However, with the advent of
higher compression ratios, the tendency in recent years has been to increase the number of
stages.
When the turbine has more than one stage, stationary vanes are inserted between each rotor
wheel and the rotor wheel downstream, as well as at the entrance and exit of the turbine unit.
Each set of stationary vanes forms a nozzle-vane assembly for the adjacent turbine wheel. The
exit set of vanes serves to straighten the gas flow before passage through the jet nozzle.
The number of shafts varies with the type of engine. High compression ratio engines usually
have two shafts, driving high and low pressure compressors. On high bypass ratio fan engines
that feature an intermediate pressure system, another turbine is interposed between the high
and low pressure turbines, thus forming a triple-spool system. On some propeller-or shaft-power
engines, driving torque is derived from a free-power turbine. The shaft driving the propeller or
the output shaft to the rotor blades of a helicopter, through a reduction gear, may be
mechanically independent of other turbine and compressor shafts.
Shaft RPM, gas flow rate, turbine inlet and outlet temperature and pressure, turbine
exhaust velocity, and the required power output must all be given consideration. If
the engine is equipped with a dual compressor, the problem is more complex than
ever, since the turbine also must be dual or 'split'. In this event, the forward part of
the turbine, which drives the high pressure compressor, can be single-stage because
it receives gases of high energy directly from the burner, and turns at higher RPM
than the turbine for the low pressure compressor. The gases have expanded in
passing through the . forward part of the turbine, and by the time that the gases
reach the rear part of the turbine, which drives the low pressure compressor,
considerably more blade area is needed if proper work or energy balance is to be

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 8

maintained. To accomplished this, a two-stage (or multi-stage) turbine is employed

for the second part of the turbine.
To be capable of supplying sufficient power for the compressor, the turbine must be
designed so that the gases have a high expansion ratio. This, in turn, results in a
large temperature drop of the gases passing through the turbine, and a cool turbine
exhaust if the engine is equipped with an afterburner without exceeding the
temperature limit of the construction materials used is the afterburner.

7.8 TURBINE TYPES

7.8.1 General: Turbine blading is divided into three categories: (a) Impulse, (b) Reaction
and (c) Combination impulse-reaction.
In practice, the combination impulse-reaction type blading, which consists of an impulse
section at the root gradually changing to the reaction at the tip, is used in modern engines.
In the impulse type of turbine blading, there is no change in pressure between the rotor
inlet gas and the rotor exit gas, but there is a large deflection of the gases. The nozzle guide
vanes are shaped to form passages, which increase the velocity and reduce the pressure of
escaping gases. The high velocity generated in the turbine nozzle guide vanes impinges on
the moving rotor blades. In the reaction type of turbine a pressure change takes place as
the gases flow through the rotor blades resulting in an equal and opposite reactive force.
The reduction in pressure and the increase in velocity of the gases are accomplished by the
shape of the passage between the rotor blades. In most practical designs, the turbine is a
combination of both of these two types and is known as a reaction-impulse turbine.
However, all turbine designs have one important principle in common; that of expanding a
high-pressure and high-temperature gas to lower pressures and temperatures. See Figure
7.5.
The mass airflow from the combustion chamber is delivered evenly to the turbine nozzles.
The nozzles serve to accomplished two functions; that of accelerating the gases, and of
deflection the gases to a specific angle in the direction of turbine wheel rotation.

7.8.2 Impulse Turbine: In a pure impulse turbine, the entire pressure drop occurs in
the stator-nozzles; the-pressure in the rotor is the same throughout. The density of the fluid
remains approximately constant in the rotor passages, and the area of the passages is
essentially constant, from the entrance to the exit. Ref: Figure 7.6.
The function of the rotor blades is to deflect the fluid, reducing the velocity in the rotational
directions and perhaps gain some in the opposite direction. In doing so -the blades exert a
force on the fluid to change its momentum and the fluid exerts a corresponding reactive
force on the blades: This reactive force acts about the axis of rotation to form a torque and
the rotor turns continuously.

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 9

Figure 7.5: Comparison between (a) impulse and reaction blading;

(b) impulse-reaction and impulse blading

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 10

Figure 7.6: Impulse turbine rotor blade

Figure 7.7: Reaction turbine rotor blade

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 11

7.8.3 Reaction Turbine: In a pure reaction turbine, the nozzle guide vanes have
parallel air passage- which only serves to direct the gas onto the rotor blades at a desired
angle. But in practice, the air passage of the nozzle of a reaction turbine is slightly
convergent, so as to give a slight increase in exit velocity.

The rotor blades form convergent duct passages which accelerate the gas and give rise to a
reactive force to drive the turbine. The reactive force is derived from the acceleration of gas
through the turbine blades. Ref: Figure 7.7.
The area of the stator passages is approximately constant, whereas the area of the rotor
passages decreases from entrance to exit.
As a result of the pressure drop, the velocity increases in the blades, becoming a maximum
at the exit. The immediate accelerating force is the pressure gradient (exactly as in the
nozzles of an impulse turbine). This force is transmitted to the blades so that the
momentum of the fluid is really changed by a force exerted on the blades just as in the
impulse turbine. In both types, the effective force acting on a blade is physically the
difference of pressure on the two sides times the blade area.

7.8.4 Reaction-Impulse Turbine: In a reactive blading, a certain amount of impulse

force is always present. This together with the reaction force on the blades forms a resultant
force which acts in the plane of rotating to drive the turbine. Ref: Figure 7.8.

7.9 TURBINE AERODYNAMICS

The characteristics of gas flow-through the turbine may be shown conventionally by means
of a gas flow diagram. Figure 7.9, graphically represents the blade and passage contour.
The direction of gas flow and the magnitude of the velocity is indicated by the length of the
arrow. Velocities relative to the rotating blade are shown by dashed-line vector.
The gas flow enters the nozzle blade tip at a moderate velocity V1, and is accelerated
through the nozzle to an exit velocity V2. Note the deflection from the axis by the nozzle.
Since the rotor blades are rotating, the tip speed and direction can be indicated by vector
V3. The direction and magnitude of the gas velocity entering the rotor blade V4, will be the
vectorial difference between V2 and V3. This is a relative velocity and represents the angle
of gas entrance relative to the rotor blades. If there should be insufficient deflection angle
from the nozzle, the rotor speed would be limited to a lower value than desired. At a design
RPM, the gas deflection out of the nozzle must be such as to provide a gas flow into the
rotor blade at the optimum angle of attack. Thus the blade angles of both rotors and stators
relative to the case must be determined together and for some design condition. The
distance between blades must be held to minimum to reduce engine length and weight, but
it must provide running clearance and enough space to attenuate wake effects which might
induce vibration.

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 12

Figure 7.8: Impulse-Reaction turbine rotor blade

Figure 7.9: Impulse-Reaction turbine rotor blade

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 13

Assuming flow to be axial at the root as well as at the tip, the flow angles must be altered to
compensate for the lower speed of the blade root V6. To obtain the greatest rate of
momentum change for impulse, a high degree of direction change o the gas flow through
the rotor blade must be maintained. To accomplished this, a greater deflection through the
nozzle is provided, with the lower root speed V3, the rotor blade entrance velocity V4, will
be greater than at the tip and its angle of attack will be increased.
A similar situation exists with the gas flow out of the rotor blades and through the exhaust
duct. In order to obtain approximately axial flow down the duct, the rotor blades must
deflect the exit gas velocity V5, sufficiently to compensate for desired rotor RPM. If the
angle of exit flow does not properly match the desired rotor speed, the exhaust duct flow,
V7, would be deflected off the axis and result in a swirl flow instead of axial flow down the
duct.

7.10 TURBINE BLADE OPERATING LIMITATIONS

7.10.1 General: Turbine blade is subjected to large forces due to gas load as well as

rpm along with varying temperatures with very high peaks. This stringent working
environment has made the turbine susceptible to:

Thermal Fatigue: Repeated heating and cooling (thermal cycle) of the material
affect the physical properties of material and the blade lose strength developing
crack and failure.

Thermal shocks: When turbine blade is heated rapidly to its peak operating
temperature, it causes uneven temperature distribution and as a result of it, severe
thermal stresses are developed. These thermal stresses or shocks cause ultimately
thermal cracking and failure.

Creep: Elongation due to creep continues to increase with working hours and
permissible tip clearance finishes. Further operation may result in failure due to
contact with the casing.

Vibration failure

7.11 THERMAL CYCLE/FATIGUE

High temperature operation affects the life of all the components in the engine by varying
degree. The maximum temperature of a gas turbine plant cycle occurs at the entry of the
high-pressure turbine section. Each time engine is run and shut down, turbine blade
materials are thermally expanded and contracted. This cyclic reversal temperature condition
(which is thermal cycle) leads to development of thermal shock or thermal stress or thermal
fatigue. This condition made the turbine blades life limiting and must undergo shop visit for
Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 14

repair/overhaul after specified hours of operation at which it completes designed thermal

cycle. As the turbine exceeds its life in terms of specified number of thermal cycle, it fails
due to thermal fatigue.

7.12 CREEP
7.12.1 General: If a metal is loaded, it deforms. But the original dimension is regained
upon removal of the load, provided the stress is within the yield point of the metal. But, due
to continual application of the load, as well as other factors like temperature, original
dimension may not regained 100%, rather there may be continual deformation of metal with
time until fracture. This continual deformation under normal loading is called CREEP.
Typical creep curve is shown in Figure 7.10 that shows that the stretching of the part
occurs in three phases.

7.12.2 Creep for turbine blades: Creep of the turbine rotor blades is the result of
three factors: (a) RPM, (b) Blade Mass and (c) Gas Temperature

As (b) is fixed, any variations in rpm and/or gas temperature will affect the creep
characteristics of the blade. See Figure 7.11.
Turbine creep, a gradual permanent increase in blade length or disc diameter, with time,
leads eventually to a failure of the blade or rubbing of the blade tip against its casing. The
time elapsed before failure depends on the load applied and the temperature.
There is, in general, a fairly rapid initial increase in blade length or disc diameter, followed
by a long period during which the increase is approximately linear with time. Finally there is
a period during which the increase of blade length is rapid, leading to total failure. Naturally,
in practice, this last condition should never be experienced in the life of an engine. However,
in the event of severe overspeeding and high temperatures this excessive creep would
occur. A considerable decrease in the life of the blades occurs for an increase in blade
temperature of only 20C above the normal maximum operating temperature.

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 15

Figure 7.10: Creep curve

Figure 7.11: Creep variations

Outcome 1
Week 7

Unit Name

Unit No

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES

83

Unit value: 1
Unit level: 3
Core code: Group A

Issue Date
31/05/2007
Page 16