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Correlation Analysis of Multiple Sensors for Industrial Gas Turbine Compressor

Blade Health Monitoring

Article  in  Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power · November 2015

DOI: 10.1115/1.4030350

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 Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2014: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition
GT2014
June 16 – 20, 2014, Düsseldorf, Germany

GT2014-27040

CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE SENSORS FOR INDUSTRIAL GAS

TURBINE COMPRESSOR BLADE HEALTH MONITORING

Brian Kestner* Chris Hill

Georgia Institute of Technology Agilis Measurement Systems, Inc
Atlanta, GA Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA

Leonard Angello Josh Barron Tim Lieuwen*

Electric Power Research Southern Company Georgia Institute of Technology
Institute Birmingham, AL, USA Atlanta, GA
Palo Alto, CA, USA

ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes an analysis of data obtained from
an instrumented compressor of an operational, heavy duty
industrial gas turbine; the goal of the aforementioned analysis is
to understand some of the fundamental drivers which may lead
to compressor blade vibration. Methodologies are needed to 1.)
understand the fundamental drivers of compressor blade
vibration, 2.) quantify the severity of “events” which accelerate
the likelihood of failure and reduce the remaining life of the
blade, and 3.) proactively detect when these issues are
occurring so that the operator can take corrective action. The
motivation for this analysis lies in understanding the
correlations between different sensors which may be used to
measure the fundamental drivers and blade vibrations.
In this study, a variety of dynamic data was acquired from
an operating engine, including acoustic pressure, bearing
vibration, tip timing, and traditional gas path measurements.
The acoustic pressure sensors were installed on the first four
compressor stages, while the tip timing was installed on the
first stage only. These data show the presence of rotating stall
instabilities in the front stages of the compressor, occurring
during every startup and shutdown, and manifesting itself as
increased amplitude oscillations in the dynamic pressure
measurements which are manifested in blade and bearing
vibrations. The data that lead to these observations were
acquired during several startup and shutdown events, and
clearly show that the amplitude of these instabilities and the
rpm at which they occur can vary substantially.
NOMENCLATURE
BPF – Blade Passing Frequency
EO – Engine Order
F.R. – Forced Response
HO – Higher Order
FFT – Fast Fourier Transform
ND – Nodal Diameter
NSV – Non-synchronous vibration
p-p – Peak to Peak
INTRODUCTION
This paper reports the results of measurements from an
operational gas turbine. Methodologies are needed to 1.)
understand the fundamental drivers of compressor blade
vibration, 2.) quantify the severity of “events” which accelerate
the likelihood of failure and reduce the remaining life of the
blade, and 3.) proactively detect when these issues are
occurring so that the operator can take corrective action. The
motivation for this analysis lies in understanding the
correlations between different sensors which may be used to
measure the fundamental drivers and blade vibrations.
This study aims to begin to address these needs by bridging
the gap between the current lack of knowledge in this area, and
a formal methodology. Before developing a formal
methodology, it is necessary to understand the engine in its
normal operating state by analyzing the data from the available

* Primary employer – Work performed as consultant to EPRI 1 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

sensors, thus understanding what each sensor’s data provided
us, and how they affected and interacted with one another.
COMPRESSOR VIBRATION AND ROTATING STALL
Before developing techniques to detect compressor
problems, it is important to understand how and when blade
vibration may occur. Four primary drivers for blade vibration
are rotating stall, flutter, and synchronous vibration (or forced
response). Depending on sources in literature, the term
nonsynchronous (NSV) may be a catch all for any type of
nonsynchronous vibration or it may refer to a specific type of
tip clearance driven flow separation known as rotating
instability[1]. Both flutter and rotating stall driven vibration are
considered nonsynchronous. These events are not a function of
engine speed and appear as horizontal lines on a Campbell
diagram. When the frequency of certain process is an integer
multiple of the engine’s RPM, these integers are known as
engine order (EO) and the resultant vibration is known as
synchronous. These engine orders appear as diagonal lines on
plots of frequency vs. engine speed, known as “Campbell
diagrams”. The compressor blades and disk assembly have their
own natural frequencies (or modes) which can intersect with
these excitation frequencies and lead to blade vibration.
Figure 1 shows a hypothetical Campbell diagram and what
the different types of vibrations look like. In this diagram, the
first mode of vibration is just above 100 Hz. The second mode
of vibration is at about 300 Hz and the third mode of vibration
occurs around 400 Hz. Both flutter and NSV do not occur at an
engine order integer multiple, synchronous resonance occurs
when a natural frequency crosses an excitation occurring at an
integer multiple of the engine speed. In this figure, synchronous
vibrations occur around 4500 rpm at the mode 2 frequency
which would correspond to 4 engine orders (EO). It may be
referred to as a mode 2 4 EO synchronous vibration. On the
other hand, flutter , rotating stall, and NSV will vibrate at a
given frequency over a range of rpm where the flutter is a mode
2 vibration and the NSV is a mode 3 vibration.
Figure 1. Hypothetical Campbell Diagram Showing Sources
of Vibration [2]
2 Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Rotating stall occurs when the flow around a blade, which
can be viewed as an airfoil, separates and the resultant flow
through the annulus is restricted. Rotating stall can lead to
increased vibrational stresses and may produce resonance
conditions [3]. The rotating stall typically occurs when the
compressor or compressor stage is operating high on its
operating line. Large stall zones, or cells, may cover multiple
blade passages. These cells propagate in the direction of the
rotor, typically at 30 to 70% of the rotation frequency. When
rotating stall is present, it may show up as one or more stall
cells. In addition, the stall cell may or may not occur across the
span of the blade. Typically only a single full span cell appears
[4]. A full-span stall can extend axially through the whole
length of a compressor. Part span stall cell only occurs near the
tip of a blade. There may be multiple cells present
simultaneously. Unlike full span stall cells which extend axially
through the compressor, part span stall cell may only exist
locally in a single stage. During part span rotating stall, the
number of stall cells may change. Full span typically results in
a more noticeable overall compressor performance change.
Additionally when part span stall occurs, if the compressor is
further throttled, a full span stall may occur.
As mentioned previously multiple rotating cells may
appear with each cell rotating at about 50% of the rotating
frequency. During a rotating stall event, the number of cells
may vary. Figure 2 shows a Fourier transform of hot wire
measurements of a single and 2 cell rotating stall cell on a
single stage axial flow research compressor. In this figure,
depending on when the snapshot of data was taken, there
appear either one or two stall cells. The single stall cell appears
as a single peak at a frequency of about 50% that of the rotating
speed. The two cell stall appears as a peak closer to the rotating
frequency. When the whole data set is aggregated, both peaks
appear. So depending on the length of sampling of the data and
the number of stall cells present (which may range from 1 to
about 5), rotating stall may appear as discrete peaks ranging
from 30% to 200% of the rotating frequency.
Figure 2. FFT of Single and Two Cell Rotating Stall [5]
INSTRUMENTATION APPROACH
High frequency pressure measurements have been used
over the last 20 years to enable researchers to develop methods
for detecting and preventing rotating stall on compressor. These
pressure sensors measure the sound emitted by the compressor.
Rotating machinery generates sound through several
mechanisms. Pressure measurements may be used to detect
compressor stall and its precursors but the literature has not
conclusively demonstrated that pressure sensors can be used to
deduce the presence of blade vibration or cracks in the presence
of all the other potential noise sources. Given that compressor
stall may drive blade vibration, the pressure measurements
which measure the stall may be used in conjunction with other
sensors which measure blade vibration.
Over the last 30 years, tip timing and tip clearance
measurement systems have been actively researched [6][7][8].
These sensors offer potential for rotating blade vibration and
crack detection as well as potential for active clearance control
both in the compressor and turbine sections. In regards to blade
health monitoring, it has been proven that tip timing sensors
can be used to capture the vibration of the blades for different
modes of interest as well as monitor the actual displacement
over time. The fundamental measurement made by these
systems is arrival time. Very precise arrival times are measured
for each blade passing event on each sensor. From this data a
one per revolution sensor, the time of a revolution is
established. Knowing the circumference, all the blade positions
are calculated relative to the revolution reference point. From
the measured blade positions, zero values are established and
the deflection is calculated relative to each blades measured
zero or equilibrium position. Because the blades are only
measured once per revolution on each sensor, the vibrations are
aliased. Just as the movie camera aliases the rotation of a
wagon wheel, it may appear to be turning backwards when the
wagon is moving forward. Numerous analysis methodologies
have been developed to handle the aliasing that results from the
synchronous, under sampled, data capture rate. For NSV FFT
based analysis tools are useful, but multi-sensor analysis or
analysis over a speed change is necessary to establish the true
frequency of the vibrations. Unfortunately, most resonant
responses are synchronous with rotation because the driver is
fixed to the case (vanes & struts). The synchronous vibrations
coupled with a synchronous sample rate further complicate the
aliasing problem. Combining data from multiple sensors
located around the circumference affectively increases the
sample rate. The vibrations can still be aliased, however, by
using multiple unequally spaced sensors one can solve for the
correct frequency, amplitude, and phase of the vibrations.
Numerous types of tip timing sensors have been developed and
tested through the years ranging from an eddy current, optical,
and microwave type[9][10][11][12]. Optical sensors were used
for this testing due to the constraints of the existing case holes.
Optical sensors offer the highest spatial resolution but are prone
to signal loss due to the accumulation of contaminants. Non-
optical sensors such as eddy current probes are preferred for
3 Copyright © 2014 by ASME
long term health monitoring and offer sufficient spatial
resolution as well as long life in industrial turbines.
Bearing vibration measurements have been used on
industrial gas turbines for years to aid in overall gas turbine
health monitoring. These sensors have been proven to detect
issues with the bearings as well as identify mistuned rotors.
Recent literature indicates that vibration measurements may be
useful for detection of precursors to compressor blade failures
in gas turbines [13]. It is not clear in the literature as to whether
the bearing vibration sensors can be used to detect actual events
that cause blade vibration or only large blade vibration
immediately prior to a catastrophic failure. For example, as
will be shown in this paper, field test results show that bearing
vibrations pick up the largest amplitude rotating stall frequency
(where the pressure amplitude is highest), but do not pick up
the higher harmonic where blade vibrations are maximized.
Other sensors ranging from more traditional case
accelerometers or acoustic emission14 have been identified.
However due to budget and installation constraints only the
pressure, tip timing, and bearing vibration sensors were used.
Traditional gas path sensors were installed on the unit however
the sampling rate of the sensors prevented them from being
used for high frequency analysis. Some of these sensors such as
compressor inlet temperature were used to identify variations
from start to start.
INSTRUMENTATION SETUP
To identify potential correlation between these sensors, an
industrial gas turbine unit was instrumented with dynamic
pressure sensors and tip timing sensors. Bearing vibrations
were already installed on the unit as part of its standard
instrumentation package. Multiple pressure sensor
manufacturers were also installed to compare and contrast the
pressure signals.
In addition to understanding the correlation between
sensors, another motivation driving the instrumentation setup
was to compare and contrast the capabilities of different sensor
manufacturers, while also understanding how sensitive stage
location is to the sensor’s ability to perform diagnostics.
Pressure sensors were installed on the first 4 stages of the
compressor. Table 1 shows the locations of the pressure probes.
PCB probes were placed at the first three stages. Kulite probes
were installed at stage 1 and 3 with Davidson probes installed
at stage 2. This experimental setup has the advantage of having
both PCB and Kulite sensors located at stage 1 where the tip
timing sensors are located. This will enable a direct comparison
of these sensors to any trends noted in the tip timing probes.
One disadvantage is that no common pressure sensors are
located at the same stage to provide circumferential comparison
of the pressure measurements. Figure 3 shows the PCB sensor
installation. The analysis in this paper uses the stage 1 PCB
measurement versus the tip timing and bearing vibration. It
must be noted, however, that similar conclusions were drawn
using the other sensors but detailed comparisons of these lie
beyond the scope of this paper.
Table 1. Pressure Sensor Location
Stage Unit 1
1 PCB Kulite
2 PCB Davidson
3 PCB Kulite
4 PCB

Figure 4: Tip Timing Sensor Installation

BLADE VIBRATION RESULTS

Figure 3. PCB Sensor Installation on Stage 1-4
Tip timing sensors were installed circumferentially around
the 1st stage of the gas turbine using existing holes in the unit.
Figure 4 shows a picture of the tip timing sensor installation on
the top of the gas turbine casing. In all, 8 sensors were used
spaced throughout the top half of the case.
The tip timing and pressure sensors were installed during
an outage in November 2012. Since becoming operational, nine
shutdown/startup cycles were observed in the following three
months. Dynamic blade deflections caused by synchronous and
non-synchronous drivers during the startups and shutdowns
were analyzed using the Agilis Arrival Time Analysis Software
(AATAS). There were eight synchronous resonant responses
associated with six blade vibratory modes along with a mode 1
NSV. Figure 5 shows a typical startup Campbell plot showing
the nine dynamic deflection responses.

Figure 5. Dynamic Deflections Measured During Shutdown #1

4 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

 Table 2 summarizes the dynamic deflections. The mode 1 Table 3: Mode 1 NSV Maximum Deflection for Startups
NSV is the largest deflection, and the mode 2 6E is the largest and Shutdowns
synchronous response. The largest amplitudes of the Mode 2 6E Transient Event Max Deflection, mils p-p
occurred during off peak operation. There are three higher order Shutdown #1 350
vibration modes detected that were not correlated with a Startup #1 930
specific resonance mode and are denoted with “HO” in Table 2. Shutdown #2 490
The following sections will discuss the mode 1 vibration in Statup #2 500
more detail. Shutdown #3 403
Startup #3 850
Table 2. Dynamic Deflections Measured During Transients
Shutdown #4 266
Approximate
Startup #4 678
Deflection
Resonance Engine Magnitude, Shutdown #5 355
Mode Order mils p-p Startup #5 484
1 NSV 500-1000 Shutdown #6 382
1 3 150 Startup #6 470
2 7 85 Shutdown #7 444
2 6 30-300 Startup #7 509
3 13 20 Shutdown #8 371
3 44 25 Startup #8 859
HO 44 40 Shutdown #9 404
HO 44 25 Startup #9 495
HO 44 30 The peak vibrations occur when low frequency peaks are
There is a large mode 1 NSV seen during all startups and seen in both the pressure and bearing vibration data. Figure 6
shutdowns. Table 3 shows the peak deflections recording shows normalized low frequency Fourier transforms of stage 1
during all shutdown and startup events. During startups the high frequency pressure measurement and the compressor X
peak deflections most often appeared at around 500 mils for six bearing measurements. The pressure data shows a low peak at
of the nine startups. However, for three of the starts the peak around 0.1 and harmonic peaks up to typically the 8th harmonic.
deflection occurred at a larger value with two starts having peak This multiple low frequency peaks is indicative of rotating stall
deflections around 900 mils. The average deflection for the 9 where the harmonic peaks may indicate multiple stall cells
starts analyzed was 641 mils with a standard deviation of 190 similar to the stall in Figure 2. The bearing vibration shows one
mils. On average, shutdowns had a much lower peak magnitude peak around 0.1 and occasionally sees a higher order peak
as compared with startups with an average value of 385 mils. around 0.5 or 0.6. Looking at these figures, there appears
The standard variation during shutdowns was 62 mils. One significant correlation between all three sensors. The following
reason that the peak magnitude is lower on shutdowns is the gas section looks into multiple starts in more detail to understand
turbine is decelerating faster on shutdowns during the rotating where there is correlation.
stall than during startups and the blade spends less time at
resonant conditions. The magnitudes of the blade deflections
seen are not indicative of an impending failure [15].

Figure 6: Pressure and Vibration Fourier Magnitude Versus

RPM for Startup #2

5 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

SENSOR COMPARISON
The pressure measurements capture the driver in the
stationary reference frame and the tip timing measurements
capture the vibration in the rotating reference frame. To capture
correlation between the sensors an equation needs to be defined
which relates the two measurements. Equation 1 relates the
two measurements where the driver measured by the pressure
measurements in the stationary frame is equal to the sum of tip
timing measured vibration plus the nodal diameter multiplied
by the rotational speed [7].


Based on equation 1, for a -7ND resonant vibration, the
non-dimensional driver frequency is expected to be found in the
stationary reference plane around 0.8 to 0.875, a -6ND driver
should appear around 0.69 to 0.75, and a -4 ND driver should
appear around 0.45 to 0.5. Figure 8 shows Fourier analysis of
the pressure sensors at the four points of interest. For point A,
there are only low frequency peaks of significant magnitude up
to around 0.4. There does not appear to be any peak in the 0.8-
0.875 range. As the rpm is increased to point B, a couple
different observations can be noted. First a large peak around
0.115 and 0.5 appears. Secondly a small peak around 0.85

 
   . .∗  (1) appears. Using equation 1, the frequencies of the observed
Three startups are analyzed to understand and confirm any
correlation between the tip timing, pressure, and bearing
vibration. Based on the tip timing results, multiple points of
interest will be highlighted for further comparison. These points
range from low vibration, smaller intermediate peaks, and both
maximum blade vibrations at different nodal diameters.
Figure 7 shows the tip timing Campbell plot focusing on
the mode 1 NSV for startup #1 which had the largest maximum
blade deflection of all the starts analyzed. There are four points
highlighted. Point A is a low deflection point. Point B is an
intermediate deflection peak. Point C is maximum blade
deflection at -7ND, and point D is maximum blade vibration at
-6ND. This start has a non-resonant vibration at -4 ND as well
that occurs during points B and C.
peaks at 0.5 and 0.85 in the pressure data match the observed
frequency of the blade vibration. The 0.115 peak is the first
harmonic of the rotating stall and it is not seen in the blade
vibration data. The large 0.5 peak is the -4 ND driver for the off
resonant blade vibration. The 0.85 peak is the driver for the
resonant vibration. The fact that the magnitude of the driver is
small indicates that not much energy from the stall is needed to
excite the resonant mode. As the unit moves to point C which
has the largest blade vibration, the 0.5 and 0.85 peaks remain
while the 0.115 becomes smaller in magnitude. For large -7 ND
resonance to occur at both point B and C that would imply the
driver frequency has shifted to a slightly higher frequency.
Detailed inspection of the pressure driver does show a slight
increase in frequency over the range of rpm. As the rpm
increases to point D, the -6ND blade vibration should be driven
by a 0.7 driver. This is noted in the point D pressure plot where
there is a peak at 0.7.

Figure 7. Startup #1 Mode 1 NSV With Points of Comparison

6 Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Figure 8. Startup #1 PCB1 Low Frequency FFT at Tip
Timing Points of Interest
A similar comparison can be performed with the bearing
vibration measurements. Figure 9 shows Fourier analysis for
the compressor X bearing vibration measurement. The large
peak at 0.2 is the first engine order and a large magnitude peak
is expected for this measurement. At point A there is a medium
sized peak at 0.115. At point B, the 0.115 peak becomes larger.
At points C and D, this peak becomes smaller. There appears to
be correlation of bearing vibration with the presence of a 0.115
peak in the pressure data which may excite the bearing first
critical mode. There does not appear to be a strong correlation
with blade and bearing vibration. This will become more
obvious when looking at the other startups.
Figure 9. Startup #1 Compressor X Bearing Vibration Low
Frequency FFT at Tip Timing Points of Interest
The same three plots for startup #2 are shown in Figure 10
through Figure 12. This start was one day later than the
previous start and had peak blade deflections of about 500 mil
p-p as compared to around 900 mils p-p of the previous start.
The ambient temperature of the two starts was similar. The
most obvious difference between the two starts was startup #1
was after a 10 day outage and startup #2 was approximately 6
hours after shutting down from full speed. This may be a
contributor to the differences in the two starts, but cannot be
conclusively confirmed until more cold starts are analyzed.

Figure 10. Startup #2 Mode 1 NSV with Points of Comparison

7 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

 The most obvious trend in startup #2 is the gap in blade The blade vibrations show similar trends to the previous
vibrations centered on point C. As discussed previously, the start. The 0.115 peak is present in points A, B, and D and is
gap occurs because vibrations only occur when the resonant absent in point C when the 0.115 peak disappears in the
driver matches blade resonance nodal diameter. For the pressure analysis. When looking at the Fourier plots of the
previous start, the vibrations occurred across a range of rpm pressure and vibration data plotting against rpm in Figure 6,
because it appeared the driver frequency was moving slightly there is correlation between the presence of the 0.115 in the
(from approximately 0.115 to 0.1175) as the unit accelerated. pressure data and the 0.115 peak in the vibration data. There
Point A is a point early in the -7ND mode 1 NSV which has a also appears to be some correlation between the 0.6 peak in the
relatively small amount of blade deflection. Point B is the point pressure and bearing vibration data.
which has the largest -7 ND blade vibration. Point C is a point
in between the -6ND and -7ND resonant blade vibration. And
point D is a -6ND blade vibration point.
Looking at points A and B in Figure 11 relative to the
others, there appears to be more noise in the relevant 0.8-0.9
range. This range is where a driver that causes resonance would
appear. For point A, there is not a clear peak in this region;
however, there may be a peak around 0.8 which may drive a
small amount of resonance. There is a pronounced peak at
around 0.81 at point B which causes the magnitude of the
resonant vibration to peak. At point C, the only noticeable peak
is the 0.6 peak which according to equation 1 drives the
approximate off-resonant 0.5 blade vibration. As the unit
accelerates to point D, the -6ND driver at 0.7 drives the mode 1
resonant blade vibrations.

Figure 12. Startup #2 Compressor X Bearing Vibration Low

Frequency FFT at Tip Timing Points of Interest

Figure 11. Startup #2 PCB1 Low Frequency FFT at Tip

Timing Points of Interest

8 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

 Figure 13. Startup #4 Mode 1 NSV With Points of Comparison

The last start analyzed for detailed comparison of the three

sensors is startup #4 since startup #3 did not have pressure or
vibration data available. This startup had peak blade deflections
around 678 mils p-p. Figure 14 shows four points of interest
from the mode 1 NSV. Point A is a low magnitude -7ND
vibration. Point B is a higher magnitude peak. Point C is at the
largest vibrations. Point D is at smaller magnitude -7ND
vibrations. These plots will show how the pressure peaks
change during the -7ND resonant vibration.
Points A and B in Figure 14 indicate a fair amount of noise
in the 0.8 to 0.9 area of interest. Both plots may indicate a very
small peak at around 0.8. At point C where blade vibrations are
largest, a peak at 0.82 is more pronounced. At point D, a peak
around 0.8 is very pronounced, however according to equation
1, the driver frequency should be approximately 0.835 to drive
resonance. Further detailed analysis of more starts is needed to
see if this discrepancy occurs more frequently. The 0.475 peak
in points B, C, and D are the drivers for the off resonance peak
in the blade vibrations.
Figure 14. Startup #4 PCB1 Low Frequency FFT at Tip
Timing Points of Interest

When the 0.115 peaks are present in points A and B of the

pressure data, there are 0.115 peaks in the bearing vibration
data shown in Figure 15. There are no 0.115 peaks for points C
and D when the 0.115 peak is small or non-existent. At the
maximum blade vibration point C, the 0.115 peak is not present
which would indicate that there is no correlation between blade
vibration and bearing vibrations.

9 Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Figure 15. Startup #4 Compressor X Bearing Vibrations
Low Frequency FFT at Tip Timing Points of Interest
SENSOR CORRELATION
During all the analysis, correlation between the sensors
was noted. This correlation primarily appeared during the
startup and shutdown sequences when the rotating stall driver
appeared. The correlation was strongest between the tip timing
and pressure measurements. Correlation can also be seen
between the pressure measurements and bearing vibration
measurements. Higher harmonics of the rotating stall appear
because of the stall’s complex nature. For the test points
analyzed, typically up to the 8th harmonic was noted. For
resonance to appear the frequency of the driver must be in
phase with the vibration of the bladed disk assembly. Tip timing
measurements were able to measure the nodal diameter of both
the driver and blade vibration using all the blade arrival
measurements. When the harmonic of the driver matches the
nodal diameter of the bladed disk resonant frequency, large
displacement vibration can be observed.
Based on the pressure data, the main driver frequency
varies from approximately 0.115 to 0.125 with up to the 8th
harmonic which is approximately 1. According to the tip timing
data, the first mode appeared at about 0.65. Knowing the rpm
region where the rotating stall occur, mode 1 resonant vibration
regions of interest can be defined as shown in Figure 16. In this
figure, the diagonal blue line represents the frequency which
would have to excite a -6ND resonance at 0.65. The red line
represents similar for a -7 ND resonance. There are six
horizontal lines on the figure. The top three represent the 6th
harmonic of a 0.115, 0.12, and 0.125 driver, respectively. The
same holds true for the bottom three of the 7th harmonic of the
driver. When the 6th harmonic of the driver intersects the -6 ND
vibration line, which would indicate that there is a risk of
resonant vibration at this rpm. Two regions of interest are
10
highlighted in this figure. The first is the -7 ND vibration region
and the second is a -6 ND vibration region. If the appropriate
driver harmonic appears in either of these regions, resonant will
occur. However, if that harmonic is not present at that rpm,
there will be no resonance.
Figure 16. Mode 1 NSV Regions of Interest
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This study examines and quantifies the potential benefits in
various compressor measurement technologies. A variety of
dynamic data was acquired from an operating engine, including
acoustic pressure, bearing vibration, tip timing, and traditional
gas path measurements. The acoustic pressure was installed on
the first four compressor stages, while the tip timing was
installed on the first stage only. These data show the presence
of rotating stall instabilities in the front stages of the
compressor, occurring during every startup and shutdown, and
manifesting itself as large amplitude oscillations in the dynamic
pressure measurements which drive deflections in the blades.
The blade vibration is primarily driven by higher order
harmonics of the rotating stall. The vibration of the blades is the
largest when the higher order pressure oscillations match the
nodal diameter at the resonant frequency. The pressure
oscillations are also manifested in bearing vibrations with the
bearing vibrations primarily driven by the large first harmonic
of the rotating stall. However the bearing vibration peaks do not
correlate with blade vibration. The data that lead to these
observations were acquired during several startup and
shutdown events, and clearly show that the amplitude of these
instabilities and the rpm at which they occur can vary
substantially.
Future work is focused on collecting data with the existing
sensors to further develop understanding of the operational
drivers which lead to variation in blade vibration during each
transient. Currently nine sets of startup and shutdowns have
been analyzed with the ambient temperature ranging from 50 F
to 80 F. Of those starts only one is a cold start. It has been
observed that the rotating stall is a function of corrected speed
and thus the rpm which it occurs is a function of ambient
temperature. Collecting more starts during the fall/winter
season will help refine any observed correlations. In addition
other future work may focus on instrumenting other similar
Copyright © 2014 by ASME
units to capture variance seen from unit to unit. Lastly
instrumenting units with other sensors such as case Stator Vane Cracks”, Proceedings SPIE 8690, Industrial
accelerometers or acoustic emission to understand potential and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures
correlations could be done. Technologies, 2013.
[15] Scheibel, J., et.al., “Gas Turbine Compressor
Dependability and Risk Mitigation Measures”,
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