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Copyright © 1988 by ASME

Causes for Turbomachinery Performance Deterioration

W. TABAKOFF
Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221

ABSTRACT an ambient of particulate flow, and avoid such accidents

Turbines and compressors operating in polluted
atmosphere with solid particles are subjected to
performance deterioration. This paper presents an
investigation carried out on two-stage gas turbine with
blunt leading edge blades and on a single-stage axial
flow compressor to study the effects of particulates and
erosion on performance deterioration.
INTRODUCTION
Commercial and military airplanes are often exposed
to foreign objects such as birds, hailstones, ice slabs,
runway gravel, and others which are ingested into engine
inlets. The ingestion of particulate matter such as
sand and dust leads to the deterioration of these
engines both structurally and aerodynamically. Some of
the mechanisms that cause foreign object ingestion are:
(a) the vortex from engine inlet-to-ground during high
power setting, with the aircraft standing or moving on
the runway, (b) sand storms transporting sand to several
thousand feet altitude, (c) thrust reverser efflux at
low airplane speed may blow sand, ice and other
particles into the engine inlets. Sand and salt
spreading on runways in wintertime contribute to solid
particle ingestion by airbreathing engines. Erosive
solid particles may also be produced during the
combustion process, from the burning of different types
of heavy oils or synthetic fuels.
Recently several serious accidents have been
related to jet engine failures due to operation in
particulate environments. Examples of these accidents
are a British Airways 747 Boeing powered by four Rolls
Royce RB211 engines on June 23, 1982, and a Singapore
Airline 747 Boeing powered by Pratt and Whitney engines.
In addition, many reported industrial gas turbine engine
failures have been connected to their exposure to
particulate flows. Research efforts are still needed to
provide a thorough knowledge of the various parameters
which influence the extent of erosion damage. This
knowledge is required to improve the life and the
aerodynamic performance of aircraft engines operating in
in the future.
Under two-phase flow conditions, the gas and
particles experience different degrees of turning
through the blade channels. The degree of turning and
acceleration or deceleration achieved by the particles
depends on the ratio of the viscous forces to the
inertial forces experienced by the particles. This
leads to variations in particle concentration across the
blade channels and causes a change in the properties of
the gas flows which alters the engine performance during
the period of particle ingestion [1].
If the particles are erosive, impingement of
particles on the blade surfaces can cause severe erosion
damage, leading to structural failure of the blades.
This damage is manifested by pitting and cutting of the
blade leading and trailing edges, and a general increase
in the blade surface roughness [21. The overall effect
of the above phenomena, from the aerodynamic viewpoint,
is an increase in total pressure loss across the blade
row.
The erosion problems in military and commercial
airplane gas turbine engines are generally recognized in
the industry. The operating life of helicopter engines
in sandy areas is very short (from 50 to 250 hours).
Erosion in current commercial turbofan engines primarily
attacks rotor blades, stator vanes, and outer shrouds in
compressors. Refurbishment of these components may be
required within the time frame of 3,600 to 11,000 hours,
depending on the axial position of airfoils within a
turbomachine, the airplane route structure, and the
cycle usage of an engine. A study performed on
commercial jet engines estimates that a minimum of 2
percent thrust specific fuel consumption loss is caused
by the performance deterioration due to erosion [3].
The application of inlet vortex dissipating devices has
been shown to reduce erosion in engines. However, most
of the commercial engine fleet do not have such devices.
The intensity and pattern of the compressor and
turbine erosion is dependent on the locations of

Presented at the Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress

Amsterdam, The Netherlands—June 6-9, 1988

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 particle impacts and on the magnitude and direction of
their impact velocity relative to the surface. It is
very important to be able to accurately calculate the
particle trajectories in turbomachines if one is to
.j;jjjj.
determine their influence on the engine life and
performance.

Three dimensional particle trajectory calculations

through axial flow turbines and compressors were first
reported by Hussein and Tabakoff [4, 5]. They studied
the effect of particle size, and particle material
density on their trajectories and demonstrated their
influence on particle impact locations. On the other
hand, the three dimensional particle trajectories
through twisted vanes were studied by Hamed [61 who
demonstrated that the particle trajectories are strongly
influenced by the hub and tip contouring for the
different particle sizes. The intensity and erosion
pattern of twisted blades were reported by Hamed and
Fowler [7] and were shown to be strongly dependent on
the particle size.
TURBOMACHINERY PERFORMANCE LOSS DURING PARTICLE
INGESTION
The particles may be from the environment such as
volcanic ash, sand, and chemical substances can be
particles formed by fuel combustion. The particles
contained in the flow through the engine can be
nonerosive or erosive. Both will affect the
turbomachinery performance during the ingestion, but
while the nonerosive particle influence will only be
temporary, the erosive particle will produce permanent
engine performance loss.
In references [8, 91 a discussion and analysis of
the flow properties and pressure distribution of gas
particle suspension over blade surfaces of a cascade
nozzle were presented. In these references the gas flow
was considered inviscid except for the drag it exerts on
the particles.
The governing equations for the particulate
compressible gas flow were solved numerically for the
pressure distribution. The computed effect of particle
concentration on the turbine blade surface pressure
distribution is shown in Fig. 1. The nondimensional
particulate flow pressure parameter, P 1 , is defined as
the ratio of the local blade pressure to the blade
starting point pressure. The definition of the particle
concentration, a, is expressed as
W of sand ingestion over a period of 605 seconds. The
a = p
W p +W g
where W and W are the mass flow rates of solid
p g
particles and gas correspondingly.
Since the area included between the pressure and
the suction side curves is proportional to the force
acting on the blade, one can conclude from Fig. 1 that
the blade force is reduced as the particle concentration
is increased. Consequently the presence of solid
particle reduces the torque and the power delivered by
the turbine. To confirm the theoretical work, a two-
stage gas turbine was tested at an airflow rate of
2.6 kg/s and particle concentration of 3%, 6% and 9%
[101. One can conclude from the test results that the
measured effect of particle concentration, a, on turbine
PRESSURE SIDE
SUCTION SIDE
1.0
----
0.9 ^^
^^ a =0.2
08 \;\0.05
P
0 7
. 0.05
SENTROPIC
F LO W
0.6
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6
AXIAL DISTANCE X (IN)
Fig. 1. Effect of Change of the Particle Concentration
on P'.
performance is shown in Figs. 2 through 4 for
particulate flow with particles mean diameter of 1000
microns. The difference between turbine parameters
without particles and with particles are denoted with
A( ), N is the turbine rotative speed, and N D the
turbine design speed. Turbine torque, T, Power, BHP,
and efficiency, n, decrease with increasing particle
concentrations and particle mean diameter. In addition,
the presence of the particles in the turbine flow
reduces the turbine speed slightly.
COMPRESSOR BLADE EROSION BY SOLID PARTICLES
An experimental investigation was carried out at
the University of Cincinnati to study the effect of
erosion on a single-stage axial flow compressor [111.
The compressor stage was subjected to a total of 25 kg
size of the sand particles was 165 microns. The
compressor blades were inspected by using fiber optic
techniques after each erosion run of 5 kg of sand
ingestion through the compressor. Finally the
compressor stage was disassembled and the damage to the
rotor and stator were recorded. The nature of the
observed blade erosion damage is summarized in
following:
The rotor leading edge was severely eroded along the
blade span and there was an erosion groove formation
observed on both the suction and pressure surfaces
of the blades, near the blade leading edge. In
addition, the blade leading edges were flattened and
rougher.

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 2. The pressure surfaces of the blades were eroded
0 moderately and the erosion was associated with a
15 d . 1000 P
significant increase in the pressure side roughness.
w .6roslsec (2.6 kg/s) This roughness was measured and it was found to
w fluctuate between 20 and 70 microns.
z
w
Co
' q a•9•l. 3. The trailing edge of the blades were eroded severely
o^ on the pressure side, and the trailing edge became
w a•8•/.
very thin.
o^
we ° 4. The blade suction surfaces remained unaltered for
2 most of the blades, except for the step formation at
F a = 3'I.
the leading edge and increased surface roughness on
U a small region around the center of the blade chord.
w
a 5. The decrease in blade chord was about 1.2%.
/U 60 90
PERCENT EQUIVALENT DESIGN SPEED N/N 0 6. At the tip, the rotor blades were completely
damaged. The changes in the tip clearance was very
Fig. 2. Percentage Reduction in Turbine Torque Due high, over 300 microns.
to Particulate Flow.
A view of the eroded compressor rotor and stator blades
is shown in Fig. 5.
I
I—
U
0
w
rr
Id
0
a a
0 2
LJ CD

T
Z m
L1 In (b)
Cr
U

a_
Ll
60 70 80 90 100 °/°
PERCENT EQUIVALENT DESIGN SPEED N/Np

Fig. 3. Percentage Reduction in Turbine Power Due

to Particulate Flow.

(c)
0 Fig. 5. Erosion Damage of (a) The Compressor Stage Rotor
Blade Pressure Surface, (b) The Compressor Stage
U
Rotor Blade Suction Surface, and (c) The Compressor
0
Lu Stage Stator Blade Pressure Surface.

C-)
Lu
Performance Deterioration Due to Erosion

Figure 6 shows the changes in the stage loading as

w c a function, ip, of the mass flow. Assuming that the
w
0 c fluid is incompressible, the mean stage loading 7 was
0
calculated as
w
z
z
Lu te
P P ti
LU - 2
a pu t
719
PERCENT EQUIVALENT DESIGN. SPEED N/N D
where p is the mean gas density, u is the blade tip
Fig. 4. Percentage Reduction in Turbine Efficiency
Due to Particulate Flow. speed, and P te and P ti are the mean local exit and inlet

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 0.90

Q UNERODED XN

ERODED - 25 kg OF SAND

0.85

C5
0

U
z 0.80

U
13

z 0.
U 0.75
0
0
J

O UNERODED
0.70 0.25
Q ERODED - 25 kg

0.65 1 1 1 1 1

1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 0.201

1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25
MASS FLOW, m, kg/sec
MASS FLOW, m, kg/sec
Fig. 6. Effect of Erosion on Stage Loading.

total pressures. Also, the local blade loading along Fig. 7. Effect of Erosion on Adiabatic Efficiency.
the blade height was calculated as

te ti
P P
V = -2 --
0.45
pu t

where P te and P ti are the pitch averaged local values at

a particular radius. It can be observed from this
figure that there is a reduction in the stage loading of
2.4 percent at a mass flow of 1.36 kg/sec, 3.32 percent 0.40
at a mass flow of 1.732 kg/sec, and of 4.27 percent at a z
mass flow of 2 kg/sec. The total adiabatic efficiency
of the stage is given in Fig. 7 as a function of the
C
mass flow. One can see from the figure that the maximum
efficiency was only 82 percent at 1.732 kg/s mass flow.
This low efficiency is due to the fact that there was a q 0.35
considerable variation of the incidence angle along the
span of the untwisted blades. In addition, the blades Pa
which were two dimensional had an aspect ratio of only
0.75 even though the hub-tip ratio is fairly low. The
U
efficiency of the eroded stage after the injection of
25 kg of sand through the machine dropped by about 1.86 0.30
percent at the mass flow of 1.36 kg/s, by 2.16 percent
at the mass flow of 1.732 kg/s, and by about 2.89
percent at the mass flow of 2 kg/s. The reduction in
the efficiency is probably due to the increased losses
at the blade leading edges particularly in the tip 0.25
region. It is also possible that the tip leakage
increases considerably due to the severe erosion of the
0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
blade tips and casing. The experimental data obtained
RADIAL POSITION, r/rt
for the local blade loading, 0, plotted versus the
radial locations along the blade height is shown in Fig.
8 for the mass flow of 1.732 kg/s. It can be seen from
Fig. 8. Effect of Erosion on Blade Loading as a
Fig. :9 that the change in the blade loading is not
Function of Radial Position.
significant for most part of the blade up to a radius

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 ratio of 0.9. The blade loading at the tip section
decreases sharply by about 5.5 percent after erosion
with 25 kg of sand compared to the uneroded stage
values. Based on this, we can conclude that the loss in
efficiency and the power rise across the stage is mainly
due to the deterioration of the leading edges along with
the change in the airfoil shape, particularly near the
tip region. In addition, the eroded blade trailing edge
was very thin near the tip due to the material removed
during erosion, but the blade trailing edge was fairly
unaltered near the hub region. It is possible that
under high degrees of erosion the trailing edge can be
removed, which may lead to considerable changes in the
exit flow angle and increased losses. It should also be
noted that for small blades, operating at high Reynolds
numbers the increase in surface roughness may also play
an important role.
The Effects of In let C on de n sa tion on
— Air cr aft
Operation -- --
Condensation development within the inlet of
aircraft engines causes a reduction in thrust and an
increase in specific fuel consumption. Many hours of
testing have verified that engine performance is
degraded as condensation is introduced into the engine
system. Water can exist in the form of solid, liquid or
gas. Each of these three phases can occur independently
or simultaneously in equilibrium depending on the
ambient temperature and pressure of the system.
Condensation occurs where supersaturated water vapor
enters the liquid phase in the form of water droplets.
Two types of droplet generation have been discussed in
the literature, homogeneous and heterogeneous.
Homo ge n eous condensation is spontaneous generation of
water droplets in pure supersaturated air.
Hete ro ge neous droplet generation is the condensation
phenomenon that occurs most frequently in aircraft
engines. This type of condensation requires a catalyst
for the nucleation of water droplets to occur. The
supersaturated water vapor condenses on the multitudes
of submicron particles existent in real air. The
condensation phenomenon present in the engine inlet duct
is a heterogeneous process on the microscopic level. As
the supersaturated water vapor changes phase, water
droplets begin to form and grow on the condensing
nuclei. This process of droplet generation and growth
results in release of heat energy, specifically the
latent heat of vaporization. This release of energy
causes an increase in the stagnation temperature of the
inlet flow, thus the temperature of the flow entering
the fan blades is higher with condensation. Assuming a
constant fan pressure ratio, the temperature exiting the
fan is also higher. Thus an increase in fan work is
required which causes an increase in fuel flow.
Engine Performance Deterioration due to Water Ingestion
Water ingestion into aircraft engines can arise
both during take-off and flight through rain, resulting
in engine operating with nearly saturated air-water
droplet mixture flow. Research performed to the date
shows that the water ingestion affects engine
performance appreciably. The effects depend upon
compressor losses, compressor outlet temperature and
pressure, reduction of mass flow available in the
turbine and the nozzle.
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Combustion Chamber Particle Generation and Their Effect
on Perfermanrp ----
Carbon particles are formed in the engine
combustion chambers. This formation can be in different
quantities, forms and sizes. It depends on the fuel
types. Aircraft jet engines produce smaller
particulates than industrial turbomachinery using
heavier fuels or burning coal. Soot generation can be
accelerated in large quantities when the combustion
reaction is fuel - rich. Mostly buildup of carbon on the
combustor walls occurs, but many of the produced
particles pass through the turbine and decrease the
turbine performance.
Installed Aircraft Engine Performance Deterioration
Inspection of engines which have exhibited
deterioration due to ground particles ingestion in
Engine service have revealed the following major contributions.
1. Compressor:
Rotor tip erosion - reduced chord length and leading
edge tip corner rounding and thinning, resulting in
increased tip clearance.
Stator erosion was observed mostly on the pressure
side causing rougher vane surfaces.
2. Turbine
Blade tip clearance and airfoil roughness increases.
Blade leading edge and tip distress due to internal
cooling cavity dust accumulation and blockage.
Particle accumulation along the cooling air path
within the blade cooling passages.
S tato r vane leading edge roughness and material
depositions.
Analysis of the engine disassembly inspections showed
the causes of the deterioration fall into three basic
categories: deposition, erosion, and rubbing wear.
Dirt dep osi t : mainly on the compressor blading
causing loss of flow capacity and efficiency. The
designer cannot prevent the dirt in the atmosphere, but
he can improve the oil seals to prevent oil escaping
onto airfoils where it forms a sticky surface attracting
particles.
Erosion : on high bypass engines. Erosion of core
compressors is reduced by the centrifugal effect of the
preceding fan, tending to deflect heavy particles
through the fan duct. This can be achieved by
increasing spacing between the fan exit and core inlet.
Erosion also effects the attrition links of the casings
which form the blade tip seals. Rubber linings have now
generally been replaced by soft metal composite lining.
Rubbing Contact : Can occur on many of the seals
between static and rotating parts and accounts for the
major part of deterioration.
Analytical Modeling of Engine Deterioration and
-----------------------------------------------
Ref urhishment.
The prediction of engine deterioration rate has
always been a challenge to engineers. Although
extensive accelerated mission endurance testing is done
on engine to be modeled, limited instrumentation
provides the collection of pertinent data for
deterioration modeling. In addition, these models are
developed well before the engine fleet is flying in the
deteriorated state, therefore the accuracy of the model
remains in question.
 An accurate deterioration model is necessary for
engine refurbishment recommendations based on a thrust
rollback study. The critical operational criteria for
engine removal is 95% of specification thrust for take-
off conditions on a hot day. As the engine deteriorates
at this operating point, the thrust will roll back due
to the fan speed being limited by the maximum high
pressure and turbine blade temperature. Once the thrust
rolls back to 95% of specification thrust, the engine
components must be refurbished to increase the thrust
produced. The deterioration model can be used to
analytically predict when the refurbishment is required
and how many additional engine flight hours are gained
from running with the refurbished components until the
thrust drops below the accepted level.
Methods of Detecting Deterioration
Usually the deterioration detection falls into two
categories:
1. Quantifying the penalty in terms of overall
engine/aircraft performance loss, usually in terms
of increased fuel consumption.
2. Identifying the components responsible for the
increase in the fuel consumption.
It is very difficult and time consuming to inspect
an engine thoroughly to determine which area has caused
deterioration. Therefore the industry is currently
involved in developing instrumentation and automatic
data recording systems which is associated with computer
software to accurately determine engine component
deterioration from the flight data. Further detailed
information in this area may be found in reference [12].
CONCLUSIONS
The experiments show that the particle
concentrations change the pressure distribution along
the turbine blades. Turbomachinery operations in a
particulate ambient, decreases its performance. This
reduction increases with increasing the particles
concentration and the diameter. From the compressor rig
experiments, it was found that erosion damage can lead
to a significant reduction in the engine efficiency as
well as in performance. The decrease in performance is
mainly due to changes in the blade leading and trailing
edges, tip leakages, surface roughness and pressure
distribution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research work was sponsored by U.S. Army
Research Office under Contract No. DAAG29 - 82 - K - 0029.
REFERENCES
1. Tabakoff, W., "Review - Turbomachinery Performance
Deterioration Exposed to Solid Particles
Environment," Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol.
106/125, June 1984, pp. 125-134.
2. Tabakoff, W., "A Study of the Surface Deterioration
due to Erosion," Journal of Engineering for Power,
October 1983, pp. 830-339.
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3. Aircraft Engine Diagnostics, NASA Conference
Publication 2190, Lewis Research Center, Cleveland,
Ohio, May 6 - 7, 1981.
4. Hussein, M.F. and Tabakoff, W., "Computation and
Plotting of Solid Particle Flow in Rotating
Cascades," Computers and Fluids, Vol. 2, 1974, pp.
1 - 15.
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Solid Particles Suspended by Polluted Flow in a
Turbine Stage," Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 10, No. 7,
July 1973, pp. 434-440.
6. Named, A., "Solid Particle Dynamic Behavior Through
Twisted Blade Rows," Journal of Fluids Engineering,
---------
'Jol. 106/251, September 1984, pp. 251 - 256.
7. Hamed, A. and Fowler , S., "Erosion Pattern of
Twisted Blades by Particle Laden Flows," Journal of
Engineering for Power, Vol. 105, October 1983, pp.
839 - 843.
8. Tabakoff, W. and Hussein, M.F., "Effect of Suspended
Solid Particles on the Properties in Cascade Flow,"
AIAA Journal, Vol. 8, No. 8, August 1971, pp. 1514 -
1519.
9. Tabakoff, W. and Hussein, M.F., "Pressure
Distribution on Blades in Cascade Nozzle for
Particulate Flow," Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 8, No.
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10. Tabakoff, W., "Performance Deterioration on
Turbomachfinery With Presence of Solid Particles,"
published in Particulate Laden Flows in
--------------------------
Turbomachinery, 1982 AIAA/ASME Joint Fluids, Plasma,
Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference, St.
Louis, Missouri, June 7-11, 1982, ASME Publication,
pp. 3 - 21.
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Performance Deterioration," AIAA Paper 84 - 1208,
AIAA/SAE/ASME 20th Joint Propulsion Conference, June
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12. Crosby, J.K., "Factors Relating to Deterioration
Based on Rolls - Royce RB211 In Service Performance,"
appears in Turbomachinery Performance Deterioration,
ASME publication FED-Vol. 37, 1986, pp. 41-47.