Calibration of turbine test rig with impulse turbine at high pressure ratios

Abstract

The Transonic Turbine Test Rig of the Turbo- Propulsion Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics, of the Naval Postgraduate School was designed to investigate the performance of turbines with transonic or supersonic rotor inlet velocities. The test rig has provisions for testing single stage axial turbines at high pressure ratios and at variable axial and radial clearances. The present study describes the calibration of the turbine test rig with an impulse turbine at high pressure ratios. The turbine stage consists of a double circular-arc rotor with sharp leading edges and a stator with converging nozzle type blading. The results of the flow rate calibration and labyrinth seal leakage tests are described. The instrumentation necessary to separate rotor and stator losses is also discussed.