In modern aero-engines, the lubrication system holds a key role due to the demand for high reliability standards. An aero-engine bearing chamber contains components like bearings and gears. Oil is used for lubrication and for heat removal. In order to retain the oil in a bearing chamber, pressurized seals are used. These are pressurized using air from the compressor. In order to avoid overpressurization of the bearing chamber, air/oil passages are provided in the bearing chamber. At the top, a vent pipe discharges most of the sealing air and at the bottom, a scavenge pipe is used for discharging the oil by means of a pump (scavenge pump). The scavenge pipe is setup in most cases by tubes of circular or noncircular cross sections. When the scavenge pipe has to be routed in a way that sharp bends or elbows are unavoidable, flexible (corrugated) pipes can be used. Because of the corrugation, considerable flow resistance with high-pressure drop can result. This may cause overpressurization of the bearing compartment with oil loss into the turbomachinery with possibility of ignition, coking (carbon formation), or contamination of the aircraft’s air conditioning system. It is therefore important for the designer to be capable to predict the system’s pressure balance behavior. A real engine bearing chamber sealed by brush seals was used for generating different air/oil mixtures thus corresponding to different engine operating conditions. The mixtures were discharged through a scavenge pipe which was partly setup by corrugated tubes. Instead of a mechanical pump, an ejector was used for evacuating the bearing chamber. An extensive survey covering the existing technical literature on corrugated tube pressure drop was performed and is presented in this paper. The survey has covered both single-phase and multiphase flows. Existing methods were checked against the test results. The method which was most accurately predicting lean air test results from the rig was benchmarked and was used as the basis for extending into a two-phase flow pressure drop correlation by applying two-phase flow multiplier techniques similar to Lockhart and Martinelli. Comparisons of the new two-phase flow pressure drop correlation with an existing correlation by Shannak are presented for mixtures like air/oil, air/water, air/diesel, and air/kerosene. Finally, numerical analysis results using ansys cfx version 15 are presented.
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June 2016
Research-Article
Two-Phase Flow Pressure Drop in Corrugated Tubes Used in an Aero-engine Oil System
Christina Salpingidou,
Christina Salpingidou
Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics
and Turbomachinery,
AUTH,
Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
e-mail: csalpingidou@eng.auth.gr
and Turbomachinery,
AUTH,
Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
e-mail: csalpingidou@eng.auth.gr
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Francois Cottier
Francois Cottier
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Michael Flouros
Andreas Kanarachos
Kyros Yakinthos
Christina Salpingidou
Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics
and Turbomachinery,
AUTH,
Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
e-mail: csalpingidou@eng.auth.gr
and Turbomachinery,
AUTH,
Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
e-mail: csalpingidou@eng.auth.gr
Francois Cottier
Contributed by the Turbomachinery Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received August 26, 2015; final manuscript received September 4, 2015; published online November 17, 2015. Editor: David Wisler.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Jun 2016, 138(6): 062603 (22 pages)
Published Online: November 17, 2015
Article history
Received:
August 26, 2015
Revised:
September 4, 2015
Citation
Flouros, M., Kanarachos, A., Yakinthos, K., Salpingidou, C., and Cottier, F. (November 17, 2015). "Two-Phase Flow Pressure Drop in Corrugated Tubes Used in an Aero-engine Oil System." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. June 2016; 138(6): 062603. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4031627
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