Design, development and testing of an in-engine radial traverse system for the trent engine

Conference item

With development timescales reducing there is less time available for rig testing during an engine development programme. Consequently, there is a growing requirement for experimental techniques that can be used to gain an understanding of the in-engine performance of major components. Rolls-Royce has recently completed a major engine test programme aimed at measuring the installed performance of the turbine components of a Trent engine. Rolls Royce and QinetiQ believe that this is the first time that traversing of this type has been completed during a full aero engine perfbrmancc test. The main element of this programme was radial traversing downstream of the HP and IP turbines. Four traverse systems were designed and developed by QinetiQ, two operating at HP exit and two at IP exit. Each probe was capable of measuring total pressure, yaw angle, total temperature and Mach number across the entire operating range of the engine. The design presented a number of major challenges for the system including the high temperatures and pressures experienced by the probes (up to 1600K and 30 bar), the hostile environment at the traverse system location (550K), and the constraints of fitting within the space available on a real engine. The paper describes how the traverse systems were designed and developed and how the challenges of the harsh testing environment were overcome. The successful testing of the traverse system and results obtained during a full engine performance test on a Trent 900 engine are described in detail. Copyright © 2008 QinetiQ Ltd.

Authors: Anderson, S; Chana, K; Wilson, A

• Host title: Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo
• Volume: 1
• Pages: 215-223
• Publication date: 2008-01-01
• DOI: 10.1115/GT2008-51332
• ISBN: 9780791843116