ALBERT

Description: A theory has been developed for resetting the blade angles of an axial-flow compressor in order to improve the performance at speeds and flows other than the design and thus extend the useful operating range of the compressor. The theory is readily applicable to the resetting of both rotor and stator blades or to the resetting of only the stator blades and is based on adjustment of the blade angles to obtain lift coefficients at which the blades will operate efficiently. Calculations were made for resetting the stator blades of the NACA eight-stage axial-flow compressor for 75 percent of design speed and a series of load coefficients ranging from 0.28 to 0.70 with rotor blades left at the design setting. The NACA compressor was investigated with three different blade settings: (1) the design blade setting, (2) the stator blades reset for 75 percent of design speed and a load coefficient of 0.48, and (3) the stator blades reset for 75 percent of design speed and a load coefficient of 0.65.

Description: A wind tunnel investigation was conducted to determine the performance of a 4000-pound-thrust axial-flow turbojet engine with a high flow compressor. Pressure altitudes included 5000 to 40000 feet with ram pressure ratios from 1.00 to 1.82. Altitudes included 20000 to 40000 feet and ram pressure ratios from 1.09 to 1.75. A comparison is made between engine performance with high flow and low flow compressors.

Description: A wind tunnel investigation was conducted to determine the performance of a turbine operating as an integral part of a turbojet engine. Data was obtained while the engine was running over full operable range of speeds at various altitudes and flight mach numbers, and with four nozzles of different outlet areas.A maximum turbine efficiency of 0.875 was obtained at altitude of 15 thousand feet, Mach number 0.53, and corrected turbine speed of 5900 rpm.

Description: Temperature and pressure distributions for an original and modified 3000 pound thrust axial flow turbojet engine were investigated. Data are included for a range of simulated altitudes from 5000 to 45000 feet, Mach numbers from 0.24 to 1.08, and corrected engine speeds from 10,550 to 13,359 rpm.

Description: This report presents the results of the tests of a power-plant installation to improve the circumferential pressure-recovery distribution at the face of the engine. An underslung "C" cowling was tested with two propellers with full cuffs and with a modification to one set of cuffs. Little improvement was obtained because the base sections of the cuffs were stalled. A set of guide vanes boosted the over-all pressures and helped the pressure recoveries for a few of the cylinders. Making the underslung cowling into a symmetrical "C" cowling evened the pressure distribution; however, no increases in front pressures were obtained. The pressures at the top cylinders remained low and the high pressures at the bottom cylinders were reduced. At higher powers and engine speeds, the symmetrical cowling appeared best from the standpoint of over-all cooling characteristics.

Description: An investigation was conducted in the Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to determine the operational characteristics of an axial flow-type turbojet engine with a 4000-pound-thrust rating over a range of pressure altitudes from 5,000 to 50,OOO feet, ram pressure ratios from 1.00 to 1.86, and temperatures from 60 deg to -50 deg F. The low-flow (standard) compressor with which the engine was originally equipped was replaced by a high-flow compressor for part of the investigation. The effects of altitude and airspeed on such operating characteristics as operating range, stability of combustion, acceleration, starting, operation of fuel-control systems, and bearing cooling were investigated. With the low-flow compressor, the engine could be operated at full speed without serious burner unbalance at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. Increasing the altitude and airspeed greatly reduced the operable speed range of the engine by raising the minimum operating speed of the engine. In several runs with the high-flow compressor the maximum engine speed was limited to less than 7600 rpm by combustion blow-out, high tail-pipe temperatures, and compressor stall. Acceleration of the engine was relatively slow and the time required for acceleration increased with altitude. At maximum engine speed a sudden reduction in jet-nozzle area resulted in an immediate increase in thrust. The engine started normally and easily below 20,000 feet with each configuration. The use of a high-voltage ignition system made possible starts at a pressure altitude of 40,000 feet; but on these starts the tail-pipe temperatures were very high, a great deal of fuel burned in and behind the tail-pipe, and acceleration was very slow. Operation of the engine was similar with both fuel regulators except that the modified fuel regulator restricted the fuel flow in such a manner that the acceleration above 6000 rpm was very slow. The bearings did not cool properly at high altitudes and high engine speeds with a low-flow compressor, and bearing cooling was even poorer with a high-flow compressor.

Description: The effect of rotor-blade length, inlet angle, and shrouding was investigated with four different nozzles in a single-stage modification of the Mark 25 aerial-torpedo power plant. The results obtained with the five special rotor configurations are compared with those of the standard first-stage rotor with each nozzle. Each nozzle-rotor combination was operated at nominal pressure ratios of 8, 15 (design), and 20 over a range of speeds from 6000 rpm to the design speed of 18,000 rpm. Inlet temperature and pressure conditions of 1OOOo F and 95 pounds per square inch gage, respectively, were maintained constant for all runs.

Description: Flow-metering devices used by the NACA and by the manufacturer of the J33 turbojet engine were calibrated together to determine whether an observed discrepancy in weight flow of approximately 4 percent for the two separate investigations might be due to the different devices used to meter air flow. A commercial adjustable orifice and a square-edge flat-plate orifice used by the NACA and a flow nozzle used by the manufacturer were calibrated against surveys across the throat of the nozzle. It was determined that over a range of weight flows from 18 to 45 pounds per second the average weight flows measured by the metering device used for the compressor test would be 0.70 percent lower than those measured by the metering device used in the engine tests and the probable variation about this mean would be +/- 0.39 percent. The very close agreement of the metering devices shows that the greater part of the discrepancy in weight flow is attributable to the effect of inlet pressure.

Description: An investigation was conducted in the NACA Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to evaluate the performance characteristics of the X24C-4B turbojet engine over a range of simulated altitudes from 5000 to 45,000 feet,simulated flight Mach numbers from 0 to 1.08, and engine speeds from 4000 to 12,500 rpm. Performance data are presented to show graphically the effects of altitude at a flight Mach number of 0.25 and of flight Mach number at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The performance data are generalized to show the applicability of methods used to determine performance at any altitude from data obtained at a given altitude. A complete tabulation of performance data, as well as lubrication- and fuel- system data, is presented.

Description: Investigations were made of the turbine from a Mark 25 torpedo to determine the performance of the unit with three different turbine nozzles at various axial nozzle-wheel clearances. Turbine efficiency with a reamed nondivergent nozzle that uses the axial clearance space for gas expansion was little affected by increasing the axial running clearance from 0.030 to 0.150 inch. Turbine efficiency with cast nozzles that expanded the gas inside the nozzle passage was found to be sensitive to increased axial nozzle-wheel clearance. A cast nozzle giving a turbine brake efficiency of 0.525 at an axial running clearance of 0.035 inch gave a brake efficiency of 0.475 when the clearance was increased to 0.095 inch for the same inlet-gas conditions and blade-jet speed ratio. If the basis for computing the isentropic power available to the turbine is the temperature inside the nozzle rather then the temperature in the inlet-gas pipe, an increase in turbine efficiency of about 0.01 is indicated.