GasTurb 11

Design and Off-Design Performance of Gas Turbines

by Joachim Kurzke
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Introduction

Welcome to the gas turbine performance program GasTurb 11 which makes it easy to evaluate the
thermodynamic cycle of the most common gas turbine architectures, both for engine design and off-
design. It was written by a gas turbine performance specialist who has worked for more than 30 years
in the field of gas turbine simulation and development, both at the university and in industry. In its 11th
version GasTurb is not only a very user friendly performance program for cycle design and off-design
simulations, it now covers also the preliminary geometrical design of engines including disk stress
calculations.
In this first section you get advice on how to install the program, how you can get help as well as hints
about using data created with previous versions of GasTurb.

Program Requirements and Installation

Requirements
Operating system Windows 2000, Windows XP
Processor Pentium III (or AMD equivalent) or better
RAM Memory 256 MB or more
Resolution SVGA 1024x768 @ 256+ colors
Installation
Run setup for installing the program. A wizard will lead you through the details of the installation. It is
strongly recommended that you exit all Windows programs before running the setup program.
Install GasTurb 11 in its own, new directory and do not install it in the directory of any previous
program version you may have. Some of the files delivered with GasTurb 11 have the same file name
as those of previous versions, but different file contents. Mixing the files from different versions of
GasTurb will cause a program crash.
Installation on a Network
On a network you can store the program in a directory which everybody can access. The different
users should store their private data in their own directories for data and component maps. Note that
the component maps delivered with the program must reside in the same directory as the program.
You can store a copy of these files in a private component map directory. The component map
collection which is part of GasTurb 11 Laboratory need not be in the program directory, it can reside in
any directory.
A Microsoft security patch now prevents HTML Help .CHM files from being opened on network drives.
When you call help, "Action canceled!" will be displayed instead of the topic text. This will happen with
all HTML Help files that you open over a network connection (note, that local HTML Help files will not
be affected).
The reason for this error is a new and more strict security policy for Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Microsoft is permanently updating MSIE to fix potential or real security threats. In case of this error, the
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-026 disables HTML Help files opened from a network drive. Learn
more about the security threat in the Microsoft Knowledgebase Article KB896358.
When you install the program on a network, please ensure that the help file (file extension .CHM) gets
installed on the local C: drive (this is recommended by Microsoft). If this is not possible or not
desirable, you can explicitly register individual help files and folders to allow viewing them over the
network or edit the Windows registry to make the security settings less strict in general. Microsoft
describes the necessary steps in detail in the knowledge base article KB 896054.

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Using Data and Component Map Directories
If you want to store your data files and component map files in directories different from the program
directory, you need to start GasTurb 11 with two command line parameters. Add after the program
call (separated by a space) first the path to your data (this will be the standard data directory) and
second the path to your component maps, the standard map directory. The working directory which
you specify from Windows Program Manager as a program item property must be the directory in
which the program resides.
If you have stored the program in directory C:\Programs\GasTurb (your program directory), and want
your data stored in directory C:\GasTurb\Data (your standard data directory) and your component
maps in C:\GasTurb\Maps (your standard map directory) then you must start the program by the
following command sequence:
C:\Programs\GasTurb10.exe C:\GasTurb\Data C:\GasTurb\Maps
When your file names or directory names contain blanks, then you must include the path names in
double quotes:
"C:\Program Files\GasTurb10.exe" "C:\My Data\GasTurb\Data" "C:\My Data\GasTurb\Maps"
About GasTurb Files
There are some ASCII files with the extension NMS delivered with the program, one for each engine
type. Do not modify these files because they are essential for the correct interpretation of the data.
Note that the *.NMS files are not compatible between the different program versions.
There are many graphic files that contain engine configuration schemes and other pictures. They are
stored as Windows meta files with the extension WMF. Many other programs can read this file format.
You may use these files for illustrations in reports, for example. If you do that, you must refer to the
source of the graphics and include the GasTurb 11 program as a reference.

Getting Help

Help can be selected from many menus. Use the help Contents list to find structured information, look
at the Index or use Find when you need help for a specific topic.
For a short info about the meaning of a button hold your mouse pointer on it and you will get a hint
about which action will be initiated by pressing this button. Note that - depending on the context of the
simulation task - some of the buttons can be temporarily dimmed which indicates that they are
disabled.
If you should have any questions about the software feel free to send an email to the author of the
program.

What's New in GasTurb 11

There are many improvements compared to previous versions of GasTurb, both in the user interface
and the technical content.
The most important content change is, that there are now three scopes of the program (three levels of
detail) as compared to only two operating modes (Novice and Expert) in GasTurb 10 and before.
The Geared Mixed Flow Turbofan is a new engine configuration which is similar to the frequently used
Geared Unmixed Flow Turbofan configuration.
Recirculating compressor bleed air is a new option with the secondary air system
For modeling engine deterioration, modifiers for duct and burner pressure ratios have been introduced.
Limiters for controlling minimum values are available now.
Highlights of the new user interface are:
 Input and output property selection was made simpler by introducing tree like structures in all places
where one might search for a special quantity.

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 The increased size of many windows allows presenting information more clearly.
 Range checking for data input and output has been introduced.

 In many places sliders have been introduced which are selected by clicking . You can assign an
arbitrary input variable to this slider and immediately see what the effect of changing this variable
has on numbers or on graphically presented results, see for example the enthalpy-entropy diagram
comparison.
Composed values have been made again more powerful: now you have access to gas properties and
many pre-defined functions that are typically employed within gas turbine performance simulations.
This list is only a selection of the many enhancements made since GasTurb 10. Now explore GasTurb
11 and see yourself that the program is more powerful, more easy to use and the presentation of the
results is more impressive than ever.

Program Scope

Three program scopes with different degrees of simulation detail are offered. Select Basics if you
have only fundamental questions, decide for Performance when you want to study gas turbine cycles
and off-design behavior in more detail and chose More if you want to do preliminary engine design.
Note that the scope selection is only possible in the program opening window:

Basic Was called Novice Mode in previous versions of the program

If you are interested only in the basic gas turbine cycle analysis as described in many
textbooks then select this scope. Then the input data are limited to the really important
properties like pressure ratio, burner inlet temperature and the component efficiencies. All
sophisticated details of the other two scopes are set to default values and are hidden. For
example, all component inter-duct pressure losses are set to zero and the complex
turbine cooling air system is excluded from the simulation. Thus the program input for the
Basics scope is very easy to take in at a glance.

Performance Dubbed Expert Mode previously

This is the normal operating mode for the gas turbine performance specialist.
This scope adds the detail required for professional gas turbine performance simulations.
You get more data input options including the simulation of the internal air system and
turbine cooling. Furthermore, there are more calculation options like cycle optimization
and Monte Carlo studies, for example. Some preliminary design tasks can be solved
while Performance is selected as scope of the simulations.
Since more details like the secondary air system are considered and the results differ
from those of the Basic scope.

More More than performance...

For the Performance scope only a few dimensions of the engine are required as, for
example, the nozzle area of a turbojet engine. In most of the thermodynamic stations the
static pressures and temperatures are not needed for this sort of simulation tasks. If you
select More as scope then the flow area at all the thermodynamic stations will be
calculated during cycle design and from that the static quantities are determined during
both cycle design and off-design simulations.
Additionally the dimensions of the flow annulus are derived, compressors and turbine
disks designed and a cross section of the engine is shown. Thus much detail is added to
the simulation and the quality of the preliminary design results is significantly improved.
You will get some insight into the interaction between thermodynamics, component
aerodynamics and the mechanical design of gas turbines

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After reading the input data from file, and if you have selected More as scope of your work with the
program, you can in the cycle design input window choose to calculate the geometry of your engine,
including the stresses in the disks by clicking .
These calculations require considerable computer power and therefore they are not pre-selected. For
accessing the input data of the engine geometry select .

In the single cycle output window you can select provided you have
selected More as scope.

Compatibility with Previous GasTurb Versions

Simulation Detail
When you read a data file which has been created with a previous version of GasTurb then you will
get some warning messages. These messages regard input properties that did not exist in the
previous program version or that have been renamed. In many cases the missing data can be set to
reasonable default values, however, in some cases no generally applicable default value exists and
then the dummy value 111111 is introduced.
Old files for the turbojet engine configuration produce many warning messages. The reason for that is
that since GasTurb 10 the single spool turboshaft engine is a separate engine configuration and no
longer a special case of the turbojet.
You will be prompted to enter a suitable number for the missing data that are indicated by the dummy
number 111111. Commencing the calculation while one or more properties have the dummy value
111111 will result in an error message.
Storing an old data file on disk by GasTurb 11 will make the data set compatible with the new version.
Reading a data set from a previous version of GasTurb and calculating the geometry of the engine
with the default settings which the program uses for the missing data most often does not yield a
reasonable engine geometry. This applies also to the demo data sets from previous GasTurb versions;
therefore new demo data sets have been created that yield nice and meaningful engine cross-
sections.
Technical Simulation Differences
GasTurb 11 will not exactly reproduce the numbers from program versions prior to GasTurb 9 because
the gas properties are now modeled slightly different.
There will also be differences between GasTurb 10 and GasTurb 11:
 In the Reynolds number corrections applied during off-design simulations there was a bug: the
Reynolds Number Index was calculated incorrectly. This bug has been removed and consequently
in some cases the Reynolds number correction factors have changed a bit.
 Inlet flow distortion simulation is now more rigorously simulated, small differences to previous results
are normal. The Coupling Factor described in ASME GT2006-90419 has been introduced and the
simulation option for radial distortion has been deleted.
 With mixed flow engines, P8/P64 is in off-design simulations now a function of corrected flow W 64R

First Steps

The quickest way to introduce yourself to GasTurb 11 is to go through this Getting Started section
which guides you through the basics of the program using simple examples. Select as program scope
Performance for this tutorial.
After completion of the tutorial you have only used a small part of the options built into GasTurb 11.
Read the manual and make use of the extensive on-line help. Open the little books in the table of
contents of the on-line help to see how it is organized. Note that the on-line help and the manual have
identical contents.

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Engine Configurations

Before you actually begin with calculations you must decide which type of gas turbine you want to
study. The basic configuration of the engine can be selected either from the Configuration List or
from the Configuration Tree View in the program main window:

If you use the engine configuration tree for selecting the basic engine type click the little boxes with a +
sign to expand the tree. The selected engine configuration is shown as a figure to the right of the
selection tree. While the selection is not yet concise enough you will see the figure of an aircraft or a
windmill.
The engine configuration will be automatically selected if you drag a file from the Windows Explorer
and drop it on the GasTurb 11 icon or the program main window.
Once the basic configuration is fixed, you have additional configuration options that can be selected
during engine design. For some engines you can add an afterburner (augmentor) and select between
a convergent and a convergent-divergent nozzle, for example. The final selection of heat exchangers
(recuperators) and intercoolers is also made in the design point input window.
For your first tour through the program select in the Configuration List the first entry, the Turbojet.
Select as Scope Performance, as Calculation Mode Design and then click
to proceed. From the file dialog window which opens then select the file
Demo_jet.CYJ .

Starting the Calculation

The cycle input data are presented in tabbed notebooks. The input data shown on the pages of the
notebook are the only those that you need for the selected switch position. You will not see any input
quantities that are not needed for the type of calculation you have chosen. Data you have entered for
a switch position not selected at the moment will not be deleted; it will just not be shown. When you
write a set of data to disk, all quantities will be stored, regardless of the switch positions.
You can get help for the nomenclature from View | Nomenclature in the menu or by clicking
.

Select as task and then click in the Design

Point Input window and the input data will be checked and the thermodynamic cycle calculation will

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commences. If the result is valid, then the data will be saved automatically. For that purpose GasTurb
11 uses an automatically generated filename which depends on the selected engine configuration.
Automatically saved Turbojet data files are called Last_1_Jet.CYJ, Last_2_Jet.CYJ, and
Last_3_Jet.CYJ. Backup file names of other engine configurations also begin also with the four letters
"Last".

If the program fails to calculate a cycle for a specific data set, check your data for typing errors,
incorrect units or wrong orders of magnitude. The program can never calculate a cycle with a burner
pressure ratio of 0.04, for example. You may have entered this number because you were thinking of
a burner pressure loss of 4%. GasTurb 11 tries to avoid errors caused by wrong magnitudes of input
values by checking whether the value is within reasonable limits. Thus, if you really enter 0.04 as
burner pressure ratio you will get a range warning.
As a newcomer to the program you should play around with the input data of the turbojet and calculate
several cycles. Have a look at the cycle output window, thereby getting accustomed to the
nomenclature and the units used. Note that you can get explanations for the terms used by clicking
after the first letter of the name.

Use also the slider for your experiments (click for assigning a variable to
the slider). You can see immediately the influence of the slider variable on the cycle data.
You can mark part or all of the data, copy and paste them to your word processor or to your
presentation program. If you paste the data into a Word document or to Power Point then it might
happen that the text is formatted with a variable pitch font of too big a size and the printout looks like a
mess. Select "Courier New" or any other fixed spaced font in appropriate size to get the data nicely
arranged.
Besides transferring data with copy and paste you can also export them to Excel.
You may be interested in a quantity which is not shown in the standard output window, such as the
temperature ratio across the compressor, T3/T2 for example. You can get the desired value by defining
a composed value, click for doing that.

Define Composed Values

The composed value definition window is a powerful formula editor which allows you to add your own
correlations to the standard GasTurb 11 calculations. In the definition of composed values you can

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use any input or output property and also plain numbers. The availability of property names depends
on the position of the switches. If Turbine Design is switched off, for example, then you cannot use the
geometrical data of the turbine in composed values, since they will not be calculated.
A total of 99 composed values can be defined. The mathematical operations available include +, -, * , /
as well as ^ for exponential expressions. Moreover, the natural logarithm ln(x), the absolute value
abs(x) and the trigonometric functions sin(x), cos(x), tan(x), arcsin(x), arccos(x) and arctan(x) can
be used in the formulae. Furthermore you can use parenthesis in your formula definitions.

An example for a complex composed value is shown in line 2 of the composed value formula editor.
For composed values you can use any previously defined composed value as you see in line 3 where
the result of the formula in the second line is employed in the definition of the third composed value
cp_val3.
You can give composed values a name consisting of letters, numbers and underscores that are
followed by the = sign as shown in line 3. In this example the name power will be used for the text
output and in the graphics. You can use the name you have introduced in further formulae as shown
for example in line 4 of the screen shot above. Note that using the name power in lines 1 and 2 is not
permitted because the value of this property will not yet be known when cp_val1 and cp_val2 are
calculated.
Note that user defined names must be different to the names that are already used as short name by
the program. User defined names must begin with two letters and they should consist of about 4 to 8
characters. Actually, there is no restriction for the length of a user defined name, however, long names
are impractical if used within other formulae. Blanks in user defined names will be eliminated by the
program.
The result of an invalid operation like the square root of a negative number will be set to zero or to
999999.

Define Iterations

Besides using additional correlations (composed values) you can influence the calculation result by
adding iterations to the standard GasTurb 11 calculation. Select this option from the menu or by
clicking if you want an output quantity to have a specific value. In the
turbojet cycle you can, for example, iterate the compressor pressure ratio in such a way that the
turbine pressure ratio will be exactly 4.0 (this could be a reasonable limit for a single stage turbine).
Whether the iteration converges or not depends very much on the problem being investigated. If there
is a solution, the program will find it. Thus, check your data if you do not get convergence.
Note, that you can select up to twenty variables, thus specifying values for up to twenty output
quantities. In addition to keeping the turbine pressure ratio constant, you can iterate burner exit
temperature as a second variable such that the turbine exit temperature is equal to 1200K. With a third
iteration you could keep the thrust constant at 40kN by iterating the engine inlet corrected flow, for
example.

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For each of the variables a reasonable range must be specified by setting min and max values. If the
range is too narrow, then by accident the solution could be excluded and the iteration would fail to
converge. A very wide range causes also problems, since the cycle cannot be evaluated with extreme
combinations of pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature. Moreover, a large range for the iteration
variables leads to an inaccurate result.
Before closing the iteration window you must activate the individual iterations in the check boxes that
are arranged along the right border of the window and in addition to that the iteration setup in general
by selecting File|Iteration on/off from the menu or by clicking the little bulb above the table.

Switching Between SI and Imperial Units

In the cycle design input window click the button to convert your input data
from SI units to Imperial units. The button will convert the data from
Imperial to SI units.
After having chosen the general system of units you can select the units for temperature from the
Units page in the Options Window which opens when clicking the menu item Options...

More Cycle Design Calculations

In this section of the tutorial we deal with engine design which means, that each cycle represents a
new machine. In a cycle design parametric study, for example, each calculated case represents an
engine with a different geometry.

Parametric Studies

Parametric variations of one or two variables are easy with GasTurb 11. For reproducing the following
example go back to the program main window and select the Two Spool Unmixed Flow Turbofan
from the engine configuration list. Load the data from the file Demo_tf.CYF, and then click
to calculate a single cycle as a reference point.

Next click or select Task|Parametric from the menu and then click
to go to the parameter selection window. Select the parameters from the

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tree view on the left and enter your numbers for the Start Value, the Number of Values and the Step
Size.

Start the parametric study by clicking or Run|Run in the menu. After a short time the calculation
will be completed and you can choose what you want to plot:

Play around with the options you have with the graphical output, test different plot parameter
selections with or without contour lines. Then repeat the parametric study with only one parameter:
now you can select viewing the results in a graphic with up to four y-axes plotted over a common x-
axis parameter.
Note that after the calculation is finished the program checks which values remained unchanged
during the parametric variation. For example, the engine inlet temperature will not change while the
HP Compressor Pressure Ratio and the Burner Exit Temperature are varied. Since it does not make
sense to plot constant values, the program will not show them in the plot parameter selection list.

Optimization

Instead of making parametric studies for finding the best cycle you can employ numerical optimization.
For the next example stay with the Two Spool Unmixed Flow Turbofan configuration, re-load the file
Demo_tf.CYF, click and run the calculation. Note the number for the thrust
specific fuel consumption which is 19.0077 in SI units.

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Close the single point output window and click and then
in the Design Point Input window. The optimization input window will open:

Now the variables of the optimization are selected: Take as the first variable the Outer Fan Pressure
Ratio, enter for the minimum value 1.1 and for the maximum limit 4 in the first line of the table. Chose
HP Compressor Pressure Ratio as the second variable with a lower limit of 5 and an upper limit of 20.
As the third variable select Burner Exit Temperature and limit it to the range from 1000K to 2000K.
Finally the intent of the optimization has to be formulated. Click the tab Figure of Merit and pick Sp.
Fuel Consumption from the list of output variables. Do not forget to chose Minimize - maximizing fuel
consumption does not make sense.

After clicking Run the optimization window opens. There are three bars that represent the ranges of
the three optimization variables that we have specified. Click Run to begin the numerical optimization;
It will end after a short while with a result similar to that shown in the next figure.

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The specific fuel consumption has been reduced by not less than 10% (from 19.0077 to 17.0855).
After closing the message box select Optimum from the menu to get all the details of the best cycle
found. You will see, for example, that the ideal jet velocity ratio V18/V8,id is around 0.74 which is near
to the theoretically postulated optimum.
However, there might be a problem with the solution found: the HP Compressor Pressure Ratio is at
its upper limit of 20. This might be a true technical limit or just an error in the specification of the range
for this optimization variable. Further scrutinizing the optimum cycle output you will find that the HP
turbine pressure ratio is 5.6. If you are looking for engines with single stage high pressure turbines
then this value is much too high.
How can we find a more realistic optimal solution which takes into account that we are looking for
engines with single stage HP turbines? Close the optimization window and answer the question
Restore old data? with yes. Click Run again to reopen the optimization input window. Next click on
the Constraints tab and select HP Turbine Pressure Ratio as a constrained value for the optimization
with a lower limit 0 and an upper limit of 4. Finally click Run and you will get the figure below which
includes now a red bar for the newly introduced design constraint.

Running this optimization example yields a solution in which the HP Compressor Pressure Ratio is no
longer at its limit. The HP Turbine Pressure Ratio is exactly 4 and the specific fuel consumption is
17.66 which is still 7% below the initial value. Note also that again the ideal jet velocity ratio V18/V8,id
is around 0.74.

Effects of Small Changes

You may want to know how important one or the other input quantity is for a certain cycle; To learn this
click and then . In the window that opens select
the items you are interested in; you need not enter step sizes since they will be preselected
automatically. If you wish you can adapt these step sizes to your needs.
Click on Show the Effect of... respectively on the Result for... to switch between input and output
quantities. While the blue arrows in the middle of the window are pointing to the right, clicking them will
transfer the selected item from the list on the left side to the appropriate selection list. Clicking on an
item in the selection list activates the arrows pointing to the left. Clicking a left pointing arrow removes
the highlighted property from the selection list.

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Select Run from the menu and you will get immediately a table with exchange rates:

In the table the short names are used to save space. You will get explanations for these abbreviated
names when you choose the menu option View|Explanations. or when you click the button with the
little hand.
Be careful when interpreting the results of sensitivity studies. The changes are presented in terms of
percentages and in degrees K (or R if you are using Imperial units). A 1% increase in efficiency with
the basic efficiency equal to 0.8 means that the efficiency has changed from 0.8 to 0.808. You might
have expected erroneously, that the efficiency increase would be from 0.8 to 0.81.

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Monte Carlo Study

In a Monte Carlo simulation many cycles with some randomly distributed cycle input parameters are
calculated. Normal distributions with specified standard deviation will be created for the selected input
parameters. The cycle output quantities will consequently also be randomly distributed. The results
are presented graphically as bar charts together with a corresponding Gaussian distribution.
A typical application of the Monte Carlo method is the evaluation of the uncertainty of a quantity which
is derived from the actual measurements. We use here as an example again the Two Spool Unmixed
Flow Turbofan configuration with the data from the file Demo_tf.CYF. Click the Test Analysis tab and
switch the test analysis mode on:

The measured values for the fuel flow, all the total pressures and temperatures in the compressor
section, and the total pressures in the turbine section are input data for this special cycle calculation
mode which yields the component efficiencies and other cycle parameters.

Each of the measured parameters has an uncertainty which is described with the standard deviation of
the measured parameter. These standard deviations are input values for the Monte Carlo method.
Before you actually start the Monte Carlo simulation you can select one of the measured parameters
from a list. While the Monte Carlo simulation is running you can observe how the distribution of this
parameter develops.
After starting the Monte Carlo simulation the program will run until you stop it. The first 2500 data sets
will be stored in memory; these data can be shown graphically in various formats. The figure below
shows that the in our example the Isentropic LPT Efficiency is better than 0.8725 with a probability of
97.5% (mean value minus 2*standard deviation).

15
Off-Design Calculations

Use the Turbojet engine configuration, select as calculation mode , and

after clicking load the file Demo_jet.CYJ. Calculate now the cycle design
point which yields the geometry of the engine.

Go back to the program main window and click in the Calculation Mode
selection box. In the Maps box stay with the default Standard Maps option selected and then click
. In the background the standard component maps will be scaled in such a
way that they are consistent with the cycle design point and then the Off-Design Input window opens.

Input Data For Off-Design Simulations

In the Off-Design Input window there are on the Steady State page two options for specifying the
engine inlet and exhaust conditions:

This input mode is intended for aircraft engines; altitude, the deviation from ISA standard
day ambient temperature at that altitude, relative humidity and the flight Mach number are
the input quantities.

Ground input mode is recommended if gas turbines for power generation are simulated; in
this mode inlet total pressure and temperature, relative humidity and ambient pressure can
be specified.

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In the line ZXN given (1) or ZT4 given (2) there is a 1 which means that the engine operating condition
is specified by the relative high-pressure spool speed ZXN. Do some experiments with various values
of HPC Spool Speed ZXN in the range of 0.6...1.1 calculated as Single Cycles.
Then switch to ZXN given (1) or ZT4 given (2) = 2 which makes Burner Temperature ZT4 an input
quantity and do some more Single Cycle calculations. If you specify Burner Temperatures ZT4 below
850K then the iteration which is required for finding the solution may fail to converge. The variables
listed on the Iteration page can have values that are not suited as start value for a new calculation in
such a case. To recover from that situation you can edit the iteration variables and set them to the
design point values, for example:

Alternatively you can load one of the backup files Last_1_jet.CYJ, Last_2_jet.CYJ or Last_3_jet.CYJ which contain the
data of the last three converged calculations.

The group of data on the Modifiers page allows you to study changes of turbine flow capacity and
nozzle area for the simulation of engines with variable geometry. If you want to study engine
deterioration, apply Modifiers to the flow flow capacity and efficiency of the components and to duct
and burner pressure ratios, for example.
During off-design calculations the number of input data parameters is small because the basic
behavior of the engine is fixed with the engine cycle design point. Duct pressure losses, for example,
are specified for the cycle design point and will vary with corrected flow at part load. Therefore you
normally need not enter any data for duct pressure losses during off-design calculations, and you will
not find the duct pressure losses among the off-design input data.

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However, you might be interested in modifying cycle design input data not listed on the standard input
page. You can make these data visible after clicking or after choosing from
the menu Define | Input Quantities.

Variable Compressor Geometry

On the Variable Geometry page you can select one of the compressors having variable geometry.
However, for most compressors that have variable guide vanes in reality it is not necessary to choose
the Variable Compressor Geometry option in GasTurb for the simulation.
When to select Variable Geometry?
For a rigorous performance model of a compressor with variable geometry one needs many maps.
Each of these maps is valid for a given position of the variable guide vanes. While evaluating such a
set of compressor maps within a simulation, the data must be interpolated between the appropriate
maps as a function of the guide vane angle.
In nearly all real compressors that have several rows of variable guide vanes there is a mechanical
link between the rows of guide vanes which enforces, that all vanes change their position
simultaneously. A single actuator is sufficient to set all vanes accordingly to the demand of a
controller. For fully describing the performance of a compressor with linked guide vanes one needs
much less maps compared to the case in which the vane rows would be controlled independently from
each other.
With most compressors the linked vane rows are controlled as a function of corrected compressor
speed, the vane positions follow a simple schedule. This makes it possible to show the performance of
the compressor in one one single map which is a combination of the speed lines from the various
maps that are valid for the corresponding vane positions. Thus there is for the simulation no difference
between compressors with fixed geometry and those which have their variable geometry position
controlled as a function of corrected compressor speed because only one compressor map is needed.
In GasTurb you need to apply the variable compressor geometry option only if you want to study
effects of deviations from the nominal geometry schedule of the map or in cases in which the vane
position is deliberately not controlled as a function of corrected speed. The latter is the case with
single spool gas turbines used for power generation, for example.

Maximum and Minimum Limiters

The maximum power available from a given engine depends on several limits such as the maximum
spool speed, maximum temperature and maximum pressure. Which of the limiters is active depends,
among other things, on the flight condition, the amount of power offtake and bleed air offtake. Besides
the maximum limits for any gas turbine there are also minimum limits like gas generator spool speed
at idle or minimum fuel flow, for example.
The program can observe several maximum and minimum limiters simultaneously. You can choose to
run the engine at its maximum power (click the button with the arrow pointing upwards or choose
Limiters|Max from the menu) or at its minimum power (Limiters|Min) or in between the defined limits
(Limiters|Both Max and Min).

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Besides the pre-defined limiters you can employ up to three composed values as additional maximum
and minimum limiters. Note that the drop-down lists with the composed values will appear only when
composed values are defined.
The data in the table above have been created with the Turbojet example data file Demo_Jet.CYJ.
One of the four activated limiters is T5 with a setting of 1100K. If you increase the T5 setting to 1150K
then you will get an operating point with T5=1107K only. This is because the Spool Speed Limiter
setting of 101 prevents achieving a higher temperature. The rules of the game are "Lowest Maximum
Limiter Wins" and "Highest Minimum Limiter Wins".
If you switch on only Max Limiters then the program will run to one of the maximum limits and similarly
if only Min Limiters are switched on then the solution will be at a minimum limit. If both Min and Max
Limiters are specified then the solution will be within the limits, but not necessarily at a Min or Max
limiter. In special cases it can happen that the operation at the minimum limit violates a maximum limit.
Then the minimum limit is ignored and the maximum limit dictates the operation of the engine.

Single Operating Line

An operating line is a series of points which begins with the last calculated single off-design point.
Click and then to open the Operating Line
window. In the lower left corner you can specify the step size for the gas generator spool speed and
the number of points to be calculated:

Furthermore you can decide to run the operating line as a series of points with increasing or
decreasing spool speed. If the operating condition which you have calculated before switching to the
operating line calculation mode is a low load case, then you should click the button with the arrow
pointing upwards before commencing with the simulation.
Not always will the specified number of points be achieved; if the operating line in one of the
component maps is far outside the valid region or when the iteration does not converge for other
reasons then the calculation will stop prematurely.
As mentioned above, consecutive points are obtained by changing the relative high-pressure spool
speed in steps of 0.025 (the default step size). An exception is the load variation with a single spool
turboshaft as used for power generation which runs with constant spool speed.

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A series of reheat part load points can also be an operating line. If reheat is switched on, then the
reheat exit temperature is decreased in steps of 100K. Note that the operating point in the
turbomachinery component maps is the same for all points of a reheat operating line.
The operating line calculation ends with the question Another Operating Line ?
Answer No and examine the graphical output which includes the operating points in the component
maps. On the page Y=f(x) - after having clicked - you can select any of the
calculated points by double-clicking and then check the detailed output.

Multiple Operating Lines

If you answer to the question Another operating line ? with yes then a window opens in which you
can modify data before running the next operating line. The heading of the first operating line is shown
in the upper right box (the default heading is Reference) and the heading for the next operating line is
shown below that box. You can edit both of these headings; they will describe the operating lines in
the graphical output.

After preparing the input data for the next operating line select Run | Run Next OL from the menu. If
you come back to this window because you have selected to run more operating lines then you will
find the list with the stored operating lines updated. The list with stored operating lines can also be
filled as follows:
1. set the input data as required
2. enter in the middle box a new headline
3. select Operating Line | Store Input from the menu
Each of the new operating lines shows up in the list of stored operating lines. You can select the check
boxes of all or a few operating lines and then run all of them in one go by clicking
. This option is handy if you need repeatedly to calculate the same set of
operating lines.
From the list with Stored operating lines you can click a headline and then choose Operating Line |
Restore Selected for transferring the input data to the data input grid.

Automatic Bleed

To control the compressor surge margin you can select an automatic handling bleed. This bleed
discharges some of the compressed air into the bypass duct or overboard. You can thus lower the
operating line of the compressor and avoid a surge. The automatic handling bleed will be modulated
between the two switch-points that you specify.

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Test this feature by calculating two operating lines for the turbojet, one with and the other without
automatic handling bleed. Check the operating lines in the compressor map to see the gain in surge
margin you are getting with the handling bleed.

Off-Design Parametric Study

Instead of creating an operating line with several values for the high-pressure spool speed you can
also produce a series of points with different amounts of power offtake and customer bleed air
extraction, for example, by running an off-design parametric study. Click
before to open the same input window as for as for design point parametric
studies.
The operating points from a parametric study are shown in the component maps. The efficiencies
calculated in the cycle may be not consistent with the graphical representation of the map because of
Reynolds number corrections. So do not be surprised if you fail to find the same efficiency along the
operating line in the HPC map and in a graphic in which HPC Efficiency is plotted over HPC Mass
Flow.

Mission Calculations

Often one has to look in detail at many different off-design conditions of a gas turbine. To do this
easily, you may define a mission. You can combine up to 49 different operating conditions in a list of
mission points. Such a list of points is also called a Design Table.

At the end of the mission input table there are the limiters listed. As on the limiter input page in the Off-
Design Input window you can switch on several limiters for a mission point simultaneously. You can
edit the limiter settings after clicking or selecting Edit | Limiters from the menu:

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Note that you can not modify or switch on/off scheduled limiters in a mission input file.
In a mission both Min and Max Limiters are specified and the solution will be checked whether it is
within the specified limits.
After starting the calculation all points in the list will be calculated in one run. As output you can get
besides a summary table also detailed information for every single point. Click in the column of interest
to select it and then choose View|Selected from the menu. Furthermore, all points of a mission may
be looked at in the component maps and other graphics, try in the menu View|Graph for that. Finally
the table can also be exported to Excel or to an ASCII file with the extension OUM by selecting
File|Export

Effect of Small Changes in Off-Design

Before you begin off-design sensitivity studies you must decide about the operating condition. Do you
look for effects at constant thrust or at constant turbine inlet temperature? Go to the Limiters page first
and set a single maximum limit and then click while the
button is down.
There can be a big difference in the results found for small changes in compressor efficiency between
cycle design point calculations and those for off-design. In the latter case all the operating points are
moving around in their component maps and it even might happen that decreasing the quality of a
component improves thrust!

Flight Envelope

After activating one or several maximum limiters or control schedulesyou can calculate a series of
points with different altitudes and Mach numbers throughout a flight envelope. A flight envelope
always starts at sea level and extends to the specified altitude. Two limiting speed values are entered
as equivalent air speed EAS. This is the speed at which the airplane must fly at some altitude other
than sea level to produce the same dynamic pressure as at sea level. EAS is traditionally measured in
knots and differs from the true airspeed by the square root of the density ratio /0.

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There are four speed limits that define the flight envelope. For altitudes lower than 3048 m (10000 ft)
the flight envelope extends to zero speed. Above this altitude the limit of the flight envelope is the
minimum Equivalent Air Speed. The maximum speed is described by both a maximum EAS and by a
maximum Mach number (lowest is used). A simplified definition of the flight envelope yields the engine
performance for equal steps in altitude and Mach number.
The first point calculated is always sea level static. This point must converge; otherwise, the
calculation will stop with a corresponding message. As the first graph you are offered a plot of the
flight envelope in which you can see which limiter is active at any altitude and Mach number
combination.

Off-Design Monte Carlo Study

With the Monte Carlo method - which was already introduced for cycle design - you can simulate the
off-design performance variations that result from random changes of the component behaviour due to
manufacturing and assembly tolerances in a series production of engines. See which component
production and control system tolerances you can afford without getting an excessive scatter in pass-
off thrust or specific fuel consumption.
The random distributions for all input data are all independent of each other. There is one exception to
this rule: you can choose that flow and efficiency scatter of compressors are correlated. This is
because a compressor with an efficiency level lower than the mean value will most probably also have
a corrected flow at a given speed, which is lower than average.

Transient

Before actually starting transient simulations you need to initialize this calculation mode by calculating
a reference operating line. The actual transient simulation begins with steady state operation at the
operating point which has been calculated as a single cycle before selecting
. Therefore, If you want to study the acceleration of an engine, you need to
calculate the steady state idle operating condition before initializing the transient mode.

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The results of the initialization are used for setting the scales in the overview plot of the transient
simulation. The reference operating line points (which are all steady state operating points) are shown
for comparison together with the transient data in the graphic output.
For your first experiments with transient simulations use the Turbojet with the data from the file
Demo_jet.CYC again. Run a single cycle with ZXN=1 as steady state operating point before initializing
transient. After having closed the window with the reference operating line click
and then to open the transient simulation
window.
You can select between several alternatives for the time dependant input, stay with the pre-selected
for now and click . Control the thrust of the
engine with the slider on the right border of the window which is your Power Lever. Move it quickly to
the Min stop and when the simulation time is approximately 8 seconds then move the slider rapidly to
the Max position. As a result you will get a picture similar to this one:

In GasTurb 11 the Power Lever Angle PLA is directly correlated with the mechanical spool speed for
thrust producing engine types. In the case of a turbojet, for example, there is a linear relationship
between PLA and the compressor spool speed. This relationship is defined by the input data on the
Transient page in the Off-Design Input window.
After the transient maneuver is completed, you can look at the operating points in the component
maps and also at any other graphical output.
You can also observe in real time how the operating point moves in a component map when you
select it before clicking . Note, however, that in this operating mode no
overview graphic will be created.

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Test Analysis by Synthesis

The conventional test analysis makes no use of information that is available from component rig tests,
for example. It will give no information about the reason why a component behaves badly. A low
efficiency for the fan may be either the result of operating the fan at aerodynamic over-speed or a poor
blade design. To improve the analysis quality in this respect is the aim of the Analysis by Synthesis
(AnSyn). This method is also used for model based engine performance monitoring.

When doing analysis by synthesis a model of the engine is automatically matched to the test data.
Applying scaling factors to the component models so that the measured values and the model values
come into agreement achieves this. An efficiency scaling factor greater than one indicates, that the
component performs better than predicted, for example. In case of the example above a compressor
efficiency factor of 0.986 is found which means, that compressor efficiency is 1.4% lower than
postulated by the model.
From the screen shot of the AnSyn main window above you see that there are many options available.
Most of them need detailed explanations and are therefore not suited for newcomers to the program. If
you are interested in this topic please search for the topic Model Based Test Analysis in the section
dealing with the details of off-design simulations.

More than Performance

Until now you have done gas turbine performance simulations without thinking about the detailed
geometry of the components. No static pressures, temperatures or flow velocities inside the
compressors, burners, ducts or turbines were considered, only the total pressures and the total
temperatures were employed for the cycle calculations.
However, if you want to know more about the internals of your engine, then you have to consider local
Mach numbers, flow areas, densities, velocities etc. Select in the program main window
as Scope of the simulation and you can study these details. Choose the

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Turbojet configuration again, make sure that is selected and then click
. Use the data from the Demo_jet.CYJ for the following exercises.

Thermodynamic Stations

On the Design Point Input page there is now an additional page with the title Stations:

For each thermodynamic station, except station 2, you can either specify the Design Mach number or
the Design Area. The properties of station 2 are no input because Compressor Design is selected in
this example.
Calculate a single cycle with these settings and you will get a table with much detail at the
thermodynamic stations on an additional output page:

Note that all the station properties can be addressed in composed values and special iterations.
Moreover, you can plot how selected properties vary along the flow path from station to station after
clicking in the single point output window.

Preliminary Engine Design

While the program scope is More, the geometry of the engine can be calculated from the cycle results
employing the flow areas at the thermodynamic stations. These calculations can require considerable
computer power and therefore they are disabled at program start. Activate them by clicking
and then click to open the engine geometry
editor. You will immediately see the turbojet cross section which is consistent with the cycle data.
The input and output data for the geometry and the disks are grouped for each component. Have a
quick look at them to get a first impression about the detail which GasTurb 11 can consider for
preliminary engine design tasks. For a more detailed view about the program capabilities and
limitations read the section about Engine Dimensions.

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To end the Getting Started tour through the program let's have a little fun: Click and assign the
HPC Annulus Shape Descriptor to the slider. You find this parameter in the subsection Compressor of
the Component Geometry section. See how the shape of the compressor annulus affects all the rest
of the engine; try also other input data with the slider, for example the cycle input data.

This ends the Getting Started section, for more information about the capabilities of GasTurb 11 go
through the help system section by section or use the index for searching a specific topic. If you have
difficulties understanding one or the other explanation - or if you find a bug in the manual or in the
program - feel free to send a message about the problem to the author.

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