Turbine Department

The test hall of the turbines department at DLR's Göttingen site
Next generation turbine test bed and compressor system: The test benches can simulate the key flow parameters of a modern high-performance turbine.

At the DLR site in Göttingen, we specialise in turbines for aircraft engines and their stationary use in power plants. Through our continuous research and development, we create attractive solutions for the aviation and energy sector to increase efficiency and help shorten development times for new products as a basis for a successful energy transition.

From preliminary design to experimentation, we use low-dimensional methods to make turbines even more efficient. We take into account various efficiency influencing factors such as radial clearance and different cooling mechanisms. Detailed flow simulations and optimisations are performed using our in-house CFD framework TRACE. Interdisciplinary collaboration with partners from research and industry plays an important role in the development process. Together, we effectively integrate the interaction effects of different disciplines and see this as a crucial prerequisite for the application-oriented turbine development of tomorrow.

In addition, the broad research landscape at DLR allows us, for example, to transfer our heat transfer methods to other research topics. Comparable principles are used, for example, in heat exchangers for the efficient use of waste heat from fuel cells.

Our research infrastructure enables comprehensive verification, from simplified experiments on flat grid surfaces to multi-stage turbine tests. The most prominent example of our large-scale facilities is one of the world's largest and most powerful turbine test rigs, the Next Generation Turbine. Our aim is to obtain and analyse quality-assured experimental data with the lowest possible measurement uncertainty. To achieve this, we use state-of-the-art pneumatic probes and the latest optical measurement technology in collaboration with the Engine Measurement Systems Department. This precision is the basis for the advancing digitalisation of our field, for which adequate experimental verification is essential.

Our core areas of expertise

Design and calculation methods

Experiments carried out on large-scale systems

Heat transfer

Our test facilities

Next Generation Turbine

We operate one of the world's most modern and largest turbine test rigs for aerothermodynamic testing of aircraft engines and gas turbines for power generation.

Straight Cascade Wind Tunnel

The Straight Cascade Wind Tunnel is designed for aero-thermodynamic investigations on flat, vertical cascades of high, medium or low pressure turbines of aero-engines, gas and steam turbines.

Channel for probe calibration

Pneumatic probes for wind tunnels and aerodynamic systems are calibrated at the Institute of Propulsion Technology. You can commission us to calibrate your probes. Please contact us.

Some projects we are working on

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Contact

Frank Kocian

Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Propulsion Technology
Turbine
Bunsenstraße 10, 37073 Göttingen