Original Article

Proc IMechE Part G:

J Aerospace Engineering
Analysis of uncertainties in measurement 2014, Vol. 228(5) 652–670
! IMechE 2013

of rotor blade tip clearance in gas turbine Reprints and permissions:

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engine under dynamic condition DOI: 10.1177/0954410013478523

uk.sagepub.com/jaero

TN Satish1, Ramesh Murthy1 and AK Singh2

Abstract
The rotor tip clearance in a gas turbine engine varies throughout the engine operating regime. It has considerable
influence on the engine performance. Blade to casing rub is imminent at certain operating points of the engine.
Mechanical rub at high speeds could damage the total engine hardware. A precise measurement helps to obtain the
optimum engine performance with safe engine operation. In this article a typical case study related to fan clearance
measurement is discussed, where indications of a proven measurement system is not in agreement with the physical
event during engine test. Centrifugal, thermal, assembly and wear effects can affect tip clearance measurement.
Centrifugal forces untwist the blade tip, resulting in change in the effective area of the target that is seen by capacitance
sensor. Relative component growths due to thermal effect result in the displacement of the sensor from its original
position. This could induce error into this measurement. Assembly errors are seen during blade to disc assembly. Wear
occurs under the action of centrifugal loading and vibration in compressor blades dovetail roots that are attached to the
disc. This leads to wear in involved metal surfaces and it could be a source of error in this measurement. Measurement
system also has its own uncertainty. During the current work all sources of errors were evaluated. Probable actual
running clearance on the engine and reasons for the mismatch in indication were successfully arrived at through
analytical and experimental studies. This work has provided an insight into probable sources of errors and their
treatment methodologies using analytical and experimental techniques. This has helped in identifying the changes
needed in the calibration procedure, methods to reduce the measurement system uncertainty band and measurement
procedure.

Keywords
Tip clearance, gas turbine, dynamic condition, measurement uncertainty

Date received: 3 August 2011; accepted: 18 December 2012

Rotor blade tip clearance in a gas turbine plays a

Introduction
The tip clearance (gap between rotor tip and stator, as
shown in Figure 1) varies throughout the operation of
the engine. Rotors could rub with stators at certain
operating points of the engine, if not measured and
controlled. Mechanical rub at high speeds could prove
catastrophic to the engine, resulting in total damage
of engine hardware. Hence, a precise measurement of
this parameter is called for to obtain the optimum
engine performance with safe engine operation.
Evaluation of uncertainties in tip clearance measure-
ment in a gas turbine engine under dynamic condition
has been of significant importance, which is having
considerable impact on the engine performance as
well as safety as this being one of the important
engine health parameters.
critical role in obtaining high efficiency1 and safety of
operation. The smaller the running clearances, the
better will be the compressor efficiency. Engine mass
flow increases with the increase in efficiency of the
1
Measurement Engineering Division, Gas Turbine Research
Establishment, Defence Research & Development Organisation, CV
Raman Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
2
DRDO Center for Piezoceramics and Devices, Armament Research
and Development Establishment, Defence Research & Development
Organisation (DRDO), Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Corresponding author:
TN Satish, Measurement Engineering Division, Gas Turbine Research
Establishment, Defence Research & Development Organisation, CV
Raman Nagar, Bangalore 560093, Karnataka, India.
Email: satish@gtre.drdo.in

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Satish et al.
Figure 1. Rotor clearance between tip and casing.
compressor. Increase in mass flow increases the thrust
output of the engine. Hence, finally for a particular
fuel flow, the efficiency of the engine in terms of the
thrust output will be better at lower clearances. For
some gas turbine engines, generally this clearance can
exceed 2% of the blade span. Although this tolerance
may not appear severe, its impact on compressor effi-
ciency is dramatic. Compressor performance is inver-
sely proportional to the running clearances. The
nature of the parameter calls for a non-contact type
of gap measurement technique.
Capacitive-based systems are commonly used2–7
for the measurement of this parameter because of
few inherent advantages over optical and other meas-
urement techniques.8–11 The system response varies
directly with the variation in the effective area
between the blade tip and sensor and inversely
varies with the gap. During the developmental testing
of gas turbine engine, tip clearance is measured on all
rotor stages. The total numbers of sensors that can be
mounted on the casing depend on the mechanical con-
struction of the casing. This particular engine had
provision to measure at two locations. One pick up
mounted at the 12 O clock position and one diag-
onally opposite. Triaxial capacitive transducers work-
ing on FM modulation/demodulation principle with a
frequency response ranging from 50 Hz to 120 kHz
has been used. The sensor of the probe is made to
face the blade tip in such a way that a parallel plate
capacitor is formed between them. Physically the
probe sensors are recessed inside the casing by a
known gap, as shown in Figure 2. This is to safeguard
the sensor tip in case of any eventual casing rub. The
capacitance pickup gives out a pulsed type of signal
output for every blade pass, as shown in Figure 3. The
amplitude of each pulsed output is indirectly propor-
tional to the gap of that blade tip with the sensor.
Each sensor is calibrated with respect to a particular
rotor stage, where sensor output voltage is plotted
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653
against different clearances, as shown in the calibra-
tion curve (see Figure 4). As the frequency response of
the sensor is 50 Hz to 120 kHz, the calibration is done
in the rotor rotating condition. A computer-based
data acquisition system is used to acquire the signal,
process and indicate the clearances. The calibration
table is made a part of the processing system. An elec-
tronic peak detector circuit (block diagram is as
shown in Figure 5) tracks each blade amplitude and
converts the amplitude of each blade signal into its
corresponding clearance information and this is indi-
cated on the computer screen in absolute engineering
unit. Multiple transducers are interfaced with this cir-
cuit using a multiplexer. The speed of data acquisition
happens in such a way that no blades are missed for
analysis. The proven measurement system comprises
of electronic circuits/modules that acquire and process
the signals from the capacitive transducer. Compare
the processed value with respect to the calibration
data and indicate the clearance. During bench tests
for a known simulated input as per calibration, this
system indicates expected clearance.
A measurement system validated in static condition
has been used for this purpose. However, during one
typical engine testing, an unusual indication of a
casing rub was indicated. In a gas turbine engine, all
rotating modules like fan, compressor and turbine
rotors experience component growth due to centrifu-
gal forces, thermal loads, and so on. The minimum
running clearance is nothing but the minimum run-
ning clearance at which the blade tips do not touch
the casing at maximum loaded condition (Centrifugal
and thermal loads). Designers predict this numerical
value of minimum clearance by analytical methods.
This numerical value is different for different rotor
stages. A minimum running clearance of 0.25 mm
has been identified for fan second stage rotor
(LPC2) stage. If this rotor stage runs less than this
clearance, it could end up with blade to casing rub.
Although minimum allowed running clearance was
0.25 mm, during engine test, it indicated a clearance of
0.15 mm by a proven measurement system. Figure 6
indicates this event with running clearance indications
along with speed and time. But practically (physically)
the blades have not rubbed with the engine casing.
This has prompted the need to understand the reasons
for such an indication by evaluating the total uncer-
tainty in this measurement in dynamic rotating
condition.
The scope of this study has been to identify the
reasons for a wrong indication from a system whose
functionality was established during bench test. This
includes, identifying various sources of errors that can
affect this measurement. Each source needs to be ana-
lyzed and evaluated. Finally, reasons have to be
arrived at for such an indication (as described in
case study) supported by theoretical and experimental
justification. In this article, the sources of uncertain-
ties in the measurement of tip clearance in second
654
Figure 2. Capacitance pickup mounted on the engine casing.
Figure 3. Signal pattern from the capacitance transducer.
stage fan rotor in gas turbine engine under dynamic
condition have been identified and evaluated.
The strategy used is to identify all possible fixed
and random error sources based on literature
survey/engineering judgment. Each error is then
quantified through analysis and experimentation.
A mathematical model is developed to interconnect
each of the error sources as per the standard literature
to evaluate overall uncertainty. The precision errors
are evaluated from measurement system alone
through experimentation. The overall uncertainty in
this measurement is arrived at as per the standard
guideline.18,19 The results of the experimentation and
system uncertainty are applied on the results of the
data presented as a case study and thereby validating
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Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)
the reasons for very low running clearance indication
which are arrived at.
The engine structural growths and measurement
system uncertainty contribute maximum to the
errors in the measurements. The effects of engine com-
ponent structural growths on this measurement have
been evaluated using finite element method (FEM)
data along with application of scaling down criteria
that relate the data for different engine operating con-
ditions. Experiments on actual engine rotor were con-
ducted to ascertain the possible errors due to rotor–
sensor misalignments. This apart, the uncertainty of
measurement chain using a simulated experimental
setup by using analytical and experimental treatment
was evaluated. The result of the study was validated
with the designer’s prediction and the logical conclu-
sion regarding the reasons for a wrong indication in
dynamic condition was arrived at.
Probable error sources
The most probable sources of uncertainties are attrib-
uted to engine component deformations under aero-
thermal loading. The thermal and mechanical loads
are interrelated. Engine rotor rotation increases the
compression process associated with increase in pres-
sure and temperature. This results in both mechanical
and thermal loads acting simultaneously on rotating
and static components. The tip clearance sensor is
mounted on the engine casing. Due to thermal and
mechanical loading, radial and axial expansion of
casing is unavoidable and results in the shifting of
the probe position.12,13 Similarly, axial and radial
growth of disc, shaft and blades also takes place.
When the probe is mounted on the casing, it will get
displaced from its initial position, as shown concep-
tually in Figure 7. This results in a shift in the orien-
tation of the probe with respect to target, inducing
measurement errors. Also, variation in the dimen-
sional parameters such as (a) tolerances (b) design
Satish et al.
Figure 4. Calibration curve.
Figure 5. Block diagram of the data acquisition system.
acceptance band (c) manufacturing deviations and (d)
assembly errors have considerable effect on the vari-
ations in the tip clearances. In addition, (e) rotor
dynamics and rotor-critical frequencies could have
some influence on running rotor tip clearance.
During engine operation, the rotors pass through
their critical natural frequencies and get into reso-
nance. It results in increased shaft vibration, rotor/
shaft dynamics, bearing ply and radial drop15 of the
total rotor, influencing the clearance measurement.
Finally (f) errors due rotational axis misalignment
also need to be considered.
Further discussing the sources of errors, it is noted
that during design stages, minimum allowable run-
ning clearances are predicted based on the theoretic-
ally expected engine operating temperature profile.
However, errors are possible while predicting the tem-
perature profile itself.18
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655
The fan blade profile is optimally designed to suck
and compress the required amount of air to the
required pressure. At maximum loaded condition,
blade tip profile gets untwisted. The blade untwists
due to mechanical loads. This happens for blades
with high stagger due to the centrifugal pull and
untwisting torque that the blades experience during
engine operation. This untwist in the blade will alter
the target area being seen by the probe at different
engine operating points. Conceptually the effect of
untwist is as shown in Figure 8. This also contributes
to errors in the measurement.
Blades are assembled in the dovetail slots of the
disc and during rotation they undergo an effect
called fretting, where the blades continuously undergo
vertical to and fro movements. Fretting occurs under
the action of centrifugal loading and vibration in
compressor blades dovetail roots that are attached
656 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)

Figure 6. Engine run plot-clearance versus time and engine speed.

Figure 7. Shift in sensor position during engine operation.

Figure 8. Conceptual plot of blade tip untwist.

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Satish et al.
to the disc of the gas turbine engines.16 This small
amplitude oscillatory motion between the surfaces in
contact causes damages to the surfaces and failure by
means of fatigue (catastrophic failure) or wear (loss of
fit).17 Relative displacement that takes place during
fretting is of the order of 10–30 mm,17 whereas the
magnitude of tip clearance measurements that are pre-
sented in this study is of the order of minimum 500 mm
(0.5 mm). Excluding fretting amplitude can therefore
introduce very less error. Taking into account the
complexity of introducing fretting displacement in
tip clearance measurements along with the relatively
less percentage of error it can introduce, fretting is
excluded in this study. Finally, even the measurement
system’s uncertainty itself has an influence on the
actual measurement and indication. All sources of
uncertainties are evaluated using analytical and
experimental studies to address this issue of mismatch
in indication against the actual event.
Uncertainty evaluation methodology
GUM14 is the primary reference guide for evaluation
uncertainties. It provides generalised guidelines for
the evaluation of uncertainties. However, for this
study, guidelines as provided in the AGARD
Report AR-24518 and in the study of Abernethy and
Thompson19 are made use of, because they have spe-
cifically evaluated the uncertainties of parameter-
related measurements on a aerogas turbine engine.
Both studies18,19 have used statistical methods (URSS
and UADD) almost similar to the one given in GUM.14
However Monte Carlo method, random fuzzy vari-
ables20 and neural networks,21 each method has
some advantages and disadvantages.
The tip clearance measurement is a very critical
engine health parameter during the engine operation,
that too at high speeds. If the blade tip rubs with the
casing, the effect will be catastrophic. The blades tips
or the casing could get damaged. Any broken blade
tip material could damage subsequent rotor and
stator stages and finally damage the complete
engine. Considering the importance of this parameter,
an attempt is made to measure this parameter as
accurate as possible. URSS means, 95 percent of the
time, true value is expected to lie within  URSS of the
measured value. In case of UADD, 99% of the times,
the actual running clearance lies within the measured
value. This approach gives more confidence to the
measurement. URSS is equally effective but slight
underestimation is expected. While dealing with a crit-
ical parameter of this nature, it is better to err on the
positive side than on the negative side. Hence, UADD
becomes the natural choice over URSS methods. The
magnitude of numerical values of B and P, which are
obtained finally, are such that none of them can be
neglected. Hence, usage of UADD is more suitable for
the current application. This method addresses both
random and systemic contributions quite efficiently.
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657
This method was used on parameters like temperature
and pressure18 specifically related to gas turbine appli-
cation. Biases are fixed errors. During engine oper-
ation, components grow as per the thermal and
mechanical loads and attain a thermally stabilized
state. The errors associated with component growths
under such condition are fixed and can be listed under
biases. Precision errors are intermittent errors and are
associated with measurement chain. For this study,
the biases and precision errors associated with meas-
urement chain are evaluated exclusively and the total
uncertainty factor is arrived at. Uncertainty in tip
clearance measurement has been addressed through
theoretical estimations, experimental evaluation and
finally validation of both results with designers
prediction.
Mechanical assembly and theoretical estimations
The mechanical assembly of the fan section of the
engine is shown Figure 9. It is the cut section of fan
casing and internal mechanical arrangement related to
three stages of fan rotor. The engine is mounted at
three locations (at two points on the front mount on
the intermediate casing and at one point on the tur-
bine casing on the load ring). The ball bearing at the
front, housed in bearing housing is also called thrust
bearing and allows growth and expansion only in one
direction, i.e. in the rear direction. The convention is
that any rotor and casing located to the left of the
front mount will grow/move towards the thrust bear-
ing and the one located to the right of the mount will
grow/move to the rear side. Thrust bearing is con-
sidered as the zero reference for static structure.
However, actual analysis applying the appropriate
boundary conditions only will provide the actual
movement/growth of casings and rotors. As both
rotors and stators experience growth under loaded
conditions, all growths are calculated with respect to
the front mount.
Aerothermal and rotary loads influence all static
and rotating components to grow as per their mater-
ial properties, local pressure and temperature condi-
tions, rotor dynamics and centrifugal forces acting on
rotating components.22,23 Variation in the relative
position of the probe mounted on the casing with
respect to the blade tip, affects the capacitance-
based system output. The relative positional changes
and rotor dynamics effects are arrived at using the
data obtained through the analysis done using
FEM technique by applying the expected maximum
pressure, temperature and rotating speed factors as
boundary conditions. The results of the following
analysis carried out have been used for this pur-
pose: (a) casing and front bearing housing growths
due to aero thermal loads; (b) disc growths due to
aero, thermal and rotating loads; (c) blades axial,
leading and trailing edge growths; (d) rotor dynamic
and bearing ply effects on the rotor; (e) error
658
Figure 9. Mechanical arrangement of fan rotor.
contribution from the design and acceptable machin-
ing tolerance factors.
Thrust bearing housing growth. The thrust bearing shown
in Figure 10 is considered as the zero reference for
static structures. Forward and reverse forces act on
the bearing housing due to thermal and pressure
loads. This results in axial and radial growths. The
engine is expected to operate at its maximum operat-
ing condition at Mach ¼ 0.89, ISA þ 15  C condition
with maximum fan rotor speed of 11,047 rpm. The
results of growth analysis data24 show that the bear-
ing housing displaces itself axially by 1.503 mm and
radially by 0.015 mm from its initial position with ref-
erence to front mount.
Fan casing growth analysis. The fan casing, as shown in
Figure 11, on which the capacitance probe is mounted
also experiences growth independently. The data from
the study of Patel et al.24 shows that under the con-
sidered load and operating condition, the casing
grows axially by 0.824 mm towards the front and radi-
ally by 0.202 mm. Hence, the capacitance pickup
moves along with the casing from its initial position
in cold condition.
Rotating disc growth analysis. Blades are assembled on to
the slots provided on the disc. The disc also
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Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)
experiences growth while rotating at 11,047 rpm
and operating at maximum operating conditions.
The disc growth analysis data25 shows that the fan’s
second stage disc (LPC II disc) at maximum operating
condition can move towards the bearing housing
axially by 0.758 mm and radially by 1.08 mm
(see Figure 12).
Analysis of rotating blade growths. The main purpose of
the blades in a fan rotor is to suck and compress the
air efficiently. This is achieved by the appropriate
aerofoil shape of the blade. During engine operation,
blades experience radial growths due to centrifugal
force. This apart, the blade tip gets untwisted due to
pressure and thermal loads. Blade tips experience
both radial and axial growths. The blade radial
growths contribute to tip clearance closure. But the
axial growths of the aerofoil blade tip result in shifting
of blade stacking axis. It is at this stacking axis of the
blade tip that the capacitance pickup measures the
clearance. The blade growth analysis data27 related
to LPC II blade assembly at maximum operating con-
dition shows that the leading edge moves axially by
1.918 mm and trailing edge moves axially by 0.758 mm
in the opposite direction (towards the rear). The blade
tip growths are shown in Figure 13. The difference
between axial growths of blade leading and trailing
edge is 1.918  0.758 ¼ 1.160 mm. That is, the blade
Satish et al.
Figure 10. Bearing housing axial and radial growth.
Figure 11. Fan casing axial/radial growths.
stacking axis is displaced by 1.160 mm towards the
thrust-bearing side due to loading.
Final displacement of the sensing point. It is seen from the
above sections that for the maximum operating con-
dition, the fan casing, the disc, blade and even the
bearing housing grow axially and radially with
respect to front mount. The effect of components
growing in different magnitude and direction is that
the measurement probe will be shifted from its initial
target position. By analyzing the growth factors, it
can be concluded that the orientation of the probe
with respect to the blade tip has been shifted from its
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659
initial position in cold condition by 1.094 towards
the trailing edge.
Error due to assembly. Assembly errors can come from
blade root assembly region. The radial lift of the blade
at the blade seating region is evaluated. This factor
normally comes because of the minimum gap that is
required to assemble the blade with the dovetail disc
seating with acceptable machining tolerances of the
blade and disc is as shown in Figure 14. The vertical
lift that can result due to assembly is accounted and
considered under fixed errors. It has been estimated to
be a constant error of 0.01 mm.
660
Figure 12. Disc axial and radial shift.
Figure 13. Blade tip axial and radial growth.
Errors due rotational axis misalignment. Another import-
ant source of error is the misalignment in the rota-
tional axis of the rotor. Misalignment in the rotational
axis results in radial clearance error. This is because
the rotor orbits around a radially shifted rotating axis.
Practically it is quite difficult to quantify errors that
are contributed by rotor axial misalignment. In an
aero engine, a combination of series of fan discs
assembled with blades are interconnected to a turbine
with a shaft to make a rotor assembly. The complete
rotor is balanced to G 2.5 standard or better. During
balancing, this rotor is held between two designated
bearings that are mounted on the balancing machine
pedestal and rotated, as shown schematically in
Figure 15. As an initial setting, a spring-loaded dial
tip indicator (DTI) is made to track the surface of the
shaft through a slow rotation of the total rotor.
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The full indicator reading (FIR) of the DTI is the
indicator of axial misalignment. During an aeroengine
assembly process, a best FIR is achieved so that the
axial misalignments fall within the permissible limits.
Anything in excess of permissible misalignment levels
would affect rotor dynamics and will act as a source of
engine vibration. The residual misalignment can have
a very marginal effect on the tip clearance measure-
ment. However, during uncertainty analysis, it cannot
be left unaccounted and it should be addressed. The
errors that can come due this misalignment can either
be quantified or the measurement can be made
immune to this event. An axial misalignment would
force the rotor to wobble with the misaligned shaft
centre as the centre of rotation. This will make the
blade tip to move in an orbit. Figure 16 shows the
line diagram of the rotor balancing setup. C1 indicates
Satish et al. 661

Figure 14. Vertical lift expected in the blade dovetail assembly.

Figure 15. Schematic of rotor balancing setup.

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662
Figure 16. Schematic of rotor misalignment.
the ideal shaft centre and C2 indicates the axially
shifted rotor centre in radial direction (nothing but
the gap variation in the vertical direction). It becomes
an eccentrically mounted rotor carrying a blade at an
arbitrary location. It is clear that the orbit of the blade
tip is also a perfect circle with respect to the axis of
rotation. The blade would reappear at any fixed pos-
ition with the same amount of radial gap X (error)
when compared with the rotor rotation with respect
to ideal shaft centre C1. Based on the practical experi-
ence, it can be said that is very difficult to quantify this
error. But practically the error due to axis misalign-
ment can be quantified during the alignment exercise
of the rotor while balancing with respect to the ball
bearing (reference bearing) centreline. This can be
converted into angular inclination of the rotor
between the two supports (bearings). If the distance
of rotor blade measurement point from the reference
bearing centre is known, then the measurement error
due to misalignment can be quantified as {(distance of
measurement point from reference bearing centre)/
(distance between two bearings)}  (measured mis-
alignment). This method has few inherent disadvan-
tages. Human intervention is quite extensive in this
method. Human errors and furthermore errors of
the instruments used to measure the distances as men-
tioned also should be accounted for. In order to elim-
inate a very small error due to axial misalignment,
additional new errors need to be addressed. Hence
this method was discarded. But in this study, using
an innovative calibration technique/methodology, it
was ensured that this error has no effect on the abso-
lute tip clearance measurement on the engine. During
calibration, the capacitance probe is positioned at a
known precise gap from the rotating longest blade tip.
The sensor response for a particular gap was recorded
for various known gaps, covering the expected range
of tip clearance variation on the engine. For this
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study, capacitance-based systems with a bandwidth
ranging from 50 Hz to 125 KHz has been used. This
system gives output when the rate of change of cap-
acitance happens due to a blade pass. Hence, the cali-
bration is done on the actual rotating engine rotor on
the balancing machine in rotating condition. A mech-
anical gap setting arrangement is made in such a way
that precise gaps can be set between blade tip and
sensor in rotating condition. During calibration, the
capacitance sensor is made to move precisely in both
directions, as shown in Figure 15. But blades are
rotating with disc at balancing speeds (low speed in
controlled environment to avoid centrifugal and ther-
mal effects). When the rotor rotates, a particular blade
would reappear at the sensor with the same circular
envelope with respect to axis of rotation, as shown in
Figure 16. When the rotating longest blade (prior
identified) tip is taken as the reference to set the gap
during calibration, the error ‘X’ due to radial mis-
alignment is already built-in. Subsequently, using
the same calibration for online clearance evaluation
on the engine totally insulates the tip clearance meas-
urement from this error creeping into this measure-
ment. This is a practical solution to this problem. By
adopting this methodology, the absolute clearance is
measured on the engine without the error due to
radial misalignment that has crept into this measure-
ment. Thus the effect of radial misalignment is not felt
at all. Hence, the errors due to radial misalignments
are not accounted for during the current uncertainty
analysis work.
Scaling approach
All FEM analyses are carried out for maximum oper-
ating condition. However, the engine test (case study)
presented was carried out under a different (local) test
condition. The above-mentioned results are converted
Satish et al.
Figure 17. Axial shift experiment schematic.
to local operating conditions using the following
scaling approach26—(a) for rotating components:
growth factors are proportional to square of revolu-
tions per minute; (b) for static components: growth
factor is proportional to temperature.
After applying the scaling guidelines, at local oper-
ating condition, the probe would be seeing the blade
tip that is displaced axially by 0.717 mm towards trail-
ing edge from its initial position.
The tip clearance in the engine is measured between
the blade tip (where the stacking axis passes through)
and the capacitive sensor (mounted on the static
casing). All measurements are carriedout with respect
to this point. If a blade is cut in horizontal plane into
many sections (pieces), stacking axis is a line joining
the CG of each aerofoil sections. The stack point is
nothing but the tip of the blade where stacking axis
runs. This is the point on the blade tip where capaci-
tance pickup makes a parallel plate capacitor.
Calibration and measurement is done with respect
to this point. It is found from the analytical data
that the probe will be displaced from its initial pos-
ition in hot condition. It is found that there is sensor
to blade tip misalignment by 0.717 mm axially. The
effect of this axial shift on this measurement was eval-
uated experimentally.
Experimental work
During this study, the possible error due to this axial
shift (sensor–blade misalignment) on calibration was
evaluated by experimentation on the actual engine
rotor. The following section provides the details of
the experiments conducted to identify the effect of
this axial shift on the calibration and indication.
This apart, the random errors, i.e. precision index
of the measurement chain was also evaluated experi-
mentally. The overall error (uncertainty) of the meas-
urement chain (system) was calculated subsequently
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663
using the precision index. The subsequent sections
provide details on the experiments conducted.
Axial shift experiment. In order to establish the extent of
sensor response variations for shifted positions of
0.717 mm of the rotor, experiment was carried out
on actual fan rotor by setting different positions of
the probe radially (simulating blade þ disc growth)
and axially (simulating rotor growths axially), as
shown schematically in Figure 17. This is done with
a mechanical arrangement using an X–Y table, as
shown in Figures 18 and 19. With this arrangement,
the probe was made to move and set precise gaps in
horizontal and vertical directions. During the experi-
ment, the full-scale engine rotor (bladed disc with
blades assembled) was rotated up to a max of
1200 rpm. Results of the experiment conducted are
shown in Figure 20. It is the combined plot of
sensor positions shifted axially and radially. An
enlarged view at lower clearance sensor positions is
shown in Figure 21. Here, the variation in calibration
(response) for sensor positions at stacking axis and for
a 0.75-mm shifted position are shown, where higher
sensor output is recorded at shifted position. This is
due to variation in the effective area between capaci-
tive sensor and blade tip.
Experiment to evaluate measurement system precision
index. Measurement chain uncertainty has been
worked out using the statistical UADD –
(Additional) method with a target to achieve up to
99% uncertainty. The value of ‘t95’ is 2 for minimum
sample sizes of 30.This is experimentally done by sub-
jecting the measurement system for its intended appli-
cation and carrying out repeated measurements under
similar operating and environmental conditions.19
As explained earlier, capacitance pickup used has a
bandwidth from 50 Hz to 120 kHz, and the system
gives output only in rotating condition. Hence, meas-
urement system uncertainty also was experimentally
664 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)

3 mm different gaps were set. Again, each gap was set

30 times. Huge amount of data was collected. By com-
puting the difference between each set and indicated
readings, the precision index was arrived at. The pre-
cision index that represents the randomness in the
measurement system is computed in Table 1.
Figure 22 shows the setup developed for experi-
mentation using a BLISK and Figure 23 shows the
total experimental setup.

Measurement system uncertainty evaluation

In any measurement system, the three major elemen-
tal measurement error sources19 are (a) calibration
hierarchy error, (b) data acquisition error and (c)
data reduction error. Calibration hierarchy errors
Figure 18. Experimental setup to evaluate the effect of probe arise at each step of calibration with respect to their
axial shift. higher reference standards. It is defined as calibration
hierarchy error. It establishes the traceability of the
working sensor and the data acquisition equipment
through working standards and laboratory standards
to the standards at national standards institution.
Data acquisition errors are the errors that arise
from the data acquisition system, i.e. from the elec-
tronic hardware, signal conditioner, A/D converters
and recording devices In this study, peak detector
hardware is designed to track each blade. Data reduc-
tion errors are the errors arising from sources such as
calibration curve fits, computer resolution, approxi-
mations in math models and computational models
for obtaining curve fitting error. All the above sources
were addressed individually and were evaluated ana-
lytically and the results are shown in Table 2. This
apart, all elemental fixed and random errors from
various other sources that were also evaluated are
tabulated in Table 2.

Figure 19. Probe orientation with the blade tip. Total measurement chain uncertainty calculations
The total uncertainty factor was arrived at by making
use of the data collected during the experimentation
arrived at. This experiment is mainly conducted to and factors related to measurement system that are
find out the uncertainties in the total measurement listed in Tables 1 and 2.
chain, as the guidelines,18,19 call for repeated measure-
ments under the same operating conditions (minimum UADD ¼ ðB þ t95 SÞ ð1Þ
of 30 times). As it is not possible to set the gaps on the
actual engine, this is done through experimentation. where B is bias in %, S is precision index.
The same data acquisition system that was used UADD: 99% of the time the true value is expected
during engine testing was used for this experimenta- to lie within UADD of the measured value. where
tion. Here a blisk rotor was used instead of an actual
pX
engine rotor. It was rotated on the precision balancing B¼ ðb1 Þ2 þ    þ ðbnÞ2
machine used for balancing rotating aeroengine com- pX 2
ponents. The calibration of the probe with respect to S¼ ðs1 Þ þ    þ ðsn Þ2 and
the blisk rotor blade tip was established. The calibra- t95 ¼ 2
tion data was used as a lookup table in the software
used for evaluating tip clearances. Repeated gaps were and s1. . .s2 are elementary precision errors, b1. . .bn are
set, for example a gap of 0.5 mm was set between elemental biases, t95 ¼ parameter defining the 95th per-
blade tip and the probe for 30 times. Similarly upto centile point of the students ’t’ distribution.

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Satish et al. 665

Figure 20. Combined plots of the experimental results.

Figure 21. Expanded plots at lower clearances.

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666 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)

Table 1. Precision index of the measurement system.

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi2
ðXXi Þ
Gap Forward average Difference Precision index S ¼ ðn1Þ Average precision index

0 0.12 0.12 0.019298 0.037268

0.1 0.224333 0.124333 0.020457
0.2 0.309 0.109 0.056529
0.4 0.513667 0.113667 0.020924
0.6 0.718333 0.118333 0.019841
0.8 0.923 0.123 0.021838
1 1.1 0.1 0.186862
1.4 1.542414 0.142414 0.017659
1.8 1.913 0.113 0.018223
2.2 2.209333 0.009333 0.015298
2.6 2.446 0.154 0.013025

Data conversion error s2 ¼ 0:89

Bearing play error s3 ¼ 0:53
p
S ¼ ð0:0373Þ2 þ ð0:89Þ2 þ ð0:053Þ2 S ¼ 0:892
p
B ¼ ð0:001Þ2 þ ð0:003Þ2 þ ð0:01Þ2 þ ð0:006Þ2
þ ð0:005Þ2 þ ð0:012Þ2 þ ð1:07Þ2 þ ð2:5Þ2 þ ð0:1Þ2
p
B ¼ 7:405 B ¼ 2:72
U ¼ ð2:72 þ ð2  0:892ÞÞ
U ¼ 4:504%

The estimated error for the range 0–2.8 mm is

0.128 mm.

In the above calculations, the effects of rotor

Figure 22. BLISK rotor for experiments.
dynamics and the bearing ply on this measurement
1. Estimated error for the range 0–2.8 mm are not discussed. Similar calculations have been
done considering the FE analysis data of the rotor
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
PN 2 system15 at various operating conditions. It is found
i¼1 ðXi  XÞ
s1 ¼ ¼ 0:373 from the calculation that their effects have very min-
ðN  1Þ imal influence on the tip clearance measurement for
Data conversion error s2 ¼ 0:89 this particular engine operating condition, hence they
Bearing play error s3 ¼ 0:53 are not discussed in this study.
p
S ¼ ð0:0373Þ2 þ ð0:89Þ2 þ ð0:053Þ2 S ¼ 0:892
p Discussion and validation of results
B ¼ ð0:001Þ2 þ ð0:003Þ2 þ ð0:01Þ2 þ ð0:006Þ2
þ ð0:005Þ2 þ ð0:012Þ2 þ ð2:14Þ2 þ ð2:5Þ2 þ ð0:1Þ2 The results thus obtained are listed, followed by an
p analysis and discussion on results. As an ultimate
B ¼ 11:841 B ¼ 3:44 option, the results were validated against designer’s
U ¼ ð3:44 þ ð2  0:892ÞÞ prediction.
U ¼ 5:22%

The estimated error for the range 0–2.8 mm is

Results of both experiments
0.146 mm. In this study, the effect of axial shift was experimentally
evaluated through axial shift experiments. Actual
2. Estimated error for the range 0–2.2 mm engine rotor was used for this experiment. This apart,
the precision index, i.e. the randomness in the measure-
ment system, was evaluated using rotating blisk rotor
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
PN 2 and data acquisition system. This helped to arrive at
i¼1 ðXi  XÞ
s1 ¼ ¼ 0:373 the total uncertainty in this measurement. The results
ðN  1Þ of both experiments are summarised as follows.

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Satish et al. 667

Figure 23. Experimental setup.

Table 2. Elementary bias and precisions errors.

Sly no Source of the error B ¼ Bias % of FS S ¼ Precision index

1 Calibration hierarchy errors 0.001

2 Data conversion error 0.89
3 Peak detector
(a) Input offset voltage (a) 0.003
(b) Gain error (b) 0.01
(c) Gain temperature coefficient (c) 0.006
(d) Droop, negligible (d) 0
(e) Power supply sensitivity (e) 0.005
4 ADC 0.012
5 The max full-scale curve fit error
(a) 0–2.8 mm (a) 2.14
(b) 0–2.2 mm (b) 1.07
6 Transducer accuracy 2.5
The accuracy of the transducer is over full-scale range
7 Gap setting error 0.1
8 Precision index: through experimentation with 30 independent readings 0.373
9 Bearing ply 0.053
10 Assembly errors 0.01

Results of axial shift experiment. With the plots
(Figure 20) of output voltage against the different
axially displaced gap set, it is evident that axial shift
of rotor has a very significant effect on the measure-
ment and on the calibration.
From the graphs in Figure 21, it can be seen that
for a given gap, the corresponding voltage is lower in
case of stack point line and is almost 0.5 V more in
case of trailing edge line shifted by 0.7 mm.
Measurement system compares the voltage from
the capacitance pickups with the calibration data
and indicates measured clearance. The calibration is
done with the actual engine rotor in cold condition.
The calibration values are made a part of the data
acquisition software either as a lookup table or as
polynomial curve. During hot running condition,
due to axial shift, the probe will start seeing a point
that is shifted by 0.707 mm. But the measurement

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668
Figure 24. Online line plot and corrected plot.
system will not have calibration data for the shifted
position. It is found from the axial shift experiment, at
0.707 mm shifted position, the output voltage is more
by 0.5 V because of aerofoil shape of bladetip. For
capacitance sensor, the higher the output voltage
means the lesser the gap. Because of high voltage at
shifted position, the system compares with calibration
data of initial position (stack axis point) and indicates
less clearance by 0.2 mm even though the actual clear-
ance is not reduced. This phenomenon is shown in
Figure 21.
Results of experiment with blisk rotor. (a) The precision
index of the measurement system is 0.373. It obtained
by experiments on the simulated setup. (b) The final
uncertainty of the measurement system was found to
be UADD ¼ 5.22%, i.e. 0.146 mm of full scale
between 0 and 2.8 mm. It will be UADD ¼ 4.502%,
i.e. 0.128 mm, between 0 and 2.2 mm. However, the
accuracy of the system is better at lower gaps than at
higher gaps.
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Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 228(5)
Analysis and discussion of results
It is found in the axial shift experiment conducted on
LP2 (second stage fan rotor) that an axial misalign-
ment of the capacitance sensor with respect to the
blade from its initial location by 0.702 mm towards
the trailing edge will result in a lower clearance indi-
cation by a factor of 0.15–0.20 mm. That means, the
minimum that was recorded as 0.15 mm in the case
study run should have been 0.15 þ 0.20 mm ¼0.35 mm.
The uncertainty of the measurement system is found
to be 4.502%, which amounts to 0.128 mm. So the
running clearance would have been 0.472 mm.
(0.35  0.128) instead of 0.15 mm as depicted in the
case study run. As per designers, the minimum allowed
running clearance would be 0.25 mm. As the minimum
running clearance was 0.472 mm, which is higher than
the minimum allowable clearances of 0.25 mm, no rub-
bing of the blades has happened, as erroneously indi-
cated by the measurement system. This answers why
no rubbing marks are seen during inspection.
Satish et al.
Validation of experimental results
The main purpose of this study was to find the reasons
for the wrong indication by the measurement system,
as described in the case study. In the case study plot
shown in Figure 6, the minimum running clearance
indicated was 0.15 mm, which is almost a rubbing
indication. Because the allowed minimum running
clearance was 0.25 mm, subsequent engine strip did
not reveal any obvious rubbing marks. This means
the clearance should have been more than the min-
imum allowed value. The main aim of this study was
to arrive at the reasons for such an indication. During
this study, all possible errors towards this measure-
ment were evaluated. The effects of component
growth and axial shift were evaluated. This apart,
the total measurement errors of the measurement
system were also arrived at. Now the obvious question
was, what should have been the actual physical run-
ning clearance in that case study engine test? In order
to answer this question, the findings and outcome of
this study was applied on to the data of the case study
plot. A corrected plot was obtained, which is shown in
Figure 24. In the corrected plot, up to 75% speed, i.e.
up to engine idle speed, only the effect of system
uncertainty is applied. The idle engine speed is rela-
tively low engine speed. Relatively thermal growth in
components are not set in up to this speed. Hence, no
axial growths are expected. So to all data points of the
case study run, only accuracy of the measurement
system was applied. But after idle speed and up to
maximum engine speed, where the speed is high and
correspondingly the thermal growths would have set
in, axial growths and shifts would have taken place by
now. The aerothermal loads are quite dominant at
higher operating regime. Hence, both findings of the
axial shift and accuracy of the measurement system
were applied to all data after idle speed. The plot is
reconstructed as shown in Figure 24, where the min-
imum running clearance has been 0.472 mm.
The final result thus arrived at reveals the reasons
for the wrong indication. However, the final corrected
data needs to be authenticated. The validity of the
corrected minimum running clearance data was
authenticated by designers based on their designed
and predicted clearance value at the local maximum
operating condition. At local operating condition, for
the maximum local operating speed, the expected
minimum clearance is 0.5 mm. The final corrected
minimum clearance value is 0.472 mm, which is very
close to the expected running clearance at the local
operating condition.
Conclusions
The primary task of this study was to establish the
extent of associated engine component growth indi-
vidually and further their effect cumulatively on the
validity of calibration and measurement. This was
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669
achieved by correlating component’s physical
growth data obtained by FEM analysis along with
scaling technique. The uncertainty of the measure-
ment system was evaluated using a simulated
experimental setup, very close to the real system.
By adopting the proven procedure for uncertainty
evaluation of parameters related to gas turbines, the
results thus obtained match with the designer’s
prediction.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any
funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit
sectors.
Acknowledgements
Authors sincerely thank The Director, GTRE for permit-
ting to carry out this work, Sri KS Ramprasad, Sc G, our
group head for his sustained support and guidance during
the course of this work. Sri AN Vishwanatha Rao, Sc F for
all his effort in reviewing the thesis. Dr SK Patel, Sc F,
Structures Group for having guided this work for all aspects
of engine structure growths. Sri Ajay Prathap, Sc F,
Compressor Group for all his total guidance on designers
perspective regarding fan hardware, theoretical prediction
of allowable/minimum clearances, assembly sequencing,
component growths, untwisting phenomenon, and helping
in validating the arrived data. Sri Sreelal Sridhar, Sc G, Ajith
Kumar, Sc E, Sri BVA Patnaik, Sc G and Sri Rudra Gaud,
Sc F for having provided data regarding rotor dynamics and
rotating component growths. Dr Rajendran, Sc F for pro-
viding his valuable guidance on fretting effects on rotating
components. Sri GM Vinod, Sc E of TAS group for all his
help related to experimentation on engine rotor and resolving
rotor axial misalignment issues. We also thank members of
tip clearance group Smt DV Geetha TOD, Sri G Kiran, Sc C,
Smt Aruna and Smt Geetha P for all their support while
conducting extensive, tiring experiments and data collection,
without their participation this work could not have been
completed.
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Appendix
Notation
b1. . .bn elemental biases
B bias in percentage
s1. . .sn elemental precision errors
S precision index
t95 95th percentile of the two-tailed student
‘t’ distribution
UADD 99% of the time the true value is
expected to lie within UADD of the
measured value
FE finite element method