Overview
The Gibbons Rig is a medium speed single stage compressor which models the flow in the high pressure compressor of a gas turbine.
The Gibbons rig is used to test a row of blade designs with a very fast turnaround. A set of 3D printed plastic stator blades and 5 axis machined aluminium rotor blades can be manufactured within weeks which allows us to respond to important research questions quickly.
The compressor is assembled vertically and has its own dedicated crane. This arrangement allows the rig to be completely stripped and rebuilt within a day by a single person. A sector of stator blades can be removed and replaced without stripping the rig which means that different stator designs can be swapped within 10 minutes. The rig has a traverse gear which can be used to survey the flow field between blade rows and a sensitive throttle mechanism which is used for research into compressor stall.
The compressor was designed and built in the Engineering department. Funding came from donations and University sources.