Evaluation of the Interaction Losses in a Transonic Turbine HP Rotor/LP Vane Configuration

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. K. Jennions ◽  
J. J. Adamczyk

Transonic turbine rotors produce shock waves, wakes, tip leakage flows, and other secondary flows that the downstream stators have to ingest. While the physics of wake ingestion and shock interaction have been studied quite extensively, few ideas for reducing the aerodynamic interaction losses have been forthcoming. This paper aims to extend previously reported work performed by GE Aircraft Engines in this area. It reports on both average-passage (steady) and unsteady three-dimensional numerical simulations of a candidate design to shed light on the interaction loss mechanisms and evaluate the design. The results from these simulations are first shown against test data for a baseline configuration to engender confidence in the numerical approach. Simulations with the proposed newly designed rotor are then performed to show the trade-offs that are being made in such designs. The new rotor does improve the overall efficiency of the group and physical explanations are presented based on examining entropy production.

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. K. Jennions ◽  
J. J. Adamczyk

Transonic turbine rotors produce shock waves, wakes, tip leakage flows and other secondary flows that the downstream stators have to ingest. While the physics of wake ingestion and shock interaction have been studied quite extensively, few ideas for reducing the aerodynamic interaction losses have been forthcoming. This paper aims to extend previously reported work performed by GE Aircraft Engines in this area. It reports on both average-passage (steady) and unsteady 3D numerical simulations of a candidate design to shed light on the interaction loss mechanisms and evaluate the design. The results from these simulations are first shown against test data for a Baseline configuration to engender confidence in the numerical approach. Simulations with the proposed newly designed rotor are then performed to show the trade-offs that are being made in such designs. The new rotor does improve the overall efficiency of the group and physical explanations are presented based on examining entropy production.


Author(s):  
Ch. Hirsch ◽  
S. Kang ◽  
G. Pointel

The three-dimensional flow in centrifugal impellers is investigated on the basis of a detailed analysis of the results of numerical simulations. In order to gain confidence in this process, an in-depth validation is performed, based on computations of Krain’s centrifugal compressor and of a radial pump impeller, both with vaneless diffusers. Detailed comparisons with available experimental data provide high confidence in the numerical tools and results. The appearance of a high loss ‘wake’ region results from the transport of boundary layer material from the blade surfaces to the shroud region and its location depends on the balance between secondary and tip leakage flows and is not necessarily connected to 3D boundary layer separation. Although the low momentum spots near the shroud can interfere with 3D separated regions, the main outcome of the present analysis is that these are two distinct phenomena. Part I of this paper focuses on the validation base of the numerical approach, based on fine mesh simulations, while Part II presents an analysis of the different contributions to the secondary flows and attempts to estimate their effect on the overall flow pattern.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Du ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Jingyi Chen ◽  
Chaoqun Nie ◽  
Christoph Biela

Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate flow structures in the tip region for an axial transonic rotor, with careful comparisons with the experimental results. The calculated performance curve and two-dimensional (2D) flow structures observed at casing, such as the shock wave, the expansion wave around the leading edge, and the tip leakage flow at peak efficiency and near-stall points, are all captured by simulation results, which agree with the experimental data well. An in-depth analysis of three-dimensional flow structures reveals three features: (1) there exists an interface between the incoming main flow and the tip leakage flow, (2) in this rotor the tip leakage flows along the blade chord can be divided into at least two parts according to the blade loading distribution, and (3) each part plays a different role on the stall inception mechanism in the leakage flow dominated region. A model of three-dimensional flow structures of tip leakage flow is thus proposed accordingly. In the second half of this paper, the unsteady features of the tip leakage flows, which emerge at the operating points close to stall, are presented and validated with experiment observations. The numerical results in the rotor relative reference frame are first converted to the casing absolute reference frame before compared with the measurements in experiments. It is found that the main frequency components of simulation at absolute reference frame match well with those measured in the experiments. The mechanism of the unsteadiness and its significance to stability enhancement design are then discussed based on the details of the flow field obtained through numerical simulations.


Author(s):  
Andrew P. S. Wheeler ◽  
Theodosios Korakianitis ◽  
Shashimal Banneheke

In this paper the effect of blade-exit Mach number on unshrouded turbine tip-leakage flows is investigated. Previously published experimental data of a high-pressure turbine blade are used to validate a CFD code, which is then used to study the tip-leakage flow at blade-exit Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.4. Three-dimensional calculations are performed of a flat-tip and a cavity-tip blade. Two-dimensional calculations are also performed to show the effect of various squealer-tip geometries on an idealized tip-flow. The results show that as the blade-exit Mach number is increased the tip leakage flow becomes choked. Therefore the tip-leakage flow becomes independent of the pressure difference across the tip and hence the blade-loading. Thus the effect of the tip-leakage flow on overall blade loss reduces at blade-exit Mach numbers greater than 1.0. The results suggest that for transonic blade-rows it should be possible to raise blade loading within the tip region without increasing tip-leakage loss.


Author(s):  
Maximilian Passmann ◽  
Stefan aus der Wiesche ◽  
Franz Joos

This paper presents results of a detailed investigation of turbine tip-leakage flows at high Mach numbers. The experimental work was carried out using a small blow-down wind tunnel. An idealized blade test section was used to study blade tip-clearance effects in transonic conditions. Unshrouded blade tips are considered and different tip gap heights are investigated. A high blade exit Mach number of Me = 2 was selected deliberately. While conventional transonic turbine stages generally operate at lower supersonic exit Mach numbers, the conditions are representative for ORC turbines. Both experimental and numerical results are presented in this contribution. The results indicate, that tip leakage flow under transonic conditions leads to a complex three-dimensional flow field. A strong interaction between tip gap vortex and trailing edge shocks was observed, that also had a profound effect on the base region. While no final statement on losses could be made in the present configuration, the results indicate a weakened shock system.


Author(s):  
Maximilian Passmann ◽  
Stefan aus der Wiesche ◽  
Franz Joos

This paper presents a focusing schlieren system designed for the investigation of transonic turbine tip-leakage flows. In the first part, the functional principle and the design of the system are presented. Major design considerations and necessary trade-offs are discussed. The key optical properties, e.g., depth of focus, are verified by means of a simple bench test. In the second part, results of an idealized tip-clearance model as well as linear cascade tests at engine representative Reynolds and Mach numbers are presented and discussed. The focusing schlieren system, designed for minimum depth of focus, has been found to be well suited for the investigation of three-dimensional transonic flow fields in turbomachinery applications. The schlieren images show the origin and growth of the tip-leakage vortex on the blade suction side. A complex shock system was observed in the tip region, and the tip-leakage vortex was found to interact with the suction side part of the trailing edge shock system. The results indicate that transonic vortex shedding is suppressed in the tip region at an exit Mach number around M 2 , i s = 0.8.


Author(s):  
Y.-H. Ho ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana

A steady/unsteady, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver that utilizes a semi-implicit, pressure-based solution procedure is developed to simulate the three-dimensional, incompressible flow through a single stage compressor. The present numerical scheme features the implementation of a second-order plus fourth-order artificial dissipation formulation to prevent the numerical oscillation due to central differencing schemes. A low-Reynolds-number form of the two-equation turbulence model is used to account for the turbulence effects. For unsteady flow computations, the coupling between the mean flow properties and the turbulence is enhanced by an inneriteration procedure during each time step. The steady flow field in the rotor passage is computed first. This is used as input for the computation of the unsteady flow in the subsequent stator. The predicted unsteady pressure on the stator blades and unsteady Velocities at several locations inside the passage are compared with the experimental data. The unsteady pressures on the stator blade surfaces are in good agreement with the experimental data. The predicted unsteady velocity components at various locations inside the stator blade rows are generally smaller than the measured values in the endwall regions. The phase angle variations of the unsteady velocity are in good agreement with the measured values. The effects of the rotor wake, secondary and tip clearance flows on the unsteady flow through the subsequent stator are studied. An attempt is also made to quantify the contributions of incoming tip leakage flows and the endwall boundary layers on the unsteady flow through the downstream stator. It was found that the endwall boundary layers and tip leakage flows have a much stronger influence on the unsteady flow development than the wake.


2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. S. Wheeler ◽  
Theodosios Korakianitis ◽  
Shashimal Banneheke

In this paper the effect of blade-exit Mach number on unshrouded turbine tip-leakage flows is investigated. Previously published experimental data of a high-pressure turbine blade are used to validate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, which is then used to study the tip-leakage flow at blade-exit Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.4. Three-dimensional (3D) calculations are performed of a flat-tip and a cavity-tip blade. Two-dimensional calculations are also performed to show the effect of various squealer-tip geometries on an idealized tip flow. The results show that as the blade-exit Mach number is increased the tip-leakage flow becomes choked. Therefore the tip-leakage flow becomes independent of the pressure difference across the tip and hence the blade loading. Thus the effect of the tip-leakage flow on overall blade loss reduces at blade-exit Mach numbers greater than 1.0. The results suggest that for transonic blade rows it should be possible to raise blade loading within the tip region without increasing tip-leakage loss.


Author(s):  
Feng Lin ◽  
Juan Du ◽  
Jingyi Chen ◽  
Chaoqun Nie ◽  
Christoph Biela

Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate flow structures in the tip region for an axial transonic rotor, with careful comparisons with the experimental results. The calculated performance curve and 2D flow structures observed at casing, such as the shock wave, the expansion wave around the leading edge and the tip leakage flow at peak efficiency and near-stall points, are all captured by simulation results, which agree with the experimental data well. An in-depth analysis of three-dimensional flow structures reveals three features: 1) there exists an interface between the incoming main flow and the tip leakage flow, 2) in this rotor, the tip leakage flows along the blade chord can be divided into at least two parts according to the blade loading distribution, and 3) each part plays a different role on the stall inception mechanism in the leakage flow dominated region. A model of three-dimensional flow structures of tip leakage flow is thus proposed accordingly. In the second half of this paper, the unsteady features of the tip leakage flows, which emerge at the operating points close to stall, are presented and validated with experiment observations. The numerical results in the rotor relative reference frame are first converted to the casing absolute reference frame before compared with the measurements in experiments. It is found that the main frequency components of simulation at absolute reference frame match well with those measured in the experiments. The mechanism of the unsteadiness and its significance to stability enhancement design are then discussed based on the details of the flow field obtained through numerical simulations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1388-1405
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Cao ◽  
Cheng Song ◽  
Xiang Zhang ◽  
Xi Gao ◽  
Bo Liu

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