The Effects of Wake Mixing on Compressor Aerodynamics

1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Dring ◽  
D. A. Spear

A methodology based on wake mixing has been developed that enables more accurate predictions of compressor airfoil pressure distributions when the airfoil is operating downstream of an airfoil row that has strong wakes. The methodology has an impact on throughflow analysis, on airfoil-to-airfoil flow analysis, and on the interpretation of experimental data. It is demonstrated that the flow in the endwall region is particularly sensitive to mixing due to the strong wakes caused by the secondary flow and corner separation that commonly occur in this region. It is also demonstrated that wake mixing can have a strong impact on both airfoil incidence and deviation as well as on loading. Differences of up to 13 deg and 30 percent in loading are demonstrated.

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Dring ◽  
David A. Spear

A methodology based on wake mixing has been developed that enables more accurate predictions of compressor airfoil pressure distributions when the airfoil is operating downstream of an airfoil row that has strong wakes. The methodology has an impact on through–flow analysis, on airfoil–to–airfoil flow analysis, and on the interpretation of experimental data. It is demonstrated that the flow in the endwall region is particularly sensitive to mixing due to the strong wakes caused by the secondary flow and corner separation that commonly occur in this region. It is also demonstrated that wake mixing can have a strong impact on both airfoil incidence and deviation as well as on loading. Differences of up to 13° and 30% in loading are demonstrated.


Author(s):  
J H Horlock

In a well-designed multi-stage axial flow compressor, the flow settles down to a repeating condition, in which the axial velocity profile does not deteriorate further; it is more or less unchanged between the entry and the exit of a deeply embedded stage. However, experimental data also show that the flow angles repeat, and it is this flow phenomenon that is discussed in the paper. Secondary flow analysis, coupled with empirical data on clearance flows, is used to give a description of the flow in such a repeating stage. The secondary flow at exit from a row involves both the streamwise vorticity generated in that row and the vorticity that exists at entry—the so-called ‘skew’ vorticity due to a non-uniform velocity from a stator being received by a moving rotor (and a similar effect from the rotor to the stator). However, clearance vorticity—shed from the rotor tip (casing) section and the stator root (hub) section—is also present and can be taken into account. Calculations made using the analyses are compared with some limited experimental data drawn from the published literature. Predicted underturning at rotor tip (casing) sections is confirmed by experiments; similarly, predicted underturning at stator tip (casing) sections accords with observations in one compressor but not in another. However, no universal conclusion (on whether underturning or overturning usually occurs) can be drawn for the flow through the rotor and stator root (hub) sections, as either entry or generated secondary vorticity may dominate.


Author(s):  
Shinpei Mizuki ◽  
Ichiro Ariga ◽  
Ichiro Watanabe

An investigation concerning the optimum blade loading of centrifugal impellers was performed. The three impellers with straight radial blades employed in the present study were of the same configurations except the shroud profiles which rendered to bring different diffusion ratios from each other. The static pressure distributions on blade surfaces, flow patterns within the impeller channel as well as at impeller inlet and at outlet were measured for these impellers. The effect of a secondary flow within impeller channel was clarified to some extent from the measurements. Theoretical investigation was also performed in order to compare with the experimental data.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. P. P. Tan ◽  
N. B. Wood ◽  
G. Tabor ◽  
X. Y. Xu

In this study, two different turbulence methodologies are investigated to predict transitional flow in a 75% stenosed axisymmetric experimental arterial model and in a slightly modified version of the model with an eccentric stenosis. Large eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods were applied; in the LES simulations eddy viscosity subgrid-scale models were employed (basic and dynamic Smagorinsky) while the RANS method involved the correlation-based transitional version of the hybrid k-ε/k-ω flow model. The RANS simulations used 410,000 and 820,000 element meshes for the axisymmetric and eccentric stenoses, respectively, with y+ less than 2 viscous wall units for the boundary elements, while the LES used 1,200,000 elements with y+ less than 1. Implicit filtering was used for LES, giving an overlap between the resolved and modeled eddies, ensuring accurate treatment of near wall turbulence structures. Flow analysis was carried out in terms of vorticity and eddy viscosity magnitudes, velocity, and turbulence intensity profiles and the results were compared both with established experimental data and with available direct numerical simulations (DNSs) from the literature. The simulation results demonstrated that the dynamic Smagorinsky LES and RANS transitional model predicted fairly comparable velocity and turbulence intensity profiles with the experimental data, although the dynamic Smagorinsky model gave the best overall agreement. The present study demonstrated the power of LES methods, although they were computationally more costly, and added further evidence of the promise of the RANS transition model used here, previously tested in pulsatile flow on a similar model. Both dynamic Smagorinsky LES and the RANS model captured the complex transition phenomena under physiological Reynolds numbers in steady flow, including separation and reattachment. In this respect, LES with dynamic Smagorinsky appeared more successful than DNS in replicating the axisymmetric experimental results, although inflow conditions, which are subject to caveats, may have differed. For the eccentric stenosis, LES with Smagorinsky coefficient of 0.13 gave the closest agreement with DNS despite the known shortcomings of fixed coefficients. The relaminarization as the flow escaped the influence of the stenosis was amply demonstrated in the simulations, graphically so in the case of LES.


Author(s):  
Patrick J. Migliorini ◽  
Alexandrina Untaroiu ◽  
William C. Witt ◽  
Neal R. Morgan ◽  
Houston G. Wood

Annular seals are used in turbomachinery to reduce secondary flow between regions of high and low pressure. In a vibrating rotor system, the non-axisymmetric pressure field developed in the small clearance between the rotor and the seal generate reactionary forces that can affect the stability of the entire rotor system. Traditionally, two analyses have been used to study the fluid flow in seals, bulk-flow analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Bulk-flow methods are computational inexpensive, but solve simplified equations that rely on empirically derived coefficients and are moderately accurate. CFD analyses generally provide more accurate results than bulk-flow codes, but solution time can vary between days and weeks. For gas damper seals, these analyses have been developed with the assumption that the flow can be treated as isothermal. Some experimental studies show that the difference between the inlet and outlet temperature temperatures is less than 5% but initial CFD studies show that there can be a significant temperature change which can have an effect on the density field. Thus, a comprehensive analysis requires the solution of an energy equation. Recently, a new hybrid method that employs a CFD analysis for the base state, unperturbed flow and a bulk-flow analysis for the first order, perturbed flow has been developed. This method has shown to compare well with full CFD analysis and experimental data while being computationally efficient. In this study, the previously developed hybrid method is extended to include the effects of non-isothermal flow. The hybrid method with energy equation is then compared with the isothermal hybrid method and experimental data for several test cases of hole-pattern seals and the importance of the use of energy equation is studied.


Author(s):  
Isak Jonsson ◽  
Valery Chernoray ◽  
Borja Rojo

This paper experimentally addresses the impact of surface roughness on losses and secondary flow in a Turbine Rear Structure (TRS). Experiments were performed in the Chalmers LPT-OGV facility, at an engine representative Reynolds number with a realistic shrouded rotating low-pressure turbine (LPT). Outlet Guide Vanes (OGV) were manufactured to achieve three different surface roughnesses tested at two Reynolds numbers, Re = 235000 and Re = 465000. The experiments were performed at on-design inlet swirl conditions. The inlet and outlet flow of the TRS were measured in 2D planes with a 5-hole probe and 7-hole probe accordingly. The static pressure distributions on the OGVs were measured and boundary layer studies were performed at the OGV midspan on the suction side with a time-resolved total pressure probe. Turbulence decay was measured within the TRS with a single hot-wire. The results showed a surprisingly significant increase in the losses for the high level of surface roughness (25–30 Ra) of the OGVs and Re = 465000. The increased losses were primary revealed as a result of the flow separation on the OGV suction side near the hub. The loss increase was seen but was less substantial for the intermediate roughness case (4–8 Ra). Experimental results presented in this work provide support for the further development of more advanced TRS and data for the validation of new CFD prediction methods for TRS.


Author(s):  
Jean Brunette ◽  
Rosaire Mongrain ◽  
Rosaire Mongrain ◽  
Adrian Ranga ◽  
Adrian Ranga ◽  
...  

Myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack, is the single leading cause of death in North America. It results from the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, which occurs in response to both mechanical stress and inflammatory processes. In order to validate computational models of atherosclerotic coronary arteries, a novel technique for molding realistic compliant phantom featuring injection-molded inclusions and multiple layers has been developed. This transparent phantom allows for particle image velocimetry (PIV) flow analysis and can supply experimental data to validate computational fluid dynamics algorithms and hypothesis.


Author(s):  
G. M. Raposo ◽  
A. O. Nieckele

Development of small size and weight separation equipment are crucial for the petroleum off-shore exploration. Since centrifugal fields are several times stronger than the gravity field, cyclonic separation has became very important as a unit process for compact gas-liquid, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid separation. The major difference between the various cyclones is their geometry. Cyclone optimization for different uses is, every year, less based on experiments and more based on mathematical models. In the present work, the flow field inside high oil content hydrocyclones is numerically obtained with FLUENT. The performance of two turbulence models, Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES), to predict the flow inside a high oil content hydrocyclone, is investigated by comparing the results with experimental data available in the literature. All models overpredicted the tangential component, especially at the reverse cone region. However, the prediction of the tangential turbulent fluctuations with LES was significant better than the RSM prediction. The influences of the inlet flow rate and hydrocyclone length in the flow were also evaluated. RSM model was able to foresee correctly, in agreement with experimental data, the correct tendency of pressure drop reduction with decreasing inlet flow rate and increasing length.


1989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huang Xiaoyan ◽  
Wang Qinghuan ◽  
Zhang Chao

In order to develop a CAD computer code system for centrifugal compressor, a numerical technique for design and flow analysis of vaned diffusers has been introduced in this paper. The design of diffusers has been performed by a streamline extension method. The velocity and pressure distributions at design and off-design operating modes have been calculated by a time-dependent finite difference scheme and have been corrected by boundary layer calculations. The numerical results are compared with experimental measurements, and the agreement is satisfactory.


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