An Experimental and Computational Study of the Formation of a Streamwise Shed Vortex in a Turbine Stage

Author(s):  
Graham Pullan ◽  
John Denton ◽  
Michael Dunkley

Shear layers shed by aircraft wings roll up into vortices. A similar, though far less common, phenomenon can occur in the wake of a turbomachine blade. This paper presents experimental data from a new single stage turbine that has been commissioned at the Whittle Laboratory. Two low aspect ratio stators have been tested with the same rotor row. Surface flow visualisation illustrates the extremely strong secondary flows present in both NGV designs. These secondary flows lead to conventional passage vortices but also to an intense vortex sheet which is shed from the trailing edge of the blades. Pneumatic probe traverses show how this sheet rolls up into a concentrated vortex in the second stator design, but not in the first. A simple numerical experiment is used to model the shear layer instability and the effects of trailing edge shape and exit yaw angle distribution are investigated. It is found that the latter has a strong influence on shear layer rollup: inhibiting the formation of a vortex downstream of NGV 1 but encouraging it behind NGV 2.

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Pullan ◽  
John Denton ◽  
Michael Dunkley

Shear layers shed by aircraft wings roll up into vortices. A similar, though far less common, phenomenon can occur in the wake of a turbomachine blade. This paper presents experimental data from a new single-stage turbine that has been commissioned at the Whittle Laboratory. Two low-aspect ratio stators have been tested with the same rotor row. Surface flow visualization illustrates the extremely strong secondary flows present in both NGV designs. These secondary flows lead to conventional passage vortices, but also to an intense vortex sheet which is shed from the trailing edge of the blades. Pneumatic probe traverses show how this sheet rolls up into a concentrated vortex in the second stator design, but not in the first. A simple numerical experiment is used to model the shear layer instability and the effects of trailing edge shape and exit yaw angle distribution are investigated. It is found that the latter has a strong influence on shear layer rollup: inhibiting the formation of a vortex downstream of NGV 1 but encouraging it behind NGV 2.


2014 ◽  
Vol 555 ◽  
pp. 012086 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Rowcroft ◽  
D Burton ◽  
H M Blackburn ◽  
J Sheridan

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Troldborg

A comprehensive computational study, in both steady and unsteady flow conditions, has been carried out to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of the Risø-B1-18 airfoil equipped with variable trailing edge geometry as produced by a hinged flap. The function of such flaps should be to decrease fatigue-inducing oscillations on the blades. The computations were conducted using a 2D incompressible RANS solver with a k-w turbulence model under the assumption of a fully developed turbulent flow. The investigations were conducted at a Reynolds number of Re = 1.6 · 106. Calculations conducted on the baseline airfoil showed excellent agreement with measurements on the same airfoil with the same specified conditions. Furthermore, a more widespread comparison with an advanced potential theory code is presented. The influence of various key parameters, such as flap shape, flap size and oscillating frequencies, was investigated so that an optimum design can be suggested for application with wind turbine blades. It is concluded that a moderately curved flap with flap chord to airfoil curve ratio between 0.05 and 0.10 would be an optimum choice.


2009 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Knezevici ◽  
S. A. Sjolander ◽  
T. J. Praisner ◽  
E. Allen-Bradley ◽  
E. A. Grover

An approach to endwall contouring has been developed with the goal of reducing secondary losses in highly loaded axial flow turbines. The present paper describes an experimental assessment of the performance of the contouring approach implemented in a low-speed linear cascade test facility. The study examines the secondary flows of a cascade composed of Pratt & Whitney PAKB airfoils. This airfoil has been used extensively in low-pressure turbine research, and the present work adds intrapassage pressure and velocity measurements to the existing database. The cascade was tested at design incidence and at an inlet Reynolds number of 126,000 based on inlet midspan velocity and axial chord. Quantitative results include seven-hole pneumatic probe pressure measurements downstream of the cascade to assess blade row losses and detailed seven-hole probe measurements within the blade passage to track the progression of flow structures. Qualitative results take the form of oil surface flow visualization on the endwall and blade suction surface. The application of endwall contouring resulted in lower secondary losses and a reduction in secondary kinetic energy associated with pitchwise flow near the endwall and spanwise flow up the suction surface within the blade passage. The mechanism of loss reduction is discussed in regard to the reduction in secondary kinetic energy.


Author(s):  
C. P. van Dam ◽  
C. Bauer ◽  
D. T. Yen Nakafuji

Micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) translational tabs are introduced for active lift control on aircraft. These tabs are mounted near the trailing edge of lifting surfaces such as aircraft wings and tails, deploy approximately normal to the surface, and have a maximum deployment height on the order of one percent of the section chord. Deployment of the tab effectively changes the sectional camber, thereby changing the aerodynamic characteristics of a lifting surface. Tabs with said deployment height generate a change in the section lift coefficient of approximately ±0.3. The microtab design and the techniques used to fabricate and test the tabs are presented.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Armellini ◽  
Filippo Coletti ◽  
Tony Arts ◽  
Christophe Scholtes

The present contribution addresses the aero-thermal experimental and computational study of a trapezoidal cross-section model simulating a trailing edge cooling cavity with one rib-roughened wall. The flow is fed through tilted slots on one side wall and exits through straight slots on the opposite side wall. The flow field aerodynamics is investigated in part I of the paper. The reference Reynolds number is defined at the entrance of the test section and set at 67500 for all the experiments. A qualitative flow model is deduced from surface-streamline flow visualizations. Two-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry measurements are performed in several planes around mid-span of the channel and recombined to visualize and quantify three-dimensional flow features. The jets issued from the tilted slots are characterized and the jet-rib interaction is analyzed. Attention is drawn to the motion of the flow deflected by the rib-roughened wall and impinging on the opposite smooth wall. The experimental results are compared with the numerical predictions obtained from the finite volume, RANS solver CEDRE.


Author(s):  
Kevin Liu ◽  
Hongzhou Xu ◽  
Michael Fox

Cooling of the turbine nozzle endwall is challenging due to its complex flow field involving strong secondary flows. Increasingly-effective cooling schemes are required to meet the higher turbine inlet temperatures required by today’s gas turbine applications. Therefore, in order to cool the endwall surface near the pressure side of the airfoil and the trailing edge extended area, the spent cooling air from the airfoil film cooling and pressure side discharge slots, referred to as “phantom cooling” is utilized. This paper studies the effect of compound angled pressure side injection on nozzle endwall surface. The measurements were conducted in a high speed linear cascade, which consists of three nozzle vanes and four flow passages. Two nozzle test models with a similar film cooling design were investigated, one with an axial pressure side film cooling row and trailing edge slots; the other with the same cooling features but with compound angled injection, aiming at the test endwall. Phantom cooling effectiveness on the endwall was measured using a Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique through the mass transfer analogy. Two-dimensional phantom cooling effectiveness distributions on the endwall surface are presented for four MFR (Mass Flow Ratio) values in each test case. Then the phantom cooling effectiveness distributions are pitchwise-averaged along the axial direction and comparisons were made to show the effect of the compound angled injection. The results indicated that the endwall phantom cooling effectiveness increases with the MFR significantly. A compound angle of the pressure side slots also enhanced the endwall phantom cooling significantly. For combined injections, the phantom cooling effectiveness is much higher than the pressure side slots injection only in the endwall downstream extended area.


Author(s):  
Knut Lehmann ◽  
Richard Thomas ◽  
Howard Hodson ◽  
Vassilis Stefanis

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the distribution of the convective heat transfer on the shroud of a high pressure turbine blade in a large scale rotating rig. A continuous thin heater foil technique has been adapted and implemented on the turbine shroud. Thermochromic Liquid Crystals were employed for the surface temperature measurements to derive the experimental heat transfer data. The heat transfer is presented on the shroud top surfaces and the three fins. The experiments were conducted for a variety of Reynolds numbers and flow coefficients. The effects of different inter-shroud gap sizes and reduced fin tip clearance gaps were also investigated. Details of the shroud flow field were obtained using an advanced Ammonia-Diazo surface flow visualisation technique. CFD predictions are compared with the experimental data and used to aid interpretation. Contour maps of the Nusselt number reveal that regions of highest heat transfer are mostly confined to the suction side of the shroud. Peak values exceed the average by as much as 100 percent. It has been found that the interaction between leakage flow through the inter-shroud gaps and the fin tip leakage jets are responsible for this high heat transfer. The inter-shroud gap leakage flow causes a disruption of the boundary layer on the turbine shroud. Furthermore, the development of the large recirculating shroud cavity vortices is severely altered by this leakage flow.


Author(s):  
D. J. Patterson ◽  
M. Hoeger

Because of the laminar boundary-layer’s inability to withstand moderate adverse pressure gradients without separating, profile losses in LP turbines operating at low Reynolds numbers can be high. The choice of design pressure distribution for the blading is thus of great importance. Three sub-sonic LP turbine nozzle-guide-vane cascade profiles have been tested over a wide range of incidence, Mach number and Reynolds number. The three profiles are of low, medium and high deflection and, as such, display significantly different pressure distributions. The tests include detailed boundary-layer traverses, trailing-edge base-pressure monitoring and oil-flow visualisation. It is shown that the loss variation with Reynolds number is a function of pressure distribution and that the trailing-edge loss component is dominant at low Reynolds number. The importance of achieving late flow transition — rather than separation — in the suction-surface trailing-edge region is stressed. The paper concludes by remarking on the advantages and practical implications of each loading design.


Author(s):  
Mathias Deckers ◽  
John D. Denton

A theoretical and computational study into the aerodynamics of trailing-edge-cooled transonic turbine blades is described in this part of the paper. The theoretical study shows that, for unstaggered blades with coolant ejection, the base pressure and overall loss can be determined exactly by a simple control volume analysis. This theory suggests that a thick, cooled trailing edge with a wide slot can be more efficient than a thin, solid trailing edge. An existing time-marching finite volume method is adapted to calculate the transonic flow with trailing edge coolant ejection on a structured, quasi-orthogonal mesh. Good overall agreement between the present method, inviscid and viscous, and experimental evidence is obtained.


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