An Experimental Study on Partial Admission in a Two-Stage Axial Air Test Turbine With Numerical Comparisons

This paper presents ongoing experimental aerodynamic and efficiency measurements on a cold flow two-stage axial air test turbine with low reaction steam turbine blades at different degrees of partial admission. The overall objectives of the work are to experimentally investigate and quantify the steady and unsteady aerodynamic losses induced by partial admission. The first results show that both the total-to-static turbine efficiency drops and that the efficiency peak appears at lower isentropic velocity ratios with lower degrees of admission. Detailed steady traverse measurements of the static wall pressures downstream of sector-ends show strong local variations. The pressure wake from the partial admission blockage moves almost axially through the turbine while the temperature wake is located in a tangential position that represents the position of a particle trace based on velocity triangles, in the direction of the rotor rotation. Comparisons with 2D compressible flow computations around the circumference demonstrate the importance of the radial flow component in these experiments.