scholarly journals Scale-Resolving Simulations of Bypass Transition in a High-Pressure Turbine Cascade Using a Spectral-Element Discontinuous-Galerkin Method

Author(s):  
Anirban Garai ◽  
Laslo T. Diosady ◽  
Scott M. Murman ◽  
Nateri K. Madavan

The application of a new computational capability for accurate and efficient high-fidelity scale-resolving simulations of turbomachinery is presented. The focus is on the prediction of heat transfer and boundary layer characteristics with comparisons to the experiments of Arts et al. for an uncooled, transonic, linear high-pressure turbine (HPT) inlet guide vane cascade that includes the effects of elevated inflow turbulence. The computational capability is based on an entropy-stable, discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element approach that extends to arbitrarily high orders of spatial and temporal accuracy. The suction side of the vane undergoes natural transition for the clean inflow case, while bypass transition mechanisms are observed in the presence of elevated inflow turbulence. The airfoil suction-side boundary layer turbulence characteristics during the transition process thus differ significantly between the two cases. Traditional simulations based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) fail to predict these transition characteristics. The heat transfer characteristics for the simulations with clean inflow agree well with the experimental data, while the heat transfer characteristics for the bypass transition cases agree well with the experiment when higher inflow turbulence levels are prescribed. The differences between the clean and inflow turbulence cases are also highlighted through a detailed examination of the characteristics of the transitional and turbulent flow fields.

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirban Garai ◽  
Laslo T. Diosady ◽  
Scott M. Murman ◽  
Nateri K. Madavan

The application of a new computational capability for accurate and efficient high-fidelity scale-resolving simulations of turbomachinery is presented. The focus is on the prediction of heat transfer and boundary layer characteristics with comparisons to the experiments of Arts et al. (1990, “Aero–Thermal Investigation of a Highly Loaded Transonic Linear Turbine Guide Vane Cascade,” von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Rhode St. Genese, Belgium, Technical Note No. 174.) for an uncooled, transonic, linear high-pressure turbine (HPT) inlet guide vane cascade that includes the effects of elevated inflow turbulence. The computational capability is based on an entropy-stable, discontinuous Galerkin (DG) spectral element approach that extends to arbitrarily high orders of spatial and temporal accuracy. The suction side of the vane undergoes natural transition for the clean inflow case, while bypass transition mechanisms are observed in the presence of elevated inflow turbulence. The airfoil suction-side boundary layer turbulence characteristics during the transition process thus differ significantly between the two cases. Traditional simulations based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) fail to predict these transition characteristics. The heat transfer characteristics for the simulations with clean inflow agree well with the experimental data, while the heat transfer characteristics for the bypass transition cases agree well with the experiment when higher inflow turbulence levels are prescribed. The differences between the clean and inflow turbulence cases are also highlighted through a detailed examination of the characteristics of the transitional and turbulent flow fields.


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):  
Yousef Kanani ◽  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Forrest Ames

Abstract Turbine passage secondary flows are studied for a large rounded leading edge airfoil geometry considered in the experimental investigation of Varty et al. (J. Turbomach. 140(2):021010) using high resolution Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The complex nature of secondary flow formation and evolution are affected by the approach boundary layer characteristics, components of pressure gradients tangent and normal to the passage flow, surface curvature, and inflow turbulence. This paper presents a detailed description of the secondary flows and heat transfer in a linear vane cascade at exit chord Reynolds number of 5 × 105 at low and high inflow turbulence. Initial flow turning at the leading edge of the inlet boundary layer leads to a pair of counter-rotating flow circulation in each half of the cross-plane that drive the evolution of the pressure-side and suction side of the near-wall vortices such as the horseshoe and leading edge corner vortex. The passage vortex for the current large leading-edge vane is formed by the amplification of the initially formed circulation closer to the pressure side (PPC) which strengthens and merges with other vortex systems while moving toward the suction side. The predicted suction surface heat transfer shows good agreement with the measurements and properly captures the augmented heat transfer due to the formation and lateral spreading of the secondary flows towards the vane midspan downstream of the vane passage. Effects of various components of the secondary flows on the endwall and vane heat transfer are discussed in detail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousef Kanani ◽  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Forrest Ames

Abstract High Reynolds flow over a nozzle guide-vane with elevated inflow turbulence was simulated using wall-resolved large eddy simulation (LES). The simulations were undertaken at an exit Reynolds number of 0.5 × 106 and inflow turbulence levels of 0.7% and 7.9% and for uniform heat-flux boundary conditions corresponding to the measurements of Varty and Ames (2016, “Experimental Heat Transfer Distributions Over an Aft Loaded Vane With a Large Leading Edge at Very High Turbulence Levels,” ASME Paper No. IMECE2016-67029). The predicted heat transfer distribution over the vane is in excellent agreement with measurements. At higher freestream turbulence, the simulations accurately capture the laminar heat transfer augmentation on the pressure surface and the transition to turbulence on the suction surface. The bypass transition on the suction surface is preceded by boundary layer streaks formed under the external forcing of freestream disturbances which breakdown to turbulence through inner-mode secondary instabilities. Underneath the locally formed turbulent spot, heat transfer coefficient spikes and generally follows the same pattern as the turbulent spot. The details of the flow and temperature fields on the suction side are characterized, and first- and second-order statistics are documented. The turbulent Prandtl number in the boundary layer is generally in the range of 0.7–1, but decays rapidly near the wall.


Author(s):  
Yousef Kanani ◽  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Forrest Ames

Abstract High Reynolds flow over a nozzle guide-vane with elevated inflow turbulence was simulated using wall-resolved large eddy simulation (LES). The simulations were undertaken at an exit Reynolds number of 0.5×106 and inflow turbulence levels of 0.7% and 7.9% and for uniform heat-flux boundary conditions corresponding to the measurements of (Varty, J. W., and Ames, F. E., 2016, ASME Paper No. IMECE2016-67029). The predicted heat transfer distribution over the vane is in excellent agreement with measurements. At higher freestream turbulence, the simulations accurately capture the laminar heat transfer augmentation on the pressure surface and the transition to turbulence on the suction surface. The bypass transition on the suction surface is preceded by boundary layer streaks formed under the external forcing of freestream disturbances which breakdown to turbulence through inner mode secondary instabilities. Underneath the locally formed turbulent spot, heat transfer coefficient spikes and generally follows the same pattern as the turbulent spot. The details of the flow and temperature fields on the suction side are characterized and first and second order statistics are documented. The turbulent Prandtl number in the boundary layer is generally in the range of 0.7–1, but decays rapidly near the wall.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Yousef Kanani ◽  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Forrest Ames

Abstract Turbine passage secondary flows are studied for a large rounded leading edge airfoil geometry considered in the experimental investigation of Varty et al. (J. Turbomach. 140(2):021010) using high resolution Large Eddy Simulation. The complex nature of secondary flow formation and evolution are affected by the approach boundary layer characteristics, components of pressure gradients tangent and normal to the passage flow, surface curvature, and inflow turbulence. This paper presents a detailed description of the secondary flows and heat transfer in a linear vane cascade at exit chord Reynolds number of 500,000 at low and high inflow turbulence. Initial flow turning at the leading edge of the inlet boundary layer leads to a pair of counter-rotating flow circulation in each half of the cross-plane that drive the evolution of the pressure-side and suction side of the near-wall vortices such as the horseshoe and leading edge corner vortex. The passage vortex for the current large leading-edge vane is formed by the amplification of the initially formed circulation closer to the pressure side which strengthens and merges with other vortex systems while moving toward the suction side. The predicted suction surface heat transfer shows good agreement with the measurements and properly captures the augmented heat transfer due to the formation and lateral spreading of the secondary flows towards the vane midspan downstream of the vane passage. Effects of various components of the secondary flows on the endwall and vane heat transfer are discussed in detail.


2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinaldo A. Gomes ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis

AITEB-2 is a project where aerothermal challenges of modern high pressure turbine designs are analyzed. One of the scopes of the project is to allow for new gas turbine designs with less parts and lighter jet engines by increasing the blade pitch and therefore the aerodynamic blade loading. For transonic profiles, this leads to very high velocities on the suction side and shock induced separation is likely to occur. The total pressure loss increase due to flow separation and strong shocks, as well as the underturning of the flow, limits the increase of the blade pitch. In this paper, experiments using a linear turbine blade cascade with high aerodynamic loading are presented. The blade pitch is increased such that at design conditions, a strong separation occurs on the suction side. The experiments were run at high subsonic exit Mach numbers and at Reynolds numbers of 390,000 and 800,000. In order to reduce the flow separation and the aerodynamic losses, air jet vortex generators are used, which create streamwise vortices prior to the separation start. Since in high pressure turbine blades film cooling is widely used, also the influence of film cooling both with and without using vortex generators is analyzed. Film cooling is provided on the suction side by two rows of cylindrical holes. This paper provides an analysis of the influence of different main flow conditions, film cooling, and vortex generators on total pressure loss, heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness. The experiments show that the vortex generators, as well as the film cooling reduce flow separation and total pressure losses. The effects are also seen in the local heat transfer, especially with enhanced heat transport in the region with flow separation. The cases presented in this paper deal with complex flow phenomena, which are challenging to be predicted with modern numerical tools correctly. Therefore, the experimental data serve as a comprehensive database for validation of simulation tools in the AITEB-2 project.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaomin Zhao ◽  
Richard D. Sandberg

Abstract In the present study, highly resolved large-eddy simulations of a VKI LS-89 high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade (T. Arts et al., 1990) with spanwise end-walls are performed at a Reynolds number of 0.57 million and an exit Mach number of 0.9. Two different spanwise temperature profiles, one uniform as baseline and one asymmetric profile extracted at the combustor exit from the public literature, are set at the inlet boundary. The high-fidelity data generated by the present cases are analyzed to investigate the end-wall secondary features, and show that the vortical structures that form near the leading edge of the vane include pressure-side and suction-side legs. While the end-wall vortical structures show no obvious effects on the time-averaged behavior of the pressure-side blade boundary layer, the suction-side structures induce counter rotating vortical structures and trigger rapid transition in the end-wall boundary layers. Furthermore, the cases with different inlet temperature profiles are directly compared, and the effects of the inflow on the aerothermal performance of the HPT vane are discussed. Based on the recently proposed entropy loss analysis (Zhao and Sandberg, GT2019-90126), we have been able to quantitatively show that the end-wall effects contribute significantly to the total loss of the turbine, with the main contributors being the extra viscous dissipation and turbulence production in the end-wall boundary layer.


Author(s):  
Zuo-Jun Wei ◽  
Wei-Yang Qiao ◽  
Ping-Ping Chen ◽  
Jian Liu

As modern turbines are designed with low aspect ratio and high blade loading, secondary flow interactions become more important. In the present work, numerical simulation is performed in a two-stage high-pressure turbine with divergent meridional passage to investigate the transport and interaction of secondary vortex from the first stage rotor within the second stage’s stator. Scale-Adaptive Simulation model coupled with Shear Stress Transport model (SAS-SST turbulence model) is used to capture the flow structures caused by the interaction in the second stator. Coupled with the passage vortex of the first rotor, the shed vortex rotates opposite in the direction and has comparable strength. As both of these vortices convect downstream to the stator bladerow, each deforms into two legs on the pressure and suction sides in the passage. In the passage due to the cross pressure gradient by blade loading, all the low-momentum fluid contained in these vortices moves towards the suction side. Besides, with the existing static pressure gradient in radial direction and vortex dynamics, the suction-side leg and the pressure-side leg move in different radial directions. The suction side leg of incoming passage vortex moves towards the endwall along the suction surface and interacts with the developing passage vortex of the second stator. The incoming shed vortex moves towards the midspan and rolls up the boundary layer fluid from suction surface. Due to the interactions between the incoming shed vortices from the hub and casing and the boundary layer of second stator, two counter-rotating vortices are formed near the midspan. Additional high loss is found there at the outlet plane, which has a comparable magnitude to the endwall secondary loss. The pressure side leg of the incoming passage vortex remains in a certain span with that of the incoming shed vortex and is not engulfed by the developing passage vortex.


Author(s):  
Charles W. Haldeman ◽  
Michael G. Dunn

This paper describes heat-transfer measurements and predictions obtained for the vane and blade of a rotating high-pressure turbine stage. The measurements were obtained with the stage operating at design corrected conditions. A previous paper described the aerodynamics and the blade midspan location heat-transfer data and compared these experimental results with predictions. The intent of the current paper is to concentrate on the measurements and predictions for the 20%, 50%, and 80% span locations on the vane, the vane inner and outer endwall, the 20% and 96% span location on the blade, the blade tip (flat tip), and the stationary blade shroud. Heat-transfer data obtained at midspan for three different TBC coated vanes (fine, medium and coarse) are also presented. Boundary-layer heat transfer predictions at the off-midspan locations are compared with the measurements for both the vane and the blade. The results of a STAR-CD 3D prediction are compared with the 20% and 96% span results for the blade surface. Predictions are not available for comparison with the tip and shroud experimental results.


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