Comparison of Techniques for the Estimation of Flow Parameters of Fan Inflow Turbulence from Noisy Hot-Wire Data

Turbulence parameters, in particular integral length scale (ILS) and turbulence intensity (Tu), are key input parameters for various applications in aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. The estimation of these parameters is typically performed using data obtained via hot-wire measurements. On the one hand, hot-wire measurements are affected by external disturbances resulting in increased measurement noise. On the other hand, commonly applied turbulence parameter estimators lack in robustness. If not addressed correctly, both issues may impede the accuracy of the turbulence parameter estimation. In this article, a procedure consisting of several signal processing steps is presented to filter non-turbulence related disturbances from the unsteady velocity data. The signal processing techniques comprise time- and frequency-domain approaches. For the turbulence parameter estimation, two different models of the turbulence spectra—the von Kármán model and the Bullen model—are fitted to match the spectrum of the measured data. The results of several parameter estimation techniques are compared. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data are used to validate the estimation techniques and also to assess the influence of the variation in window size on the estimated parameters. Additionally, hot-wire data from a high-speed fan rig are analyzed. ILS and Tu are assessed at several radial positions for two fan speeds. It is found that most techniques yield similar values for ILS and Tu. The comparison of the fitted spectra with the spectra of the measured data shows a good agreement in most cases provided that a sufficiently fine frequency resolution is applied. The ratio of ILS and Tu of the velocity components in longitudinal and transverse direction allows the assessment of flow-isotropy. Results indicate that the turbulence is anisotropic for the investigated flow fields.

Windage Heating in a Shrouded Rotor-Stator System

This paper has experimentally and numerically studied the windage heating in a shrouded rotor-stator disk system with superimposed flow. Temperature rise in the radius direction on the rotating disk is linked to the viscous heating process when cooling air flows through the rotating component. A test rig has been developed to investigate the effect of flow parameters and the gap ratio on the windage heating, respectively. Experimental results were obtained from a 0.45 m diameter disk rotating at up to 12,000 rpm with gap ratio varying from 0.02 to 0.18 and a stator of the same diameter. Infrared temperature measurement technology has been proposed to measure the temperature rise on the rotor surface directly. The PIV technique was adapted to allow for tangential velocity measurements. The tangential velocity data along the radial direction in the cavity was compared with the results obtained by CFD simulation. The comparison between the free disk temperature rise data and an associated theoretical analysis for the windage heating indicates that the adiabatic disk temperature can be measured by infrared method accurately. For the small value of turbulence parameter, the gap ratio has limited influence on the temperature rise distribution along the radius. As turbulence parameter increases, the temperature rise difference is independent of the gap ratio, leaving that as a function of rotational Reynolds number and throughflow Reynolds number only. The PIV results show that the swirl ratio of the rotating core between the rotor and the stator has a key influence on the windage heating.

Windage sources in smooth-walled rotating disc systems

This article presents experimental data and an associated correlation for the windage resulting from a disc rotating in air, characteristic of gas turbine engines and relevant to some electrical machine applications. A test rig has been developed that uses an electric motor to drive a smooth bladeless rotor inside an enclosed pressurized housing. The rig has the capability of reaching rotational and throughflow Reynolds numbers representative of a modern gas turbine. A moment coefficient has been used to allow a non-dimensional windage torque parameter to be calculated and an agreement with the relevant data in the literature has been found within 10 per cent. Infrared measurements have been performed that allow direct surface temperatures of the rotating disc to be obtained. Laser Doppler anemometry measurements have been made that allow velocities in the flow field of the rotor—stator cavity to be examined and tangential velocities corresponding to rotationally and radially dominated flow conditions are shown. The importance of the flow regime in relation to the resulting windage has been identified and in particular it is noted that windage is a function not only of the ratio of rotational and radial flow dominance as defined by the turbulence parameter, but also for a given value of the turbulence parameter, the magnitude of the rotationally induced and superimposed flows. The experiments extend the range of data available for windage in rotor—stator systems and have been used to produce a correlation suitable for applications operating up to the range of Reψ=107.

An Account of Free-Stream-Turbulence Length Scale on Laminar Heat Transfer

The effect of length scale in free-stream turbulence is considered for heat transfer in laminar boundary layers. A model is proposed which accounts for an “effective” intensity of turbulence based on a dominant frequency for a laminar boundary layer. Assuming a standard turbulence spectral distribution, a new turbulence parameter which accounts for both turbulence level and length scale is obtained and used to correlate heat transfer data for laminar stagnation flows. The result indicates that the heat transfer for these flows is linearly dependent on the “effective” free-stream turbulence intensity.

The Effects of Incident Turbulence and Moving Wakes on Laminar Heat Transfer in Gas Turbines

The effect of free-stream turbulence and moving wakes on augmenting heat transfer in accelerating laminar boundary layers is considered. First, the effect of free-stream turbulence is re-examined in terms of a Nusselt number and turbulence parameter, which correctly account for the free-stream acceleration and a correlation for both cylinders in crossflow and airfoils with regions of constant acceleration is obtained. This correlation is then used in a simple quasi-steady model to predict the effect of periodically passing wakes on airfoil laminar heat transfer. A comparison of the predictions with measurements shows good agreement.

The Effects of Incident Turbulence and Moving Wakes on Laminar Heat Transfer in Gas Turbines

The effect of free-stream turbulence and moving wakes on augmenting heat transfer in accelerating laminar boundary layers is considered. First, the the effect of free-stream turbulence is re-examined in terms of a Nusselt number and turbulence parameter which correctly account for the free-stream acceleration and a correlation for both cylinders in cross flow and airfoils with regions of constant acceleration is obtained. This correlation is then used in a simple quasi-steady model to predict the effect of periodically passing wakes on airfoil laminar heat transfer. A comparison of the predictions with measurements shows good agreement.