Visualization Study of Flow in Axial Flow Inducer

1972 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Lakshminarayana

A visualization study of the flow through a three ft dia model of a four bladed inducer, which is operated in air at a flow coefficient of 0.065, is reported in this paper. The flow near the blade surfaces, inside the rotating passages, downstream and upstream of the inducer is visualized by means of smoke, tufts, ammonia filament, and lampblack techniques. Flow is found to be highly three dimensional, with appreciable radial velocity throughout the entire passage. The secondary flows observed near the hub and annulus walls agree with qualitative predictions obtained from the inviscid secondary flow theory. Based on these investigations, methods of modeling the flow are discussed.

Author(s):  
Hayder M. B. Obaida ◽  
Hakim T. K. Kadhim ◽  
Aldo Rona ◽  
Katrin Leschke ◽  
J. Paul Gostelow

The performance of axial flow turbines is affected by losses from secondary flows that result in entropy generation. Reducing these secondary flow losses improves the turbine performance. This paper investigates the effect of applying a non-axisymmetric contour to the hub of a representative one-and-half stage axial turbine on the turbine performance. An analytical end-wall hub surface definition with a guide groove is used to direct the pressure side branch of the horseshoe vortex away from the blade suction side, so to retard its interaction with the suction side secondary flow and thus decrease the losses. This groove design is a development of the concept outlined in Obaida et al. (2016). A baseline three-dimensional steady RANS k-ω SST model, with axisymmetric walls, is validated against reference experimental measurements from a one-and-half stage turbine at the Institute of Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery at RWTH Aachen, Germany. The CFD predictions of the non-axisymmetric hub with the guide groove show a decrease in the total pressure loss coefficient. The design work-flow is generated using the Alstom Process and Optimisation Workbench (APOW), which sensibly reduced the designer workload. The implementation of the guide groove has excellent portability to the turbomachinery industry and this makes this method promising for delivering the UK energy agenda through more efficient power turbines.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-364
Author(s):  
James J. Ventresca ◽  
Wilfred T. Rouleau

The three-dimensional effects of secondary flow, passive injection, and particle size on the motion of solid particles entrained in a laminar, incompressible flow through a curved, converging, rectangular passage were numerically investigated. Emphasis was placed on observing the physical mechanisms that cause particles 5 μm and smaller in diameter to deposit on passage surfaces and to concentrate near the endwalls and mid-span at the passage exit. Particle trajectories were calculated for 5, 30, and 300 μm diameter solid particles. It was observed that the paths of 5 μm particles were similar to the streamlines of the three-dimensional flow in the channel until the particles encountered the boundary layers on the blade surfaces and endwalls, where they would graze the surfaces (contributing to particle deposition) and concentrate at the exit of the channel. Particles of 30 μm diameter, however, were only slightly affected by secondary flows, but were affected enough to be made to concentrate at the exit near the endwall and mid-span surfaces. Particles of 300 μm diameter were not affected by secondary flows at all. The particle trajectories showed that the passage secondary flow convected particles across endwalls toward the pressure and suction surface boundary layers of the blades. It was observed that small particles were made to decelerate and/or concentrate in the boundary layers near the passage exit. It was found that this concentration of particles along the suction surface and endwalls could be significantly reduced by means of passive injection. (Passive injection is a method of inducing the flow of jets in the curved portion of an airfoil shaped surface due to the pressure difference on opposing sides. This is accomplished by means of holes or slots that have been drilled through the surface at strategic locations.)


1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Gregory-Smith

A simple approach to the estimation of angle variation and losses produced by the secondary flows near the hub and casing of a turbine is presented. The angle variation is predicted by ‘classical’ secondary flow theory, and the loss by estimating three components of the loss and adding them together. The method is in an early stage of development, but initial results obtained by comparing with data from turbine blade rows are encouraging.


2000 ◽  
Vol 411 ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. ROSS ETHIER ◽  
SUJATA PRAKASH ◽  
DAVID A. STEINMAN ◽  
RICHARD L. LEASK ◽  
GREGORY G. COUCH ◽  
...  

Numerical and experimental techniques were used to study the physics of flow separation for steady internal flow in a 45° junction geometry, such as that observed between two pipes or between the downstream end of a bypass graft and an artery. The three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations were solved using a validated finite element code, and complementary experiments were performed using the photochromic dye tracer technique. Inlet Reynolds numbers in the range 250 to 1650 were considered. An adaptive mesh refinement approach was adopted to ensure grid-independent solutions. Good agreement was observed between the numerical results and the experimentally measured velocity fields; however, the wall shear stress agreement was less satisfactory. Just distal to the ‘toe’ of the junction, axial flow separation was observed for all Reynolds numbers greater than 250. Further downstream (approximately 1.3 diameters from the toe), the axial flow again separated for Re [ges ] 450. The location and structure of axial flow separation in this geometry is controlled by secondary flows, which at sufficiently high Re create free stagnation points on the model symmetry plane. In fact, separation in this flow is best explained by a secondary flow boundary layer collision model, analogous to that proposed for flow in the entry region of a curved tube. Novel features of this flow include axial flow separation at modest Re (as compared to flow in a curved tube, where separation occurs only at much higher Re), and the existence and interaction of two distinct three-dimensional separation zones.


Author(s):  
A. Perdichizzi ◽  
V. Dossena

This paper describes the results of an experimental investigation of the three-dimensional flow downstream of a linear turbine cascade at off-design conditions. The tests have been carried out for five incidence angles from −60 to +35 degrees, and for three pitch-chord ratios: s/c = 0.58,0.73,0.87. Data include blade pressure distributions, oil flow visualizations, and pressure probe measurements. The secondary flow field has been obtained by traversing a miniature five hole probe in a plane located at 50% of an axial chord downstream of the trailing edge. The distributions of local energy loss coefficients, together with vorticity and secondary velocity plots show in detail how much the secondary flow field is modified both by incidence and cascade solidity variations. The level of secondary vorticity and the intensity of the crossflow at the endwall have been found to be strictly related to the blade loading occurring in the blade entrance region. Heavy changes occur in the spanwise distributions of the pitch averaged loss and of the deviation angle, when incidence or pitch-chord ratio is varied.


Author(s):  
S. Friedrichs ◽  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
W. N. Dawes

The endwall film-cooling cooling configuration investigated by Friedrichs et al. (1996, 1997) had in principle sufficient cooling flow for the endwall, but in practice, the redistribution of this coolant by secondary flows left large endwall areas uncooled. This paper describes the attempt to improve upon this datum cooling configuration by redistributing the available coolant to provide a better coolant coverage on the endwall surface, whilst keeping the associated aerodynamic losses small. The design of the new, improved cooling configuration was based on the understanding of endwall film-cooling described by Friedrichs et al. (1996, 1997). Computational fluid dynamics were used to predict the basic flow and pressure field without coolant ejection. Using this as a basis, the above described understanding was used to place cooling holes so that they would provide the necessary cooling coverage at minimal aerodynamic penalty. The simple analytical modelling developed in Friedrichs et al. (1997) was then used to check that the coolant consumption and the increase in aerodynamic loss lay within the limits of the design goal. The improved cooling configuration was tested experimentally in a large scale, low speed linear cascade. An analysis of the results shows that the redesign of the cooling configuration has been successful in achieving an improved coolant coverage with lower aerodynamic losses, whilst using the same amount of coolant as in the datum cooling configuration. The improved cooling configuration has reconfirmed conclusions from Friedrichs et al. (1996, 1997); firstly, coolant ejection downstream of the three-dimensional separation lines on the endwall does not change the secondary flow structures; secondly, placement of holes in regions of high static pressure helps reduce the aerodynamic penalties of platform coolant ejection; finally, taking account of secondary flow can improve the design of endwall film-cooling configurations.


1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. P. Sharma ◽  
T. L. Butler

This paper describes the development of a semi-empirical model for estimating end-wall losses. The model has been developed from improved understanding of complex endwall secondary flows, acquired through review of flow visualization and pressure loss data for axial flow turbomachine cascades. The flow visualization data together with detailed measurements of viscous flow development through cascades have permitted more realistic interpretation of the classical secondary flow theories for axial turbomachine cascades. The re-interpreted secondary flow theories together with integral boundary layer concepts are used to formulate a calculation procedure for predicting losses due to the endwall secondary flows. The proposed model is evaluated against data from published literature and improved agreement between the data and predictions is demonstrated.


Author(s):  
Huimin Tang ◽  
Shuaiqiang Liu ◽  
Hualing Luo

Profiled endwall is an effective method to improve aerodynamic performance of turbine. This approach has been widely studied in the past decade on many engines. When automatic design optimisation is considered, most of the researches are usually based on the assumption of a simplified simulation model without considering cooling and rim seal flows. However, many researchers find out that some of the benefits achieved by optimization procedure are lost when applying the high-fidelity geometry configuration. Previously, an optimization procedure has been implemented by integrating the in-house geometry manipulator, a commercial three-dimensional CFD flow solver and the optimization driver, IsightTM. This optimization procedure has been executed [12] to design profiled endwalls for a turbine cascade and a one-and-half stage axial turbine. Improvements of the turbine performance have been achieved. As the profiled endwall is applied to a high pressure turbine, the problems of cooling and rim seal flows should be addressed. In this work, the effects of rim seal flow and cooling on the flow field of two-stage high pressure turbine have been presented. Three optimization runs are performed to design the profiled endwall of Rotor-One with different optimization model to consider the effects of rim flow and cooling separately. It is found that the rim seal flow has a significant impact on the flow field. The cooling is able to change the operation condition greatly, but barely affects the secondary flow in the turbine. The influences of the profiled endwalls on the flow field in turbine and cavities have been analyzed in detail. A significant reduction of secondary flows and corresponding increase of performance are achieved when taking account of the rim flows into the optimization. The traditional optimization mechanism of profiled endwall is to reduce the cross passage gradient, which has great influence on the strength of the secondary flow. However, with considering the rim seal flows, the profiled endwall improves the turbine performance mainly by controlling the path of rim seal flow. Then the optimization procedure with consideration of rim seal flow has also been applied to the design of the profiled endwall for Stator Two.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Choi ◽  
Y. T. Lin ◽  
R. Greif

The secondary flows resulting from buoyancy effects in respect to the MCVD process have been studied in a rotating horizontal tube using a perturbation analysis. The three-dimensional secondary flow fields have been determined at several axial locations in a tube whose temperature varies in both the axial and circumferential directions for different rotational speeds. For small rotational speeds, buoyancy and axial convection are dominant and the secondary flow patterns are different in the regions near and far from the torch. For moderate rotational speeds, the effects of buoyancy, axial and angular convection are all important in the region far from the torch where there is a spiraling secondary flow. For large rotational speeds, only buoyancy and angular convection effects are important and no spiraling secondary motion occurs far downstream. Compared with thermophoresis, the important role of buoyancy in determining particle trajectories in MCVD is presented. As the rotational speed increases, the importance of the secondary flow decreases and the thermophoretic contribution becomes more important. It is noted that thermophoresis is considered to be the main cause of particle deposition in the MCVD process.


Author(s):  
P W James

The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to show how the concept of excess secondary vorticity arises naturally from attempts to recover three-dimensional flow details lost in passage-averaging the equations governing the flow through gas turbines. An equation for the growth of excess streamwise vorticity is then derived. This equation, which allows for streamwise entropy gradients through a prescribed loss term, could be integrated numerically through a blade-row to provide the excess vorticity at the exit to a blade-row. The second part of the paper concentrates on the approximate methods of Smith (1) and Came and Marsh (2) for estimating this quantity and demonstrates their relationship to each other and to the concept of excess streamwise vorticity. Finally the relevance of the results to the design of blading for gas turbines, from the point of view of secondary flow, is discussed.


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