A Simulation of the Unsteady Interaction of a Centrifugal Impeller With its Vaned Diffuser: Flows Analysis

Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

The aim of this paper is to help advance our understanding of the complex, three-dimensional, unsteady flow associated with the interaction of a splattered centrifugal impeller and its vaned diffuser. A time-resolved simulation is presented of the Krain stage performed using a time-accurate, 3D, unstructured mesh, solution-adaptive Navier-Stokes solver. The predicted flowfield, compared with experiment where available, displays a complex, unsteady interaction especially in the neighbourhood of the diffuser entry zone which experiences large periodic flow unsteadiness. Downstream of the throat, although the magnitude of this unsteadiness diminishes rapidly, the flow has a highly distorted three-dimensional character. The loss levels in the diffuser are then investigated to try and determine how time-mean loss levels compare with the levels expected from “equivalent” steady flow analysis performed by using the circumferentially averaged exit flow from the impeller as inlet to the diffuser. It is concluded that little loss could be attributed directly to unsteady effects but rather that the principle cause of the rather high loss levels observed in the diffuser is the strong spanwise distortion in swirl angle at inlet which initiates a strong hub/comer stall.

1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

The aim of this paper is to help advance our understanding of the complex, three-dimensional, unsteady flow associated with the interaction of a splittered centrifugal impeller and its vaned diffuser. A time-resolved simulation is presented of the Krain stage performed using a time-accurate, three-dimensional, unstructured mesh, solution-adaptive Navier–Stokes solver. The predicted flowfield, compared with experiment where available, displays a complex, unsteady interaction, especially in the neighborhood of the diffuser entry zone, which experiences large periodic flow unsteadiness. Downstream of the throat, although the magnitude of this unsteadiness diminishes rapidly, the flow has a highly distorted three-dimensional character. The loss levels in the diffuser are then investigated to try and determine how time-mean loss levels compare with the levels expected from “equivalent” steady flow analysis performed by using the circumferentially averaged exit flow from the impeller as inlet to the diffuser. It is concluded that little loss could be attributed directly to unsteady effects but rather that the principal cause of the rather high loss levels observed in the diffuser is the strong spanwise distortion in swirl angle at inlet, which initiates a strong hub/corner stall.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Marconcini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Seiichi Ibaraki

A three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver is used to investigate the flow field of a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor for turbocharger applications. Such a compressor consists of a double-splitter impeller followed by a vaned diffuser. Particular attention is focused on the analysis of the vaned diffuser, designed for high subsonic inlet conditions. The diffuser is characterized by a complex three-dimensional flow field and influenced by the unsteady interaction with the impeller. Detailed particle image velocimetry flow measurements within the diffuser are available for comparison purposes.


Author(s):  
Michele Marconcini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Seiichi Ibaraki

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver is used to investigate the flow field of a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor for turbocharger applications. Such a compressor consists of a double-splitter impeller followed by a vaned diffuser. Particular attention is focused on the analysis of the vaned diffuser, designed for high subsonic inlet conditions. The diffuser is characterized by a complex three-dimensional flow field, and influenced by the unsteady interaction with the impeller. Detailed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) flow measurements within the diffuser are available for comparison purposes.


Author(s):  
Qiangqiang Huang ◽  
Xinqian Zheng ◽  
Aolin Wang

Air often flows into compressors with inlet prewhirl, because it will obtain a circumferential component of velocity via inlet distortion or swirl generators such as inlet guide vanes. A lot of research has shown that inlet prewhirl does influence the characteristics of components, but the change of the matching relation between the components caused by inlet prewhirl is still unclear. This paper investigates the influence of inlet prewhirl on the matching of the impeller and the diffuser and proposes a flow control method to cure mismatching. The approach combines steady three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations with theoretical analysis and modeling. The result shows that a compressor whose impeller and diffuser match well at zero prewhirl will go to mismatching at non-zero prewhirl. The diffuser throat gets too large to match the impeller at positive prewhirl and gets too small for matching at negative prewhirl. The choking mass flow of the impeller is more sensitive to inlet prewhirl than that of the diffuser, which is the main reason for the mismatching. To cure the mismatching via adjusting the diffuser vanes stagger angle, a one-dimensional method based on incidence matching has been proposed to yield a control schedule for adjusting the diffuser. The optimal stagger angle predicted by analytical method has good agreement with that predicted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The compressor is able to operate efficiently in a much broader flow range with the control schedule. The flow range, where the efficiency is above 80%, of the datum compressor and the compressor only employing inlet prewhirl and no control are just 25.3% and 31.8%, respectively. For the compressor following the control schedule, the flow range is improved up to 46.5%. This paper also provides the perspective of components matching to think about inlet distortion.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. V. Rathish Kumar ◽  
T. Yamaguchi ◽  
H. Liu ◽  
R. Himeno

Abstract Unsteady flow dynamics in a doubly constricted vessel is analyzed by using a time accurate Finite Volume solution of three dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Computational experiments are carried out for various values of Reynolds number in order to assess the criticality of multiple mild constrictions in series and also to bring out the subtle 3D features like vortex formation. Studies reveal that pressure drop across a series of mild constrictions can get physiologically critical. Further this pressure drop is found to be sensitive to the spacing between the constrictions and also to the oscillatory nature of the inflow profile.


Author(s):  
John P. Clark ◽  
Richard J. Anthony ◽  
Michael K. Ooten ◽  
John M. Finnegan ◽  
P. Dean Johnson ◽  
...  

Accurate predictions of unsteady forcing on turbine blades are essential for the avoidance of high-cycle-fatigue issues during turbine engine development. Further, if one can demonstrate that predictions of unsteady interaction in a turbine are accurate, then it becomes possible to anticipate resonant-stress problems and mitigate them through aerodynamic design changes during the development cycle. A successful reduction in unsteady forcing for a transonic turbine with significant shock interactions due to downstream components is presented here. A pair of methods to reduce the unsteadiness was considered and rigorously analyzed using a three-dimensional, time resolved Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solver. The first method relied on the physics of shock reflections itself and involved altering the stacking of downstream components to achieve a bowed airfoil. The second method considered was circumferentially-asymmetric vane spacing which is well known to spread the unsteadiness due to vane-blade interaction over a range of frequencies. Both methods of forcing reduction were analyzed separately and predicted to reduce unsteady pressures on the blade as intended. Then, both design changes were implemented together in a transonic turbine experiment and successfully shown to manipulate the blade unsteadiness in keeping with the design-level predictions. This demonstration was accomplished through comparisons of measured time-resolved pressures on the turbine blade to others obtained in a baseline experiment that included neither asymmetric spacing nor bowing of the downstream vane. The measured data were further compared to rigorous post-test simulations of the complete turbine annulus including a bowed downstream vane of non-uniform pitch.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

This paper describes recent developments to a three-dimensional, unstructured mesh, solution-adaptive Navier–Stokes solver. By adopting a simple, pragmatic but systematic approach to mesh generation, the range of simulations that can be attempted is extended toward arbitrary geometries. The combined benefits of the approach result in a powerful analytical ability. Solutions for a wide range of flows are presented, including a transonic compressor rotor, a centrifugal impeller, a steam turbine nozzle guide vane with casing extraction belt, the internal coolant passage of a radial inflow turbine, and a turbine disk cavity flow.


Author(s):  
Ghislaine Ngo Boum ◽  
Rodolfo Bontempo ◽  
Isabelle Trébinjac

High accuracy simulation of compressor surge origin and growth is an important challenge for designers of systems using compressors likely to develop that severe instability. Indeed, understanding its driving phenomena, which can be system dependent, is necessary to build an adequate strategy to avoid or control surge emergence. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, commonly used to explore flow in the compressor, need then to be extended beyond the compressor as surge is a system scale instability. To get an insight on the path to surge and through surge cycles, a reliable alternative to full three-dimensional (3D) system modeling is used for a turbocharger compressor inserted in an experimental test rig. The air flow in the whole circuit, is modeled with a one-dimensional (1D) Navier Stokes approach which is coupled with a 3D unsteady RANS modeling of the 360 deg air flow in the centrifugal compressor including the volute. Starting from an initial stable flow solution in the system, the back-pressure valve is progressively closed to reduce the massflow and trigger the instability. An entire deep surge loop is simulated and compared with good agreement with the experimental data. The existence of a system-induced convective wave is revealed, and its major role on surge inception at diffuser inlet demonstrated.


Author(s):  
Chan-Sol Ahn ◽  
Kwang-Yong Kim

Design optimization of a transonic compressor rotor (NASA rotor 37) using the response surface method and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis has been carried out in this work. The Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model was used in the flow analysis. Three design variables were selected to optimize the stacking line of the blade. Data points for response evaluations were selected by D-optimal design, and linear programming method was used for the optimization on the response surface. As a main result of the optimization, adiabatic efficiency was successfully improved. It was found that the optimization process provides reliable design of a turbomachinery blade with reasonable computing time.


Author(s):  
Mou-jin Zhang ◽  
Chuan-gang Gu ◽  
Yong-miao Miao

The complex three-dimensional flow field in a centrifugal impeller with low speed is studied in this paper. Coupled with high–Reynolds–number k–ε turbulence model, the fully three–dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations are solved. The Semi–Implicit Method for Pressure–Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm is used. And the non–staggered grid arrangement is also used. The computed results are compared with the available experimental data. The comparison shows good agreement.


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