scholarly journals Physics of Airfoil Clocking in Axial Compressors

Author(s):  
Karen L. Gundy-Burlet ◽  
Daniel J. Dorney

Axial compressors have inherently unsteady flow fields because of relative motion between rotor and statnr airfnils. This relative motion leads to viscous and inviscid (potential) interactions between blade rows. As the number of stages increases in a turbomachine, the buildup of convected wakes can lead in progressively more complex wake/wake and wake/airfnil interactions. Variations in the relative circumferential positions of stators or rotors can change these interactions, leading to different unsteady forcing functions on airfoils and different compressor efficiencies. The current study uses an unsteady, two-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes zonal approach to investigate the unsteady aerodynamics of stator clocking in a low-speed 2 ½-stage compressor. Relative motion between rotors and stators is made possible by the use of systems of patched and overlaid grids. Results include surface pressures instantaneous forces and efficiencies for a 2 ½-stage compressor configuration.

Author(s):  
Daniel J. Dorney ◽  
Om P. Sharma ◽  
Karen L. Gundy-Burlet

Axial compressors have inherently unsteady flow fields because of relative motion between rotor and stator airfoils. This relative motion leads to viscous and inviscid (potential) interactions between blade rows. As the number of stages increases in a turbomachine, the buildup of convected wakes can lead to progressively more complex wake/wake and wake/airfoil interactions. Variations in the relative circumferential positions of stators or rotors can change these interactions, leading to different unsteady forcing functions on airfoils and different compressor efficiencies. In addition, as the Mach number increases the interaction between blade rows can be intensified due to potential effects. In the current study an unsteady, quasi-three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis has been used to investigate the unsteady aerodynamics of stator clocking in a 1-1/2 stage compressor, typical of back stages used in high-pressure compressors of advanced commercial jet engines. The effects of turbulence have been modeled with both algebraic and two-equation models. The results presented include steady and unsteady surface pressures, efficiencies, boundary layer quantities and turbulence quantities. The main contribution of the current work has been to show that airfoil clocking can produce significant performance variations at the Mach numbers associated with an engine operating environment. In addition, the growth of turbulence has been quantified to aid in the development of models for the multi-stage steady analyses used in design systems.


Author(s):  
M. Sergio Campobasso ◽  
Mohammad H. Baba-Ahmadi

This paper presents the numerical models underlying the implementation of a novel harmonic balance compressible Navier-Stokes solver with low-speed preconditioning for wind turbine unsteady aerodynamics. The numerical integration of the harmonic balance equations is based on a multigrid iteration, and, for the first time, a numerical instability associated with the use of such an explicit approach in this context is discussed and resolved. The harmonic balance solver with low-speed preconditioning is well suited for the analyses of several unsteady periodic low-speed flows, such as those encountered in horizontal axis wind turbines. The computational performance and the accuracy of the technology being developed are assessed by computing the flow field past two sections of a wind turbine blade in yawed wind with both the time- and frequency-domain solvers. Results highlight that the harmonic balance solver can compute these periodic flows more than 10 times faster than its time-domain counterpart, and with an accuracy comparable to that of the time-domain solver.


Author(s):  
Hyun Ju Jung ◽  
Ju Hyun Lee ◽  
Shin Hyung Rliee ◽  
Museok Song ◽  
Beom-Soo Hyun

ABSTRACTThe two-dimensional unsteady flow around a vertical axis turbine for tidal stream energy' conversion was investigated using a computational fluid dynamics tool solving the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The geometry' of the turbine blade section was NACA653-01S airfoil. The computational analysis was done at several different angles of attack and the results were compared with the corresponding experimental data for validation and calibration. Simulations were then carried out for the two-dimensional cross section of a vertical axis turbine. The simulation results demonstrated the usefulness of the method for the typical unsteady flows around vertical axis turbines. The optimum turbine efficiency was achieved for carefully selected combinations of the number of blades and tip speed ratios.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sergio Campobasso ◽  
Mohammad H. Baba-Ahmadi

This paper presents the numerical models underlying the implementation of a novel harmonic balance compressible Navier-Stokes solver with low-speed preconditioning for wind turbine unsteady aerodynamics. The numerical integration of the harmonic balance equations is based on a multigrid iteration, and, for the first time, a numerical instability associated with the use of such an explicit approach in this context is discussed and resolved. The harmonic balance solver with low-speed preconditioning is well suited for the analyses of several unsteady periodic low-speed flows, such as those encountered in horizontal axis wind turbines. The computational performance and the accuracy of the technology being developed are assessed by computing the flow field past two sections of a wind turbine blade in yawed wind with both the time-and frequency-domain solvers. Results highlight that the harmonic balance solver can compute these periodic flows more than 10 times faster than its time-domain counterpart, and with an accuracy comparable to that of the time-domain solver.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
Y. Chоvniuk ◽  
V. Kravchuk ◽  
A. Moskvitina ◽  
I. Pefteva

Reasonable development and creation of any device in which there is an interaction between the fluid flow and the elements of the flow parts (for example, heat exchangers, transport and power machines, main pipelines), is impossible without detailed information about the characteristics of the flow, about the forces on the surfaces that are around, about vibroacoustic phenomena, etc. Among the various methods of obtaining information about the characteristics of the flow, about the forces on surfaces that are flown around, about vibroacoustic phenomena, an important role is played by theoretical methods that rely on the equation of hydrodynamics and numerous ways to solve them. In this case, the main efforts are aimed at solving the system of Navier-Stokes equations. In this paper, a general method is described for the numerical solution of the problem of unsteady flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in flat channels of an arbitrary shape of heat exchangers. An effective solution to the problem is achieved by using adaptive networks. The mathematical model of the flow is based on the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in the variables "flow function - vortex" and the Poissonequation for pressure, which are solved on the basis of the finite-difference method. A numerical simulation of the fluid flow in a flat curvilinear elbow is carried out at the Reynolds number Re = 1000. This form reflects the most characteristic features of the flow paths of various hydraulic machines, heat exchangers, hydraulic and pipeline systems. The presentation of the numerical results was carried out on the basis of the VISSIM graphic processing package. One of the main problems (difficulties) in the numerical solution of problems of mathematical physics is the representation of boundary conditions for regions of arbitrary shape. The implementation of various artificial methods that are now used in the approximation of both the curvilinear boundaries themselves and the boundary conditions on them can lead to significant losses in the accuracy of the solution. This is especially evident in problems in which solutions in the boundary region have maximum gradients. An effective method for solving this problem is the use of adapted grids for the computational domain. The essence of this method lies in the fact that such a coordinate system, not necessarily orthogonal, is found in which the boundary lines (surfaces) of the region coincide with the coordinate lines (surfaces). In the flat case, the computational domain is transformed into a rectangular one, and the limit curve is displayed on the sides of the rectangle. In practice, the problem of constructing an adapted mesh is reduced to finding functions that describe the mappings of the canonical (rectangular) region onto the region for which the problem was originally formulated, that is, for the two-dimensional case, the functions x (ξ, η), y (ξ, η) are determined.


Author(s):  
D. J. Dorney ◽  
D. L. Sondak ◽  
P. G. A. Cizmas ◽  
V. E. Saren ◽  
N. M. Savin

Axial compressors have inherently unsteady flow fields because of relative motion between rotor and stator airfoils. This relative motion leads to viscous and inviscid (potential) interactions between blade rows. As the number of stages increases in a turbomachine, the buildup of convected wakes can lead to progressively more complex wake/wake and wake/airfoil interactions. Variations in the relative circumferential positions of stators or rotors can change these interactions, leading to different unsteady forcing functions on airfoils and different compressor efficiencies. In addition, as the Mach number increases the interaction between blade rows can be intensified due to potential effects. It has been shown, both experimentally and computationally, that airfoil clocking can be used to improve the efficiency and reduce the unsteadiness in multiple-stage axial turbomachines with equal blade counts in alternate blade rows. While previous investigations have provided an improved understanding of the physics associated with airfoil clocking, more research is needed to determine if airfoil clocking is viable for use in modern gas-turbine compressors. This paper presents the results of a combined experimental/computational research effort to study the physics of airfoil clocking in a high-speed axial compressor. Computational simulations have been performed for eight different clocking positions of the stator airfoils in a 1-1/2 stage high-speed compressor. To accurately model the experimental compressor, full-annulus simulations were conducted using 34 IGV, 35 rotor and 34 stator airfoils. It is common practice to modify blade counts to reduce the computational work required to perform turbomachinery simulations, and this approximation has been made in all computational clocking studies performed to date. A simulation was also performed in the present study with 1 inlet guide vane, 1 rotor airfoil, and 1 stator airfoil to model blade rows with 34 airfoils each in order to examine the effects of this approximation. Time-averaged and unsteady data (including performance and boundary layer quantities) were examined. The predicted results indicate that simulating the full annulus gives better qualitative agreement with the experimental data, as well as more accurately modeling the interaction between adjacent blade rows.


Author(s):  
Semiu A. Gbadebo ◽  
Nicholas A. Cumpsty ◽  
Tom P. Hynes

Flow separations in the corner regions of blade passages are common. The separations are three dimensional and have quite different properties from the two-dimensional separations that are considered in elementary courses of fluid mechanics. In particular the consequences for the flow may be less severe than the two-dimensional separation. This paper describes the nature of three-dimensional separation and addresses the way in which topological rules, based on a linear treatment of the Navier-Stokes equations, can predict properties of the limiting streamlines, including the singularities which form. The paper shows measurements of the flow field in a linear cascade of compressor blades and compares these with the results of 3D CFD. For corners without tip clearance, the presence of three-dimensional separation appears to be universal and the challenge for the designer is to limit the loss and blockage produced. The CFD appears capable of predicting this.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Gundy-Burlet ◽  
M. M. Rai ◽  
R. C. Stauter ◽  
R. P. Dring

Fluid dynamics of turbomachines are complicated because of aerodynamic interactions between rotors and stators. It is necessary to understand the aerodynamics associated with these interactions in order to design turbomachines that are both light and compact as well as reliable and efficient. The current study uses an unsteady, thin-layer Navier–Stokes zonal approach to investigate the unsteady aerodynamics of a multistage compressor. Relative motion between rotors and stators is made possible by the use of systems of patched and overlaid grids. Results have been computed for a 2 1/2-stage compressor configuration. The numerical data compare well with experimental data for surface pressures and wakes. In addition, the effect of grid refinement on the solution is studied.


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