Computational Analysis of Pitch-Width Effects on the Secondary Flows of Turbine Blades
A three-dimensional computational code was developed for solving time-averaged flows within a turbine blade row using a novel time-marching method. A concept of incorporating dissipation terms into the time derivative terms was proposed to allow the code to have the capability of handling both incompressible and compressible flows. The code was validated by comparing the computational results with experiments in a turbine stator blade passage. The code was further used to investigate the influence of secondary flow in a turbine blade row due to different pitch-width ratios. Detailed secondary flows as well as loss profiles in different sizes of root pitch-width ratio are presented and discussed. The results of this study provide useful information for evaluation of the secondary flow effects due to the pitch-width ratio influence for the future new turbine blade designs.