Aerodynamic Blade Row Interactions in an Axial Compressor: Part I — Unsteady Boundary Layer Development

Author(s):  
Ronald Mailach ◽  
Konrad Vogeler

This two-part paper presents experimental investigations of unsteady aerodynamic blade row interactions in the first stage of the four-stage Low-Speed Research Compressor of Dresden. Both the unsteady boundary layer development and the unsteady pressure distribution of the stator blades are investigated for several operating points. The measurements were carried out on pressure side and suction side at midspan. In part I of the paper the investigations of the unsteady boundary layer behaviour are presented. The experiments were carried out using surface-mounted hot-film sensors. Additional information on the time-resolved flow between the blade rows were obtained with a hot-wire probe. The unsteady boundary layer development is strongly influenced by the incoming wakes. Within the predominantly laminar boundary layer in the front part of the blade a clear response of the boundary layer to the velocity and turbulence structure of the incoming wakes can be observed. The time-resolved structure of the boundary layer for several operating points of the compressor is analyzed in detail. The topic “calmed regions”, which can be coupled to the wake passing, is discussed. As a result an improved description of the complex boundary layer structure is given.

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Mailach ◽  
Konrad Vogeler

This two-part paper presents experimental investigations of unsteady aerodynamic blade row interactions in the first stage of the four-stage low-speed research compressor of Dresden. Both the unsteady boundary layer development and the unsteady pressure distribution of the stator blades are investigated for several operating points. The measurements were carried out on pressure side and suction side at midspan. In Part I of the paper the investigations of the unsteady boundary layer behavior are presented. The experiments were carried out using surface-mounted hot-film sensors. Additional information on the time-resolved flow between the blade rows were obtained with a hot-wire probe. The unsteady boundary layer development is strongly influenced by the incoming wakes. Within the predominantly laminar boundary layer in the front part of the blade a clear response of the boundary layer to the velocity and turbulence structure of the incoming wakes can be observed. The time-resolved structure of the boundary layer for several operating points of the compressor is analyzed in detail. The topic “calmed regions,” which can be coupled to the wake passing, is discussed. As a result an improved description of the complex boundary layer structure is given.


Author(s):  
Jens Iseler ◽  
Lothar Hilgenfeld ◽  
Michael Pfitzner

The flow field through a turbomachinery compressor cascades is significantly affected by the unsteady flow originating from the upstream blade rows. The interaction is caused by the wakes from the upstream blades, which affect the properties of the boundary layer of the downstream blades. In addition, pressure fluctuations exist between upstream and downstream blades. These phenomenona play a significant role in the loss generation process on turbomachinery blades because it influences the onset of transition in the boundary layer and has the potential to suppress a boundary layer separation in some cases. Extensive experimental investigations have been performed at the Institute of Jet Propulsion in Neubiberg, where these effects where studied in detail. The measurements were performed on a large scale compressor cascade called V103-220. The chord length of l = 220 mm chosen allowed the unsteady boundary layer development to be studied in great detail and provided high quality data for this complex flow, which can be used for the validation of CFD codes. Unsteady CFD calculations were performed using the RANS-code TRACE developed at DLR Cologne. A modern variant of the Wilcox k-ω turbulence model in combination with a newly implemented transition model was used, allowing a better determination of multimode transition. A multiblock grid with an O-type grid around the blade and a boundary layer resolution of y+<1 was used. Experimental and numerical results confirm that wake passing has a large influence on the unsteady boundary layer development also in this compressor flow case. The premature forced transition is followed by a stable calmed region, which partially suppresses laminar separation due to its higher shear stress level and delays the onset of transition in the path between wakes. In addition, it was found that the leakage from two slots, which are opened in the rig when the wake generator device is installed, changes the flow field considerably. This effect is not fully reproduced by the CFD calculations. To study this effect in more detail, three-dimensional steady and unsteady CFD calculations were undertaken and are being continued.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lothar Hilgenfeld ◽  
Michael Pfitzner

The effects of wake passing on boundary layer development on a highly loaded linear compressor cascade were investigated in detail on the suction side of a compressor blade. The experiments were performed in the High Speed Cascade Wind Tunnel of the Institut fuer Strahlantriebe at Mach and Reynolds numbers representative for real turbomachinery conditions. The experimental data were acquired using different measurement techniques, such as fast-response Kulite sensors, hot-film array and hot-wire measurements. The incoming wakes clearly influence the unsteady boundary layer development. Early forced transition in the boundary layer is followed in time by calmed regions. Large pressure fluctuations detectable in the ensemble averaged Kulite data reveal the existence of coherent structures in the boundary layer. Distinct velocity variations inside the boundary layer are amplified when approaching the blade surface. The time–mean momentum thickness values are reduced compared to the steady ones and therefore clarify the potential for a loss reduction due to wake passing effects.


Author(s):  
J. Hourmouziadis ◽  
F. Buckl ◽  
P. Bergmann

Cascade testing tries to simulate the actual flow conditions encountered in a turbine. However, it is neither possible to reproduce the free stream turbulence structure of the turbomachinery, nor the periodic wake effects of upstream blade rows. The usual understanding is that the latter in particular results in a significantly different behaviour of the boundary layer in the engine. Experimental results from cascades and turbine rigs are presented. Grid generated free stream turbulence structure is compared to that in the turbine. Measurements of the profile pressure distribution, flush mounted hot films and flow visualization were used for the interpretation of the test results. Some observations of the boundary layer development in the cascade, on the guide vanes and on rotor blades with typically skewed boundary layers are shown indicating essentially similar behaviour in all cases.


2009 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Feng Zhang ◽  
Howard Hodson

The effects of Reynolds numbers and the freestream turbulence intensities (FSTIs) on the unsteady boundary layer development on an ultra-high-lift low-pressure turbine airfoil, so-called T106C, are investigated. The measurements were carried out at both Tu=0.5% and 4.0% within a range of Reynolds numbers, based on the blade chord and the isentropic exit velocity, between 100,000 and 260,000. The interaction between the unsteady wake and the boundary layer depends on both the strength of the wake and the status of the boundary layer. At Tu=0.5%, both the wake’s high turbulence and the negative jet behavior of the wake dominate the interaction between the unsteady wake and the separated boundary layer on the suction surface of the airfoil. Since the wake turbulence cannot induce transition before separation on this ultra-high-lift blade, the negative jet of the wake has the opportunity to induce a rollup vortex. At Tu=4.0%, the time-mean separation on the suction surface is much smaller. With elevated FSTI, the turbulence in the wake just above the boundary layer is no longer distinguishable from the background turbulence level. The unsteady boundary layer transition is dominated by the wake’s negative jet induced boundary layer variation.


Author(s):  
Y. Dong ◽  
N. A. Cumpsty

This paper follows directly from Part I** by the same authors and describes measurements of the boundary layer on a supercritical-type compressor blade with wakes from a simulated moving upstream blade row convected through the passage. (The blades and the test facilities togehter with the background are described in Part I.) The results obtained with the wakes are compared to those with none for both low and high levels of inlet turbulence. The transition process and boundary layer development is very different in each case though the overall momentum thickness at the trailing edge is fairly similar. None of the models for transition is satisfactory when this is initiated by moving wakes.


1985 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 23-46
Author(s):  
Eugene Lai ◽  
L. C. Squire

Measurements have been made of the pressure distribution and turbulent-boundary-layer development on the afterbody of a model engine nacelle with a jet exhausting from the base and with the jet replaced by a parallel solid sting. It was found that the effect of replacing the jet by a solid body was to increase the pressure recovery over the afterbody and hence give a lower drag than with the jet. These changes in the pressure distribution affected the boundary-layer development and turbulence structure by different methods based on a momentum integral equation and the kinetic equation for the turbulence. Both methods approximately incorporate the effects of convergence and divergence of the flow caused by changes in transverse curvature of the surface. Neither method was completely satisfactory for the prediction of the overall boundary-layer development.It was also found that, near the tail of the model, where the body radius is decreasing rapidly, the Reynolds shear stress was much lower than it would be in a two-dimensional boundary layer with the same pressure gradient. Calculations and analysis based on earlier work show that this reduction is directly related to the rates of strain associated with the convergence of the streamlines over the afterbody.


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