The Aerodynamic Interaction of Tip Leakage and Mainstream Flows in a Fully-Ducted Axial Fan

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Corsini ◽  
Franco Rispoli ◽  
Geoff Sheard ◽  
Iain Kinghorn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Aerodynamic Noise ◽  
Axial Fan ◽  
Noise Emission ◽  
Flow Mechanisms ◽  
Flow Effects

The three dimensional structures of the blade tip vortical flow field is herein discussed for an axial fan in a fully-ducted configuration. The investigation has been carried-out using an accurate in-house developed multi-level parallel finite element RANS solver, with the adoption of a non-isotropic two-equation turbulence closure. Due to the fully-ducted configuration the fan has a complex vortical flow field near the rotor tip. The tip clearance flows have been detected for operating conditions near peak efficiency and near stall, with multiple vortex formations being identified in both cases. The nature of the flow mechanisms in the fan tip region is correlated to the specific blade design features that promote reduced aerodynamic noise. It was found that the blade lean at the higher radii attenuates the sensitivity to leakage flow effects. Consequently, the rotor operates efficiently and with nearly unchanged noise emission approaching its throttling limit. The rotor loss behaviour, within the passage and downstream of it, is also discussed at both near design and part-load conditions.

Investigation on Improved Blade Tip Concept for Axial Flow Fan

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Corsini ◽  
Bruno Perugini ◽  
Franco Rispoli ◽  
A. G. Sheard ◽  
Iain R. Kinghorn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Aerodynamic Noise ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Flow Mechanisms ◽  
Axial Fans ◽  
Parallel Finite Element ◽  
Blade Tip

The three dimensional structures of the blade tip vortical flow field is discussed for a family of axial fans in fully-ducted configuration, to investigate an improved blade tip concept. This concept is based on geometrical modification of datum blade by means of profiled end-plates at the tip. The investigation has been carried-out using an accurate in-house developed multi-level parallel finite element RANS solver, with the adoption of a non-isotropic two-equation turbulence closure. Due to the fully-ducted configuration, the fans have a complex vortical flow field near the rotor tip. The nature of the flow mechanisms in the fan tip region is correlated to the specific blade design features that promote reduced aerodynamic noise. It was found that the tip geometrical modification markedly affects the multiple vortex leakage flow behaviour, by reducing the pressure difference within the tip gap and by altering the near-wall fluid flow paths on the blade surfaces. The rotor loss behaviour, in the blade tip region, was also discussed in order to assess the effect of blade tip geometry onto the rotor efficiency.

Analysis of Vortical Flow Field in a Propeller Fan by LDV Measurements and LES—Part I: Three-Dimensional Vortical Flow Structures

2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choon-Man Jang ◽  
Masato Furukawa ◽  
Masahiro Inoue
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Tip Vortex ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Axial Fan ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Tip Leakage Vortex ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Edge Separation

Three-dimensional structures of the vortical flow field in a propeller fan with a shroud covering only the rear region of its rotor tip have been investigated by experimental analysis using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) measurements and by numerical analysis using a large eddy simulation (LES) in Part I of the present study. The propeller fan has a very complicated vortical flow field near the rotor tip compared with axial fan and compressor rotors. It is found that three vortex structures are formed near the rotor tip: the tip vortex, the leading edge separation vortex, and the tip leakage vortex. The tip vortex is so strong that it dominates the flow field near the tip. Its formation starts from the blade tip suction side near the midchord. Even at the design condition the tip vortex convects nearly in the tangential direction, thus impinging on the pressure surface of the adjacent blade. The leading edge separation vortex develops close along the tip suction surface and disappears in the rear region of the rotor passage. The tip leakage vortex is so weak that it does not affect the flow field in the rotor.

scholarly journals Experimental Study of a 3D Wake Decay and Secondary Flows Behind a Rotor Blade Row of a Low Speed Compressor Stage

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Witkowski ◽  
T. J. Chmielniak ◽  
M. D. Strozik
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Secondary Flow ◽  
Rotor Blade ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Blade Row

Detailed measurements have been performed in a low pressure axial flow compressor stage to investigate the structure of the secondary flow field and the three-dimensional wake decay at different axial locations before and behind the rotor. The three dimensional flow field upstream and downstream of the rotor and on the centerline of the stator blade passage have been sampled periodically using a straight and a 90 degree triple-split fiber probe. Radial measurements at 39 radial stations were carried out at chosen axial positions in order to get the span-wise characteristics of the unsteady flow. Taking the experimental values of the unsteady flow velocities and turbulence properties, the effects of the rotor blade wake decay and secondary flow on the blade row spacing and stator passage flow at different operating conditions are discussed. For the normal operating point, the component of radial turbulent intensities in the leakage-flow mixing region is found to be much higher than the corresponding axial and tangential components. But for a higher value of the flow coefficient the relations are different.The results of the experiments show that triple-split fiber probes, straight and 90 degree measurements, combined with the ensemble average technique are a very useful method for the analysis of rotor flow in turbomachinery. Tip clearance vortex, secondary flow near the hub and radial flow in the wake, turbulent intensity and Reynolds stresses and also the decay of the rotor wakes can be obtained by this method.

Validation of a Navier-Stokes Solver for CFD Computations of Transonic Compressors

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Biollo ◽  
Ernesto Benini
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Complex Flow

The progress of numerical methods and computing facilities has led to using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a current tool for designing components of gas turbine engines. It is known, however, that a sophisticated numerical model is required to well reproduce the many complex flow phenomena which characterize compression systems, such as shock waves and their interactions with boundary layers and tip clearance flows. In this work, the flow field inside the NASA Rotor 37, a well known test case representative of complex three-dimensional viscous flow structures in transonic bladings, was simulated using a commercial CFD code based on the 3-D Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. In order to improve the accuracy of predictions, different aspects of the numerical model were analyzed; in particular, an attempt was made to understand the influence of grid topology, number of nodes and their distribution, turbulence model, and discretization scheme of numerical solution on the accuracy of computed results. Existing experimental data were used to assess the quality of the solutions. The obtainment of a good agreement between computed and measured performance maps and downstream profiles was clearly shown. Also, detailed comparisons with experimental results indicated that the overall features of the three-dimensional shock structure, the shock-boundary layer interaction, and the wake development can be calculated very well in the numerical approach for all the operating conditions. The possibility for a numerical model to better understand the aerodynamic behaviour of existing transonic compressors and to help the design of new configurations was demonstrated. It was also pointed out that the development of an accurate model requires the knowledge of both the physical phenomena place within the flow field and the features of the code which model them.

Effects of Cavity Purge Flow on Intermediate Turbine Duct Flowfield

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Qiang Du ◽  
Guang Liu ◽  
Pei Wang ◽  
Hongrui Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Design Criterion ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Duct Flow ◽  
Intermediate Turbine Duct ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
Cavity Structure ◽  
Flow Mechanisms ◽  
Purge Flow

To increase the power output without adding additional stages, ultra-high bypass ratio engine, which has larger diameter low pressure turbine, attracts more and more attention because of its huge advantage. This tendency will lead to aggressive (high diffusion) intermediate turbine duct design. Much work has been done to investigate flow mechanisms in this kind of duct as well as its design criterion with numerical and experimental methods. Usually intermediate turbine duct simplified from real engine structure was adopted with upstream and downstream blades. However, cavity purge mass flow exists to disturb the duct flow field in real engine to change its performance. Naturally, the wall vortex pairs would develop in different ways. In addition to that, purge flow rate changes at different engine representative operating conditions. This paper deals with the influence of turbine purge flow on the aerodynamic performance of an aggressive intermediate turbine duct. The objective is to reveal the physical mechanism of purge flow ejected from the wheel-space and its effects on the duct flow field. Ten cases with and without cavity are simulated simultaneously. On one hand, the influence of cavity structure without purge flow on the flow field inside duct could be discussed. On the other hand, the effect of purge flow rate on flow field could be analyzed to investigate the mechanisms at different engine operating conditions. According to this paper, cavity structure is beneficial for pressure loss. And the influence concentrates near hub and duct inlet.

scholarly journals Flow Field Investigation in the Exit Region of a Radial Inflow Turbine Using LDV

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Muthuvel Murugan ◽  
Widen Tabakoff ◽  
Awatef Hamed
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Complex Flow ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Exit Region ◽  
Flow Investigation ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Radial Inflow Turbine

Detailed flow investigation in the downstream region of a radial inflow turbine has been performed using a three component Laser Doppler Velocimetry. The flow velocities are measured in the exit region of the turbine at off-design operating conditions. The results are presented as contour and vector plots of mean velocities, flow angles and turbulent stresses. The measured parameters are correlated to the rotor blade rotation to observe any periodic nature of the flow. The measurements reveal a complex flow pattern near the tip region at the rotor exit due to the interaction of the tip clearance flow. The degree of swirl of the flow near the tip region at the rotor exit is observed to be high due to the gross under turning of the flow near the tip region. The effect of the rotor on the exit flow field is observed in the proximity of the rotor exit.

Effects of Stator Wakes and Spanwise Nonuniform Inlet Conditions on the Rotor Flow of an Axial Turbine Stage

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zeschky ◽  
H. E. Gallus
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Hot Wire ◽  
Turbine Stage ◽  
Static Pressure Distribution ◽  
Inlet Conditions ◽  
Experimental Values ◽  
Rotor Flow

Detailed measurements have been performed in a subsonic, axial-flow turbine stage to investigate the structure of the secondary flow field and the loss generation. The data include the static pressure distribution on the rotor blade passage surfaces and radial-circumferential measurements of the rotor exit flow field using three-dimensional hot-wire and pneumatic probes. The flow field at the rotor outlet is derived from unsteady hot-wire measurements with high temporal and spatial resolution. The paper presents the formation of the tip clearance vortex and the passage vortices, which are strongly influenced by the spanwise nonuniform stator outlet flow. Taking the experimental values for the unsteady flow velocities and turbulence properties, the effect of the periodic stator wakes on the rotor flow is discussed.

Experiments on an Axial Fan Stage: Time-Resolved Analysis of Rotating Instability Modes

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Pardowitz ◽  
Ulf Tapken ◽  
Lars Neuhaus ◽  
Lars Enghardt
Keyword(s):  
Leading Edge ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Axial Fan ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Instability Modes ◽  
Mode Decomposition ◽  
Rotating Instability ◽  
Annular Cascade

Rotating instability (RI) occurs at off-design conditions in axial compressors, predominantly in rotor configurations with large tip clearances. Characteristic spectral signatures with side-by-side peaks below the blade passing frequency (BPF) are typically referred to RI located in the clearance region next to the leading edge (LE). Each peak can be assigned to a dominant circumferential mode. RI is the source of the clearance noise (CN) and an indicator for critical operating conditions. Earlier studies at an annular cascade pointed out that RI modes of different circumferential orders occur stochastically distributed in time and independently from each other, which is contradictory to existing explanations of RI. Purpose of the present study is to verify this generally with regard to axial rotor configurations. Experiments were conducted on a laboratory axial fan stage mainly using unsteady pressure measurements in a sensor ring near the rotor LE. A mode decomposition based on cross spectral matrices was used to analyze the spectral and modal RI patterns upstream of the rotor. Additionally, a time-resolved analysis based on a spatial discrete-Fourier-transform (DFT) was applied to clarify the temporal characteristics of the RI modes and their potential interrelations. The results and a comparison with the previous findings on the annular cascade corroborate a new hypothesis about the basic RI mechanism. This hypothesis implies that instability waves of different wavelengths are generated stochastically in a shear layer resulting from a backflow in the tip clearance region.

scholarly journals Improvement of Pump Performance at Off-Design Conditions

1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Paulon ◽  
C. Fradin ◽  
J. Poulain
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristic ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pump Performance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mass Flows ◽  
Design Value

Industrial pumps are generally used in a wide range of operating conditions from almost zero mass flow to mass flows larger than the design value. It has been often noted that the head-mass flow characteristic, at constant speed, presents a negative bump as the mass flow is somewhat smaller than the design mass flows. Flow and mechanical instabilities appear, which are unsafe for the facility. An experimental study has been undertaken in order to analyze and if possible to palliate these difficulties. A detailed flow analyzis has shown strong three dimensional effects and flow separations. From this better knowledge of the flow field, a particular device was designed and a strong attenuation of the negative bump was obtained.

Flow/Acoustic Mechanisms in Three-Dimensional Vortices Undergoing Sinusoidal-Wave Instabilities

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenhua Li ◽  
Z. C. Zheng ◽  
Ying Xu
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vortex Pair ◽  
Particle Method ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Vortex Particle Method ◽  
Structure Changes ◽  
Wave Instabilities

It has been identified that vorticity in a vortex core directly relates to the frequency of a significant sound peak from an aircraft wake vortex pair where each of the vortices is modeled as an elliptic core Kirchhoff vortex. In three-dimensional vortices, sinusoidal instabilities at various length scales result in significant flow structure changes in these vortices, and thus influence their radiated acoustic signals. In this study, a three-dimensional vortex particle method is used to simulate the incompressible vortical flow. The flow field, in the form of vorticity, is employed as the source in the far-field acoustic calculation using a vortex sound formula that enables computation of acoustic signals radiated from an approximated incompressible flow field. Cases of vortex rings and a pair of counter-rotating vortices are studied when they are undergoing both long- and short-wave instabilities. Both inviscid and viscous interactions are considered and effects of turbulence are simulated using sub-grid-scale models.

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