Investigation of the Flow Field in a HP Turbine Stage for Two Stator-Rotor Axial Gaps: Part I — 3D Time-Averaged Flow Field

Author(s):  
P. Gaetani ◽  
G. Persico ◽  
V. Dossena ◽  
C. Osnaghi

An extensive experimental analysis on the subject of unsteady flow field in high pressure turbine stages was carried out at the Laboratorio di Fluidodinamica delle Macchine (LFM) of Politecnico di Milano. The research stage represents a typical modern HP gas turbine stage designed by means of 3D techniques, characterised by a leaned stator and a bowed rotor and operating in high subsonic regime. The first part of the program concerns the analysis of the steady flow field in the stator-rotor axial gap by means of a conventional five-hole probe and a temperature sensor. Measurements were carried out on eight planes located at different axial positions allowing the complete definition of steady flow field both in absolute and relative frame of reference. The evolution of the main flow structures, such as secondary flows and vane wakes, downstream of the stator are here presented and discussed in order to evidence the stator aerodynamic performance and, in particular, the different flow field approaching the rotor blade row for the two axial gaps. This results set will support the discussion of the unsteady stator-rotor effects presented in paper Part II. Furthermore, 3D time-averaged measurements downstream of the rotor were carried out at one axial distance and for two stator-rotor axial gaps. The position of the probe with respect to the stator blades is changed by means of rotating the stator in circumferential direction, in order to describe possible effects of the non-uniformity of the stator exit flow field downstream of the stage. Both flow fields, measured for the nominal and for a very large stator-rotor axial gap, are discussed and results show the persistence of some stator flow structures downstream of the rotor, in particular for the minimum axial gap. Eventually the flow fields are compared to evidence the effect of the stator-rotor axial gap on the stage performance from a time-averaged point of view.

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Gaetani ◽  
G. Persico ◽  
V. Dossena ◽  
C. Osnaghi

An extensive experimental analysis on the subject of unsteady flow field in high-pressure turbine stages was carried out at the Laboratorio di Fluidodinamica delle Macchine (LFM) of Politecnico di Milano. The research stage represents a typical modern HP gas turbine stage designed by means of three-dimensional (3D) techniques, characterized by a leaned stator and a bowed rotor and operating in high subsonic regime. The first part of the program concerns the analysis of the steady flow field in the stator-rotor axial gap by means of a conventional five-hole probe and a temperature sensor. Measurements were carried out on eight planes located at different axial positions, allowing the complete definition of the three-dimensional flow field both in absolute and relative frame of reference. The evolution of the main flow structures, such as secondary flows and vane wakes, downstream of the stator are here presented and discussed in order to evidence the stator aerodynamic performance and, in particular, the different flow field approaching the rotor blade row for the two axial gaps. This results set will support the discussion of the unsteady stator-rotor effects presented in Part II (Gaetani, P., Persico, G., Dossena, V., and Osnaghi, C., 2007, ASME J. Turbomach., 129(3), pp. 580–590). Furthermore, 3D time-averaged measurements downstream of the rotor were carried out at one axial distance and for two stator-rotor axial gaps. The position of the probe with respect to the stator blades is changed by rotating the stator in circumferential direction, in order to describe possible effects of the nonuniformity of the stator exit flow field downstream of the stage. Both flow fields, measured for the nominal and for a very large stator-rotor axial gap, are discussed, and results show the persistence of some stator flow structures downstream of the rotor, in particular, for the minimum axial gap. Finally, the flow fields are compared to evidence the effect of the stator-rotor axial gap on the stage performance from a time-averaged point of view.


Author(s):  
P. Gaetani ◽  
G. Persico ◽  
V. Dossena ◽  
C. Osnaghi

An extensive experimental analysis was carried out at Politecnico di Milano on the subject of unsteady flow in high pressure (HP) turbine stages. In this paper the unsteady flow measured downstream of a modern HP turbine stage is discussed. Traverses in two planes downstream of the rotor are considered and, in one of them, the effects of two very different axial gaps are investigated: the maximum axial gap, equal to one stator axial chord, is chosen to “switch off” the rotor inlet unsteadiness, while the nominal gap, equal to 1/3 of the stator axial chord, is representative of actual engines. The experiments were performed by means of a fast-response pressure probe, allowing for two-dimensional phase-resolved flow measurements in a bandwidth of 80 kHz. The main properties of the probe and the data processing are described. The core of the paper is the analysis of the unsteady rotor aerodynamics; for this purpose, instantaneous snapshots of the rotor flow in the relative frame are used. The rotor mean flow and its interaction with the stator wakes and vortices are also described. In the outer part of the channel only the rotor cascade effects can be observed, with a dominant role played by the tip-leakage flow and by the rotor tip passage vortex. In the hub region, where the secondary flows downstream of the stator are stronger, the persistence of stator vortices is slightly visible in the maximum stator-rotor axial gap configuration, while in the minimum stator-rotor axial gap configuration the interaction with the rotor vortices dominates the flow field. A fair agreement with the wakes and vortices transport models has been achieved. A discussion of the interaction process is reported giving particular emphasis to the effects of the different cascade axial gaps. Some final considerations on the effects of the different axial gap over the stage performances are reported.


Author(s):  
G. Persico ◽  
P. Gaetani ◽  
C. Osnaghi

An extensive experimental analysis on the subject of the unsteady periodic flow in a highly subsonic HP turbine stage has been carried out at the Laboratorio di Fluidodinamica delle Macchine (LFM) of the Politecnico di Milano (Italy). In this paper the blade row interaction is progressively enforced by increasing the stator and rotor blade loading and by reducing the stator-rotor axial gap from 100% (very large to smooth the rotor inlet unsteadiness) to 35% (design configuration) of the stator axial chord. The time-averaged three-dimensional flow field in the stator-rotor gap was investigated by means of a conventional five-hole probe for the nominal (0°) and an highly positive (+22°) stator incidences. The evolution of the viscous flow structures downstream of the stator is presented to characterize the rotor incoming flow. The blade row interaction was evaluated on the basis of unsteady aerodynamic measurements at the rotor exit, performed with a fast-response aerodynamic pressure probe. Results show a strong dependence of the time-averaged and phase-resolved flow field and of the stage performance on the stator incidence. The structure of the vortex-blade interaction changes significantly as the magnitude of the rotor inlet vortices increases, and very different residual traces of the stator secondary flows are found downstream of the rotor. On the contrary, the increase of rotor loading enhances the unsteadiness in the rotor secondary flows but has a little effect on the vortex-vortex interaction. For the large axial gap, a reduction of stator-related effects at the rotor exit is encountered when the stator incidence is increased as a result of the different mixing rate within the cascade gap.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Gaetani ◽  
G. Persico ◽  
V. Dossena ◽  
C. Osnaghi

An extensive experimental analysis was carried out at Politecnico di Milano on the subject of unsteady flow in high pressure (HP) turbine stages. In this paper, the unsteady flow measured downstream of a modern HP turbine stage is discussed. Traverses in two planes downstream of the rotor are considered, and, in one of them, the effects of two very different axial gaps are investigated: the maximum axial gap, equal to one stator axial chord, is chosen to “switch off” the rotor inlet unsteadiness, while the nominal gap, equal to 1/3 of the stator axial chord, is representative of actual engines. The experiments were performed by means of a fast-response pressure probe, allowing for two-dimensional phase-resolved flow measurements in a bandwidth of 80kHz. The main properties of the probe and the data processing are described. The core of the paper is the analysis of the unsteady rotor aerodynamics; for this purpose, instantaneous snapshots of the rotor flow in the relative frame are used. The rotor mean flow and its interaction with the stator wakes and vortices are also described. In the outer part of the channel, only the rotor cascade effects can be observed, with a dominant role played by the tip leakage flow and by the rotor tip passage vortex. In the hub region, where the secondary flows downstream of the stator are stronger, the persistence of stator vortices is slightly visible in the maximum stator-rotor axial gap configuration, whereas in the minimum stator-rotor axial gap configuration their interaction with the rotor vortices dominates the flow field. A good agreement with the wakes and vortices transport models has been achieved. A discussion of the interaction process is reported giving particular emphasis to the effects of the different cascade axial gaps. Some final considerations on the effects of the different axial gap over the stage performances are reported.


Author(s):  
K. Yamada ◽  
K. Funazaki ◽  
M. Kikuchi ◽  
H. Sato

A study on the effects of the axial gap between stator and rotor upon the stage performance and flow field of a single axial flow turbine stage is presented in this paper. Three axial gaps were tested, which were achieved by moving the stator vane in the axial direction while keeping the disk cavity constant. The effect of the axial gap was investigated at two different conditions, that is design and off-design conditions. The unsteady three-dimensional flow field was analyzed by time-accurate RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulations. The simulation results were compared with the experiments, in which total pressure and the time-averaged flow field upstream and downstream of the rotor were obtained by five-hole probe measurements. The effect of the axial gap was confirmed in the endwall regions, and obtained relatively at off-design condition. The turbine stage efficiency was improved almost linearly by reducing the axial gap at the off-design condition.


Author(s):  
Zhenyang Zhang ◽  
Hongwei Ma ◽  
Chao Jin ◽  
Cheng Xue ◽  
Yunlong Huang

The characteristic of coolant flow field in the water jacket of a cylinder head plays an important role in heat exchange, which could even influence the diesel engine’s performance and service life. Measurements and analysis methods to coolant flow field are limited by the complex internal geometrical structure of the cylinder head. In this paper, flow fields in a small and complicated spatial structure are measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) system and the data are analyzed using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. Time varying coolant flow structures located among two valve seats, a fuel injector seat and a side wall in a real cylinder head are measured by a two dimensional PIV system. PIV results of three measuring planes are displayed in different ways to show flow structures in the water jacket. Distinctive areas can be recognized easily in distributions of different flow parameters. A snapshot POD method is employed to analyze PIV data. Flow structures, which contain different amount of energy, are decomposed into different modes by POD method. POD Mode 1 and ensemble mean flow field are compared together and the relevance index shows a relatively high similarity between these two flow fields. The results also indicate a significant convergence of energy distribution. Energy contained in Mode 1 varies from 22% to 61% of the total energy in different measuring planes. 90% of the total energy is captured in top 10% of the total modes which belong to low-order modes. Energy in high-order modes, which occupy more than 60% of the total modes, contains less than 1% of the total energy. In summary, this paper presents the application of PIV measurements to coolant flow field in a real cylinder head and data processing using a snapshot POD method to analyze PIV results. A set of comprehensive properties showing the spatial and temporal characteristics of coolant flow structure is discussed and concluded detailedly. The data obtained can be used to build an experimental database to optimize coolant flow field structures and verify CFD numerical simulations in order to promote coolant flow passage design and simulation credibility of the diesel engine cooling system.


2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (05) ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. LEE ◽  
J. Y. CHEN

In a previous study by the authors, steady flow fields in a model of abdominal aorta with its seven peripheral branches were reported. In the present study, the some aorta model was simulated numerically with a pulsatile inlet waves for both the resting and exercise conditions. The baseline pulsatile flow field was presented in terms of velocity vectors and iso-velocity contours as well as the wall shear stress (WSS) distribution and the recirculation zones. The time-averaged behavior of the flow field represented by the fluid dynamic factors was discussed. The results were consistent with those obtained experimentally and numerically by other investigators. It was also found that under the present conditions, the steady flow behavior could adequately describe the time-averaged behavior of its corresponding pulsatile case, particularly in the regions where convective flow dominated. The present computer code may provide a platform for clinical simulations.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146808742097414
Author(s):  
Daniel Dreher ◽  
Marius Schmidt ◽  
Cooper Welch ◽  
Sara Ourza ◽  
Samuel Zündorf ◽  
...  

Machine learning (ML) models based on a large data set of in-cylinder flow fields of an IC engine obtained by high-speed particle image velocimetry allow the identification of relevant flow structures underlying cycle-to-cycle variations of engine performance. To this end, deep feature learning is employed to train ML models that predict cycles of high and low in-cylinder maximum pressure. Deep convolutional autoencoders are self-supervised-trained to encode flow field features in low dimensional latent space. Without the limitations ascribable to manual feature engineering, ML models based on these learned features are able to classify high energy cycles already from the flow field during late intake and the compression stroke as early as 290 crank angle degrees before top dead center ([Formula: see text]) with a mean accuracy above chance level. The prediction accuracy from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] is comparable to baseline ML approaches utilizing an extensive set of engineered features. Relevant flow structures in the compression stroke are revealed by feature analysis of ML models and are interpreted using conditional averaged flow quantities. This analysis unveils the importance of the horizontal velocity component of in-cylinder flows in predicting engine performance. Combining deep learning and conventional flow analysis techniques promises to be a powerful tool for ultimately revealing high-level flow features relevant to the prediction of cycle-to-cycle variations and further engine optimization.


Author(s):  
Zhanhua Ma ◽  
Dexin Wang ◽  
San-Mou Jeng ◽  
Michael A. Benjamin

The upstream and downstream flows of a radial inlet swirler were investigated by using a 2-D Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) probe. The radial profiles of axial and tangential velocities at various axial locations were obtained. The effects of Reynolds Number, swirler exit configuration and combustor outlet condition were examined. The results reveal that the combustor outlet condition has strong influence on the downstream flow field of the swirler. The effect of Reynolds Number depends on the swirler exit configurations. The influence of the convergent configuration from swirl chamber to orifice on the flow fields is very small whereas the influence of the divergence at the swirler exit is significant. The upstream and downstream flows of the radial inlet swirler are of sub-critical nature, thus the swirler exit configuration and combustor outlet condition significantly affect the flow fields.


Author(s):  
Steven R. Wellborn

Data that reveal the structure and character of the flow in and near the cavities of compressor shrouded stators are reviewed. Results were obtained from low-speed multistage compressor measurements and simulations and generic high-speed cavity simulations. The experimental measurements were acquired with slow and fast response instrumentation. The numerical simulations were collected with two different flow solvers. The data are presented to provide compressor designers some indication of the complexities of the flow within shrouded stator cavities and to provide a datum for further studies on more complex geometries and flow conditions. The data suggest surprisingly similar flow structures within most cavities including spatial and temporal flow field variations. In general, the flow in the cavities involved fluid moving in the circumferential direction with lower momentum than powerstream fluid. The difference in momentum is adjusted through a shear layer in the radial direction near the powerstream/cavity interface. Circumferential variations in flow properties also exist, the most prominent being caused by the upstream potential influence of the downstream blade. This influence caused the fluid within the cavities near the leading edges of the airfoils to be driven radially inward relative to fluid near mid-pitch. Some data are presented that suggest powerstream secondary flows dictate which fluid particles are ingested in the downstream cavity across the stator pitch. Vortical flow structures, similar to those set up by a driven cavity, dominate the axial variations in flow. The position and structure of these vortical structures are dependent upon the powerstream flow field and the cavity geometry. Examining some interdependencies between cavity flow parameters concludes discussions of cavity flow field characteristics. A known relation between cavity leakage amount and tangential velocity is reiterated. Cavity rotational speed and stator exit swirl are also shown to influence the cavity tangential velocity. Increasing rotational speed tends to increase the tangential velocity through the cavity. Increasing the stator exit swirl reduces the tangential velocity increase.


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