scholarly journals Detailed Studies on Separated Boundary Layers Over Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoils Under Several High Lift Conditions: Effect of Freesteam Turbulence

Author(s):  
Ken-ichi Funazaki ◽  
Kazutoyo Yamada ◽  
Nozomi Tanaka ◽  
Yasuhiro Chiba

This paper deals with experimental investigation on the interaction between inlet freestream turbulence and boundary layers with separation bubble on a low-pressure turbine airfoil under several High Lift conditions. Solidity of the cascade can be reduced by increasing the airfoil pitch by 25%, while maintaining the throat in the blade-to-blade passage. Reynolds number examined is 57000, based on chord length and averaged exit velocity. Freestream turbulence intensity at the inlet is varied from 0.80% (no grid condition) to 2.1% by use of turbulence grid. Hot-wire probe measurements of the boundary layer on the suction surface for Low Pressure (LP) turbines rotor are carried out to obtain time-averaged and time-resolved characteristics of the boundary layers under the influence of the freestream turbulence. Frequency analysis extracts some important features of the unsteady behaviors of the boundary layer, including vortex formation and shedding. Numerical analysis based on high resolution Large Eddy Simulation is also executed to enhance the understanding on the flow field around the highly loaded turbine airfoils. Standard Smagorinsky model is employed as subgrid scale model. Emphasis of the simulation is placed on the relationship of inherent instability of the shear layer of the separation bubble and the freestream turbulence.

Author(s):  
Ken-Ichi Funazaki ◽  
Kazutoyo Yamada ◽  
Yasuhiro Chiba ◽  
Nozomi Tanaka

This paper deals with LES investigation, along with measurements, on the interaction between inlet freestream turbulence and boundary layers with separation bubble over ultra-high lift low-pressure turbine airfoils. The cross section of the test airfoils is typical for highly-loaded LP turbines for civil aeroengines. The solidity of the cascade can be reduced by increasing the airfoil pitch by at least 25%, while maintaining the throat in the blade-to-blade passage. Reynolds number examined is 57,000, based on chord length and averaged exit velocity. Free-stream turbulence is about 0.85% (no grid condition) and 2.1% (with grid condition). Hot-wire probe measurements of the boundary layer are carried out to obtain time-averaged and time-resolved characteristics of the boundary layers under the influence of the freestream turbulence. A newly developed probe positioning tool, which is installed downstream of the cascade with minimal blockage, enables precise probe positioning along lines normal to the airfoil surface. Numerical analysis based on high-resolution LES (Large-Eddy Simulation) is executed to enhance the understanding of the flow field around the Ultra-High Lift and High Lift LP turbine airfoils. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of inherent instability of the shear layer of the separation bubble and the free-stream turbulence. Standard Smagorinsky model is employed for subgrid scale modeling. The flow solver used is an in-house code that was originally developed by one of the authors as FVM (Finite Volume Method)-based fully implicit and time-accurate Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes code. Homogeneous isotropic turbulence created with SNGR (Stochastic Noise Generation and Radiation) method using von Karman-Pao turbulent energy spectrum is applied in the present study for the emulation of inlet turbulence.


Author(s):  
Ken-ichi Funazaki ◽  
Takahiro Shiba ◽  
Haruyuki Tanimitsu

This paper deals with studies on the flow field around three types of linear cascades of low pressure turbine (LPT) airfoils with different chordwise loading distributions, while keeping the aerodynamic loading index almost the same. The purpose of the low-speed linear cascade study is to clarify the performance of newly designed two ultra high-lift blade (UHL blade) and compare each of them to that of the conventional LPT blade (Base Model) with low solidity through the measurements of boundary layers accompanied by separation bubble for low Reynolds number conditions. Cylindrical bars on the timing belts work as wake generator to emulate upstream stator wakes that impact the boundary layer on the airfoil suction surface. Freestream turbulence is also enhanced by use of passive turbulence grid. In addition to the pneumatic probe measurements of the midspan loss characteristics of each of the cascades, hot-wire probe measurement is conducted over the blade suction surface to understand to what extent and how the interaction of incoming wakes as well as freestream turbulence affect the boundary layer and separation bubble. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses are also applied to the flow fields around the cascades, mainly using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) with dynamic Smagorinsky subgrid scale model.


Author(s):  
Ralph J. Volino

Boundary layer separation has been studied on a very high lift, low-pressure turbine airfoil in the presence of unsteady wakes. Experiments were done under low (0.6%) and high (4%) freestream turbulence conditions on a linear cascade in a low speed wind tunnel. Wakes were produced from moving rods upstream of the cascade. Flow coefficients were varied from 0.35 to 1.4 and wake spacing was varied from 1 to 2 blade spacings, resulting in dimensionless wake passing frequencies F = fLj-te/Uave (f is the frequency, Lj-te is the length of the adverse pressure gradient region on the suction surface of the airfoils, and Uave is the average freestream velocity) ranging from 0.14 to 0.56. Pressure surveys on the airfoil surface and downstream total pressure loss surveys were documented. Instantaneous velocity profile measurements were acquired in the suction surface boundary layer and downstream of the cascade. Cases were considered at Reynolds numbers (based on the suction surface length and the nominal exit velocity from the cascade) of 25,000 and 50,000. In cases without wakes, the boundary layer separated and did not reattach. With wakes, separation was largely suppressed, particularly if the wake passing frequency was sufficiently high. At lower frequencies the boundary layer separated between wakes. Background freestream turbulence had some effect on separation, but its role was secondary to the wake effect.


Author(s):  
Shuang Sun ◽  
Xingshuang Wu ◽  
Tianrong Tan ◽  
Canlin Zuo ◽  
Sirui Pan ◽  
...  

Abstract At low Reynolds numbers operating condition, the boundary layer of the high-lift low-pressure turbine (LPT) of aero-engines is prone to separate on the suction surface of the airfoil. The profile losses of the airfoil are largely governed by the size of the separation bubble and the transition process in the boundary layer. However, the wake-induced transition, the natural transition and the instability induced by the Klebanoff streaks complicate the transition process. The boundary layer on the suction surface of a high-lift LPT was investigated at Re = 50,000 with upstream wakes. The numerical simulation was performed with the CFX software using large eddy simulations (LES), and the experiment was performed on a linear cascade. In this study, the wake is divided into the wake center and the wake tail, the unsteady formation process of the streaks and the wall shear stress caused by the wake are analyzed. A new mechanism of generation and development of Klebanoff Streaks was presented to better understand the effect of the wake on the boundary layer. Moreover, it was found that after entering the blade passage, the wake center does not contact the blade but causes the wall shear stress of the front part on the suction surface to increase. However, it is not possible to form strong Klebanoff streaks at the leading edge of the blade by shear sheltering effect. Only the wake tail can form Klebanoff streaks when it contacts the blade.


2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph J. Volino

Boundary layer separation has been studied on a very high lift, low pressure turbine airfoil in the presence of unsteady wakes. Experiments were done under low (0.6%) and high (4%) freestream turbulence conditions on a linear cascade in a low speed wind tunnel. Wakes were produced from moving rods upstream of the cascade. Flow coefficients were varied from 0.35 to 1.4 and wake spacing was varied from one to two blade spacings, resulting in dimensionless wake passing frequencies F=fLj-te/Uave (f is the frequency, Lj-te is the length of the adverse pressure gradient region on the suction surface of the airfoils, and Uave is the average freestream velocity) ranging from 0.14 to 0.56. Pressure surveys on the airfoil surface and downstream total pressure loss surveys were documented. Instantaneous velocity profile measurements were acquired in the suction surface boundary layer and downstream of the cascade. Cases were considered at Reynolds numbers (based on the suction surface length and the nominal exit velocity from the cascade) of 25,000 and 50,000. In cases without wakes, the boundary layer separated and did not reattach. With wakes, separation was largely suppressed, particularly if the wake passing frequency was sufficiently high. At lower frequencies the boundary layer separated between wakes. Background freestream turbulence had some effect on separation, but its role was secondary to the wake effect.


Author(s):  
Ralph J. Volino

Boundary layer separation, transition and reattachment have been studied on a new, very high lift, low-pressure turbine airfoil. Experiments were done under low freestream turbulence conditions on a linear cascade in a low speed wind tunnel. Pressure surveys on the airfoil surface and downstream total pressure loss surveys were documented. Velocity profiles were acquired in the suction side boundary layer at several streamwise locations using hot-wire anemometry. Cases were considered at Reynolds numbers (based on the suction surface length and the nominal exit velocity from the cascade) ranging from 25,000 to 330,000. In all cases the boundary layer separated, but at high Reynolds number the separation bubble remained very thin and quickly reattached after transition to turbulence. In the low Reynolds number cases, the boundary layer separated and did not reattach, even when transition occurred. This behavior contrasts with previous research on other airfoils, in which transition, if it occurred, always induced reattachment, regardless of Reynolds number.


2007 ◽  
Vol 111 (1118) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Howell ◽  
K. M. Roman

This paper describes how it is possible to reduce the profile losses on ultra high lift low pressure (LP) turbine blade profiles with the application of selected surface roughness and wake unsteadiness. Over the past several years, an understanding of wake interactions with the suction surface boundary layer on LP turbines has allowed the design of blades with ever increasing levels of lift. Under steady flow conditions, ultra high lift profiles would have large (and possibly open) separation bubbles present on the suction side which result from the very high diffusion levels. The separation bubble losses produced by it are reduced when unsteady wake flows are present. However, LP turbine blades have now reached a level of loading and diffusion where profile losses can no longer be controlled by wake unsteadiness alone. The ultra high lift profiles investigated here were created by attaching a flap to the trailing edge of another blade in a linear cascade — the so called flap-test technique. The experimental set-up used in this investigation allows for the simulation of upstream wakes by using a moving bar system. Hotwire and hotfilm measurements were used to obtain information about the boundary-layer state on the suction surface of the blade as it evolved in time. Measurements were taken at a Reynolds numbers ranging between 100,000 and 210,000. Two types of ultra high lift profile were investigated; ultra high lift and extended ultra high lift, where the latter has 25% greater back surface diffusion as well as a 12% increase in lift compared to the former. Results revealed that distributed roughness reduced the size of the separation bubble with steady flow. When wakes were present, the distributed roughness amplified disturbances in the boundary layer allowing for more rapid wake induced transition to take place, which tended to eliminate the separation bubble under the wake. The extended ultra high lift profile generated only slightly higher losses than the original ultra high lift profile, but more importantly it generated 12% greater lift.


Author(s):  
Mounir B. Ibrahim ◽  
Samuel Vinci ◽  
Olga Kartuzova ◽  
Ralph J. Volino

A study of a very high lift, low-pressure turbine airfoil in the presence of unsteady wakes was performed computationally and compared against experimental results. The experiments were conducted in a low speed wind tunnel under high (4.9%) and then low (0.6%) freestream turbulence intensity conditions with a flow coefficient (ζ) of 0.7. The experiments were done on a linear cascade with wakes that were produced from moving rods upstream of the cascade with the rod to blade spacing varied from 1 to 1.6 to 2. In the present study two different Reynolds numbers (25,000 and 50,000, based on the suction surface length and the nominal exit velocity from the cascade) were considered. The experimental and computational data have shown that in cases without wakes, the boundary layer separated and did not reattach. The CFD was performed with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS), Transition-SST, utilizing the finite-volume code ANSYS FLUENT under the same freestream turbulence and Reynolds number conditions as the experiment but only at a rod to blade spacing of 1. With wakes, separation was largely suppressed, particularly if the wake passing frequency was sufficiently high. Similar effect was predicted by 3D CFD simulations. Computational results for the pressure coefficients and velocity profiles were in a reasonable agreement with experimental ones for all cases examined. The 2D CFD efforts failed to capture the three dimensionality effects of the wake and thus were less consistent with the experimental data. As a further computational study, cases were run to simulate higher wake passing frequencies which were not run experimentally. The results of these computational cases showed that an initial 25% increase from the experimental dimensionless wake passing frequency of F = 0.45 greatly reduced the size of the separation bubble, nearly completely suppressing it, however an additional 33% increase on top of this did not prove to have much of an effect.


Author(s):  
Weihao Zhang ◽  
Zhengping Zou ◽  
Kun Zhou ◽  
Huoxing Liu ◽  
Jian Ye

The effects of periodic wakes and inlet freestream turbulence intensity (FSTI) on coherent structures in the boundary layer of a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade are studied in this paper. Large-eddy simulations (LES) are performed on T106D-EIZ profile at Reynolds number (Re) of 60,154 (based on the chord and outflow velocity). Eight cases, considering FSTI of 0, 2.5%, 5% and 10% as well as the wake reduced frequency (fr) of 0.67, 1.34 and 0.335, are conducted and discussed. The results show that the open separation could be compressed by freestream turbulence to a small extent, whereas, it could be replaced by separation bubbles under wake conditions. Stripe structures and turbulence spots appear in shear layer over the separation bubbles. The increments of wake frequency or FSTI can accelerate the transition progress which result in shorter separation bubbles, meanwhile, emphasize the turbulence spots.


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