Three-Dimensional Pressure Controlled Vortex Design of a Turbine Stage

Author(s):  
Qingfeng Deng ◽  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Guoqiang Yue ◽  
Hai Zhang ◽  
Mingcong Luo

A three-dimensional (3D) Pressure Controlled Vortex Design (PCVD) method for turbine stage design is proposed and discussed in this paper. The concept is developed from conventional Controlled Vortex Design (CVD) via pressure control approach and CVD technology. By specifying the static pressure and axial velocity distributions, the spanwise pressure gradient incorporated with pressure gradient in streamwise and azimuthal directions is moderated. Not only can profile loss profit from pressure control approach, but also secondary flow can be managed. The reasons for CVD are derived from stream surface thickness and stream surface twist. Through modifying stream surface thickness and inducing large stream surface twist, the secondary flow migrations are controlled properly and orderly. The relations of pressure control approach and CVD technology complement one another and finally lead to a well-posed flow pattern in turbine stage. The first stage redesign of a well-designed low pressure turbine demonstrates this technique application. A significant reduction of secondary flow losses and a corresponding increase of stage efficiency have achieved.

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1125-1134
Author(s):  
Qingfeng Deng ◽  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Guoqiang Yue ◽  
Hai Zhang ◽  
Mingcong Luo

Author(s):  
K. Yamada ◽  
K. Funazaki ◽  
K. Hiroma ◽  
M. Tsutsumi ◽  
Y. Hirano ◽  
...  

In the present work, unsteady RANS simulations were performed to clarify several interesting features of the unsteady three-dimensional flow field in a turbine stage. The unsteady effect was investigated for two cases of axial spacing between stator and rotor, i.e. large and small axial spacing. Simulation results showed that the stator wake was convected from pressure side to suction side in the rotor. As a result, another secondary flow, which counter-rotated against the passage vortices, was periodically generated by the stator wake passing through the rotor passage. It was found that turbine stage efficiency with the small axial spacing was higher than that with the large axial spacing. This was because the stator wake in the small axial spacing case entered the rotor before mixing and induced the stronger counter-rotating vortices to suppress the passage vortices more effectively, while the wake in the large axial spacing case eventually promoted the growth of the secondary flow near the hub due to the migration of the wake towards the hub.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesham M. El-Batsh

This paper introduces an investigation of the effect of radial pressure gradient on the secondary flow generated in turbine cascades. Laboratory measurements were performed using an annular sector cascade which allowed the investigation using relatively small number of blades. The flow was measured upstream and downstream of the cascade using a calibrated five-hole pressure probe. The three-dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations were solved to understand flow physics. Turbulence was modeled using eddy-viscosity assumption and the two-equation Shear Stress Transport (SST)k-ωmodel. The results obtained through this study showed that the secondary flow is significantly affected by the pressure gradient along blade span. The experimental measurements and the numerical calculations predicted passage vortex near blade hub which had larger and stronger values than that predicted near blade tip. The loss distribution revealed that secondary flow loss was concentrated near blade hub. It is recommended that attempts of reducing secondary flow in annular cascade should put emphasis on the passage vortex near the hub.


1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fan ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana

The objective of this paper is to investigate the three dimensional unsteady flow interactions in a turbomachine stage. A three-dimensional time accurate Euler code has been developed using an explicit four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme. Three-dimensional unsteady non-reflecting boundary conditions are formulated at the inlet and at the outlet of the computational domain to remove the spurious numerical reflections. The three-dimensional code is first validated for 2-D and 3-D cascades with harmonic vortical inlet distortions. The effectiveness of non reflecting boundary conditions is demonstrated. The unsteady Euler solver is then used to simulate the propagation of nozzle wake and secondary flow through rotor and the resulting unsteady pressure field in an axial turbine stage. The three dimensional and time dependent propagation of nozzle wakes in the rotor blade row and the effects of nozzle secondary flow on the rotor unsteady surface pressure and passage flow field are studied. It was found that the unsteady flow field in the rotor is highly three-dimensional and the nozzle secondary flow has significant contribution to the unsteady pressure on the blade surfaces. Even though the steady flow at the midspan is nearly two-dimensional, the unsteady flow is 3-D and the unsteady pressure distribution can not by predicted by a 2-D analysis.


Author(s):  
Wang Zhongqi ◽  
Xu Wenyuan ◽  
Han Wanjin ◽  
Bai Jie

Up to now the reasons of reducing the secondary flow losses by using leaned blades, especially in the case of great incidence angle, have been little concerned with in published references. The experimental results in this paper have shown that the decisive factor reducing secondary flow losses in turbine stator cascades is the static pressure gradient along the blade height inside the cascade channel near the suction surface, especially in the rear part of it, because the negative pressure gradient in the hub region and the positive one in the tip region are beneficial for the boundary layer in both the regions to be sucked into the main stream region, consequently, the accumulation and the separation of the boundary layer have been weakened in both regions. Moreover, the effectiveness of applying the positively or negatively leaned blades is increased with the increase of a incidence angle, in the hub or the tip regions respectively.


Author(s):  
Wenhua Duan ◽  
Weiyang Qiao ◽  
Zuojun Wei ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Haoyi Cheng

A detailed experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of endwall contouring on the secondary flow was performed in a highly loaded low pressure linear cascade. A comparison between a planar and three contoured configurations has been performed, and the three-dimensional endwall secondary flow structures and the secondary flow losses are here analyzed and discussed. For the contoured endwall, three locations of the same contouring were investigated, first one with the contouring starting upstream the airfoil and ending just before the leading edge of the airfoil, secondary one with the contouring starting upstream the airfoil and ending in the middle of the airfoil passage, the last one with the contouring starting just from the leading edge of the airfoil and continuing through the airfoil passage just ending at the trailing edge. The results suggest that the numerical results offer a reliable prediction for the endwall secondary flow structure together with suction surface separation bubble. It was found that all the three locations of contouring could reduce the secondary flow losses effectively. The location through the airfoil passage got the most benefit in the reduction of secondary flow losses whereas the all contouring upstream the airfoil location got the least. It was also found that the profile losses was affected by the contoured endwall.


Author(s):  
Hakim T. K. Kadhim ◽  
Aldo Rona ◽  
Hayder M. B. Obaida ◽  
J. Paul Gostelow

The interaction of secondary flow with the main passage flow results in entropy generation; this accounts for considerable losses in turbomachines. Low aspect ratio blades in an axial turbine lead to a high degree of secondary flow losses. A particular interest is the reduction in secondary flow strength at the turbine casing, which adversely affects the turbine performance. This paper presents a selective review of effective techniques for improving the performance of axial turbines by turbine end wall modifications. This encompasses the use of axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric end wall contouring and the use of fences. Specific attention is given to non-axisymmetric end walls and to their effect on secondary flow losses. A baseline three-dimensional steady RANS k-ω SST model, with axisymmetric walls, is validated against experimental measurements from the Institute of Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen, Germany, with comparative solutions generated by ANSYS Fluent and OpenFOAM. The predicted performance of the stator passage with an axisymmetric casing is compared with that from using a contoured casing with a groove designed using the Beta distribution function for guiding the groove shape. The prediction of a reduced total pressure loss coefficient with the application of the contoured casing supports the groove design approach based on the natural path of the secondary flow features. This work also provided an automated workflow process, linking surface definition in MATLAB, meshing in ICEM CFD, and flow solving and post-processing OpenFOAM. This has generated a casing contouring design tool with a good portability to industry, to design and optimize new turbine blade passages.


Author(s):  
H. E. Gallus ◽  
J. Zeschky ◽  
C. Hah

Detailed experimental and numerical studies have been performed in a subsonic, axial-flow turbine stage to investigate the secondary flow field, the aerodynamic loss generation, and the spanwise mixing under a stage environment. The experimental study includes measurements of the static pressure distribution on the rotor blade surface and the rotor exit flow field using three-dimensional hot-wire and pneumatic probes. The rotor exit flow field was measured with an unsteady hot-wire probe which has high temporal and spatial resolution. Both steady and unsteady numerical analyses were performed with a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code for the multiple blade rows. Special attention was focused on how well the steady multiple-blade-row calculation predicts the rotor exit flow field and how much the blade interaction affects the radial distribution of flow properties at the stage exit. Detailed comparisons between the measurement and the steady calculation indicate that the steady multiple-blade-row calculation predicts the overall time-averaged flow field very well. However, the steady calculation does not predict the secondary flow at the stage exit accurately. The current study indicates that the passage vortex near the hub of the rotor is transported toward the mid-span due to the blade interaction effects. And, the structure of the secondary flow field at the exit of the rotor is significantly modified by the unsteady effects. The time-averaged secondary flow field and the radial distribution of the flow properties, which are uses for the design of the following stage, can be predicted more accurately with the unsteady flow calculation.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Gallus ◽  
J. Zeschky ◽  
C. Hah

Detailed experimental and numerical studies have been performed in a subsonic, axial-flow turbine stage to investigate the secondary flow field, the aerodynamic loss generation, and the spanwise mixing under a stage environment. The experimental study includes measurements of the static pressure distribution on the rotor blade surface and the rotor exit flow field using three-dimensional hot-wire and pneumatic probes. The rotor exit flow field was measured with an unsteady hot-wire probe, which has high temporal and spatial resolution. Both steady and unsteady numerical analyses were performed with a three-dimensional Navier–Stokes code for the multiple blade rows. Special attention was focused on how well the steady multiple-blade-row calculation predicts the rotor exit flow field and how much the blade interaction affects the radial distribution of flow properties at the stage exit. Detailed comparisons between the measurement and the steady calculation indicate that the steady multiple-blade-row calculation predicts the overall time-averaged flow field very well. However, the steady calculation does not predict the secondary flow at the stage exit accurately. The current study indicates that the passage vortex near the hub of the rotor is transported toward the midspan due to the blade interaction effects. Also, the structure of the secondary flow field at the exit of the rotor is significantly modified by the unsteady effects. The time-averaged secondary flow field and the radial distribution of the flow properties, which are used for the design of the following stage, can be predicted more accurately with the unsteady flow calculation.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fan ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana

The objective of this paper is to investigate the three-dimensional unsteady flow interactions in a turbomachine stage. A three-dimensional time-accurate Euler code has been developed using an explicit four-stage Runge–Kutta scheme. Three-dimensional unsteady nonreflecting boundary conditions are formulated at the inlet and the outlet of the computational domain to remove the spurious numerical reflections. The three-dimensional code is first validated for two-dimensional and three-dimensional cascades with harmonic vortical inlet distortions. The effectiveness of the nonreflecting boundary conditions is demonstrated. The unsteady Euler solver is then used to simulate the propagation of nozzle wake and secondary flow through the rotor and the resulting unsteady pressure field in an axial turbine stage. The three-dimensional and time-dependent propagation of nozzle wakes in the rotor blade row and the effects of nozzle secondary flow on the rotor unsteady surface pressure and passage flow field are studied. It was found that the unsteady flow field in the rotor is highly three dimensional and the nozzle secondary flow has significant contribution to the unsteady pressure on the blade surfaces. Even though the steady flow at the midspan is nearly two dimensional, the unsteady flow is three dimensional and the unsteady pressure distribution cannot be predicted by a two-dimensional analysis.


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