Pressure fluctuation on casing wall and investigation to tip leakage flow of contra-rotating small hydro-turbine

Author(s):  
Ding Nan ◽  
Toru Shigemitsu ◽  
Tomofumi Ikebuchi ◽  
Takeru Ishiguro ◽  
Takuji Hosotani

Renewable energy is strongly recommended to replace the traditional fossil fuels to solve the severe environmental pollution. However, small hydro-turbine performs lower efficiency, and it is also easy to be blocked and impacted. Therefore, the contra-rotating rotors are adopted to overcome the disadvantages of small hydro-turbine. The performance and internal flow condition of contra-rotating small hydro-turbine have been clarified. In this paper, a new transparent casing is manufactured, and pressure fluctuation experiments are conducted. The pressure fluctuation experiments are to clarify the pressure fluctuation during the running of contra-rotating small hydro-turbine. Then the hydraulic stability of contra-rotating small hydro-turbine can be further investigated. According to the experiment results, for the new model, most of the amplitudes of pressure fluctuation are decreased. The maximum decreasing percentage of peak-to-peak value is 74.22%, and it is appeared on the point of Pr3. On frequency domain, the dominant frequencies of pressure fluctuation are rotation frequency and blade passing frequency. The investigation to tip leakage flow of contra-rotating small hydro-turbine is conducted based on the pressure fluctuation experiment and numerical simulation. The tip leakage vortex is identified by Q-criterion. The pressure distributions in tip clearance area show that the tip leakage vortex of new model is suppressed, and this helps to reduce the amplitude of pressure fluctuation in tip clearance area.

2007 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Palafox ◽  
M. L. G. Oldfield ◽  
J. E. LaGraff ◽  
T. V. Jones

New, detailed flow field measurements are presented for a very large low-speed cascade representative of a high-pressure turbine rotor blade with turning of 110deg and blade chord of 1.0m. Data were obtained for tip leakage and passage secondary flow at a Reynolds number of 4.0×105, based on exit velocity and blade axial chord. Tip clearance levels ranged from 0% to 1.68% of blade span (0% to 3% of blade chord). Particle image velocimetry was used to obtain flow field maps of several planes parallel to the tip surface within the tip gap, and adjacent passage flow. Vector maps were also obtained for planes normal to the tip surface in the direction of the tip leakage flow. Secondary flow was measured at planes normal to the blade exit angle at locations upstream and downstream of the trailing edge. The interaction between the tip leakage vortex and passage vortex is clearly defined, revealing the dominant effect of the tip leakage flow on the tip end-wall secondary flow. The relative motion between the casing and the blade tip was simulated using a motor-driven moving belt system. A reduction in the magnitude of the undertip flow near the end wall due to the moving wall is observed and the effect on the tip leakage vortex examined.


Author(s):  
Huijing Zhao ◽  
Zhiheng Wang ◽  
Shubo Ye ◽  
Guang Xi

To better understand the characteristics of tip leakage flow and interpret the correlation between flow instability and tip leakage flow, the flow in the tip region of a centrifugal impeller is investigated by using the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes solver technique. With the decrease of mass flow rate, both the tip leakage vortex trajectory and the mainflow/tip leakage flow interface are shifted towards upstream. The mainflow/tip leakage flow interface finally reaches the leading edge of main blade at the near-stall condition. A prediction model is proposed to track the tip leakage vortex trajectory. The blade loading at blade tip and the averaged streamwise velocity of main flow within tip clearance height are adopted to determine the tip leakage vortex trajectory in the proposed model. The coefficient k in Chen’s model is found to be not a constant. Actually, it is correlated with h/b (the ratio of blade tip clearance height to blade tip thickness), because h/b will significantly influence the flow structure across the tip clearance. The effectiveness of the proposed prediction model is further demonstrated by tracking the tip leakage vortex trajectories in another three centrifugal impellers characterized with different h/b (s).


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1481
Author(s):  
Xinrui Li ◽  
Zhenggui Li ◽  
Baoshan Zhu ◽  
Weijun Wang

To study the effect of tip clearance on unsteady flow in a tubular turbine, a full-channel numerical calculation was carried out based on the SST k–ω turbulence model using a power-plant prototype as the research object. Tip leakage flow characteristics of three clearance δ schemes were compared. The results show that the clearance value is directly proportional to the axial velocity, momentum, and flow sum of the leakage flow but inversely proportional to turbulent kinetic energy. At approximately 35–50% of the flow direction, velocity and turbulent kinetic energy of the leakage flow show the trough and peak variation law, respectively. The leakage vortex includes a primary tip leakage vortex (PTLV) and a secondary tip leakage vortex (STLV). Increasing clearance increases the vortex strength of both parts, as the STLV vortex core overlaps Core A of PTLV, and Core B of PTLV becomes the main part of the tip leakage vortex. A “right angle effect” causes flow separation on the pressure side of the tip, and a local low-pressure area subsequently generates a separation vortex. Increasing the gap strengthens the separation vortex, intensifying the flow instability. Tip clearance should therefore be maximally reduced in tubular turbines, barring other considerations.


Author(s):  
P. Palafox ◽  
M. L. G. Oldfield ◽  
J. E. LaGraff ◽  
T. V. Jones

New, detailed flow field measurements are presented for a very large low-speed cascade representative of a high-pressure turbine rotor blade with turning of 110 degrees and blade chord of 1.0 m. Data was obtained for tip leakage and passage secondary flow at a Reynolds number of 4.0 × 105, based on exit velocity and blade axial chord. Tip clearance levels ranged from 0% to 1.68% of blade span (0% to 3% of blade chord). Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to obtain flow field maps of several planes parallel to the tip surface within the tip gap, and adjacent passage flow. Vector maps were also obtained for planes normal to the tip surface in the direction of the tip leakage flow. Secondary flow was measured at planes normal to the blade exit angle at locations upstream and downstream of the trailing edge. The interaction between the tip leakage vortex and passage vortex is clearly defined, revealing the dominant effect of the tip leakage flow on the tip endwall secondary flow. The relative motion between the casing and the blade tip was simulated using a motor-driven moving belt system. A reduction in the magnitude of the under-tip flow near the endwall due to the moving wall is observed and the effect on the tip leakage vortex examined.


Author(s):  
Y. T. Lee ◽  
M. J. Laurita ◽  
J. Feng ◽  
C. L. Merkle

Tip-leakage flows for a linear compressor cascade and a one-stage shrouded pump rotor are discussed in this paper. A numerical method solving the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations is used to explore various detail features of the tip-leakage flows. Calculation results for the cascade provide an assessment for predicting flow past a non-rotating blade passage with zero and 2% chord clearances. On the other hand, the pump rotor configuration provides a swirling passage flow with the complication of a trailing-edge separation vortex mixed with the tip-clearance and passage vortices and produces a very complex three-dimensional flow in the rotor wake. The physical aspects of the tip-clearance flows are discussed including suction-side reloading and pressure-side unloading due to a tip clearance and formation and transportation of the tip-leakage vortex. Detailed velocity comparisons in the blade passage and the tip gap region are shown to indicate the difficulty of predicting tip-leakage flow. The pressure at the core of the tip vortex is also examined to evaluate the strength of the tip-leakage vortex. Some computational guidelines for design usage are provided for these tip-leakage flow calculations.


Author(s):  
Chenkai Zhang ◽  
Jun Hu ◽  
Zhiqiang Wang ◽  
Wei Yan ◽  
Chao Yin ◽  
...  

To deepen the knowledge of tip leakage flow/vortex flow structure in the tip clearance of axial compressor rotors, this paper presents steady numerical studies on a subsonic rotor. The rotor and its related low-speed large-scale repeating-stage axial compressor are used for low-speed model testing of a modern high-pressure compressor. Results were first compared with available experimental data to validate adopted numerical method. Then complex endwall flow structure and flow loss mechanism at design operating point were studied. At last, comparisons were made for tip leakage vortex structure, interface of the leakage flow/main flow, endwall blockage and loss between design and near-stall operating points. Results show that only the spilled flows below 62.5% clearance height at the leading edge will roll into tip leakage vortex for this rotor. In addition, tip leakage vortex plays a secondary important role for higher positions, where secondary leakage flow occurs and occupies broader chordwise range. Although tip leakage vortex would expand and strongly mix with the mainflow when it propagates downstream, which leads to a rapid reduction of the normalized streamwise vorticity, the value of the normalized helicity shows that concentrated vortex feature is still maintained.


Author(s):  
Takahiro Nishioka ◽  
Masayoshi Joko

Rotor-tip flow fields at high stagger-angle setting were investigated to clarify the loss generation mechanism in a high specific-speed axial-flow fan. The tip clearance flow in the cases of large and small clearances, which are 2.0% and 1.0% of the rotor tip chord length respectively, are experimentally and numerically evaluated at the maximum efficiency point and the operating limit. At the maximum efficiency point, the tip leakage vortex reached to the rotor exit in both cases of large and small tip clearances. However, the leakage vortex in the case of large tip-clearance passed closer to the pressure side of the adjacent blade than that in the case of small one. Moreover, in the case of large tip clearance, the tip leakage vortex generated the large total pressure loss in the blade passage, and the interaction between the tip leakage vortex and the wake also generated the large total pressure loss at the rotor exit. Therefore, the maximum efficiency of the rotor and the fan was lower than that in the case of small tip clearance. At the operating limit, the tip-leakage vortex extended inside the blade passage and reached to the front part of the pressure side of the next blade in the case of small tip-clearance. Moreover, the double leakage flow occurred in the case of small tip clearance. In contrast, the leakage vortex reached to the leading edge of the next blade, and the spillage of the tip leakage flow from the leading edge occurred in the case of large tip clearance. The spillage of the tip leakage flow induced the larger total pressure loss than that induced by the double leakage flow. Therefore, the pressure rise in the case of large tip clearance is lower than that in the case of small tip clearance at the operating limit. It was concluded from the experimental and numerical results at the high stagger-angle setting for rotor blade that the loss generation mechanism depended on the behavior of tip-leakage vortex and that this behavior also depended on the tip-clearance.


Author(s):  
Shraman Goswami ◽  
Ashima Malhotra

Abstract Performance of an axial compressor rotor depends largely on the tip leakage flow. Tip leakage flow results in tip leakage vortex which is a source of loss. This has an impact on the compressor efficiency as well as stall margin. A lot of work has been done to understand the tip leakage flow and controlling the same. Active and passive stall margin improvement methods mainly target the tip leakage vortex. In the current study, numerical investigations are carried out to understand flow fields near tip region of rotors. The blade tip designed to have a tip gap as sine and cosine waves (single and double waves). Numerical methodology is validated with NASA Rotor37 test results. The performance parameters of the rotors with modified tip gap shapes are compared with constant tip clearance rotor. A detailed flow field investigation is presented to compare the tip flow structure and its impact on overall performance of the compressor.


Author(s):  
Chaowei Zhang ◽  
Xuezhi Dong ◽  
Xiyang Liu ◽  
Qing Gao ◽  
Chunqing Tan ◽  
...  

Two one-dimensional models are established for the tip leakage vortex trajectory and rotating stall-onset point prediction respectively for subsonic centrifugal impellers. The goal of modeling is to supply an effective estimation strategy of the stall-onset point for use in the one-dimensional performance prediction stage. The tip leakage vortex trajectory prediction is a critical part of the stall-onset prediction. The proposed one-dimensional model (one-dimensional tip leakage vortex trajectory model) to predict the tip leakage vortex trajectory is based on blade loading, i.e. the velocity difference between the pressure and suction surfaces. The loading function considers the effect of radial rotation, blade turning, and passage width variation. Compared with the computational fluid dynamics results, the current model shows reasonable accuracy, with an average relative error below 12.35%. The one-dimensional prediction model (Model II) is developed to determine the stall-onset point, where the interface between the tip leakage flow and the main flow spills from the blade leading edge. In this model, the momentum balance analysis is applied to identify the position of the interface. The parameter of the tip leakage vortex trajectory in Model II is determined by one-dimensional tip leakage vortex trajectory model. The effective origin of the tip leakage flow is correlated with the rotational speed and tip clearance. The effectiveness of Model II is validated with the experimental and computational fluid dynamics results using three impellers. Compared with the conventional model (Model I), Model II shows better accuracy, with a maximum error of about 7.42%.


ACTA IMEKO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 277
Author(s):  
Masanao Kaneko

In this study, the influences of the single groove installed at the mid-chord – which is known to have a large expansion effect on the stable operating flow range of low-speed axial compressors – on the flow behaviour and the loss generation in a linear compressor cascade were investigated numerically at different tip clearances. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations of the incompressible flow in the test cascade were performed, with the computed results clarifying the following remarkable phenomena, which are common to both small and large tip-clearance cases. The single groove locally weakens the tip leakage flow by the decrease in the blade loading and the streaming of the flow near the blade pressure side into the groove, consequently reducing the distance between the tip leakage vortex and the blade suction surface. Meanwhile, although the groove decreases the loss due to the tip leakage vortex generated from the blade leading edge, the loss generation in the entire cascade passage is almost the same as that in the cascade without the groove due to the additional loss generation resulting from the presence of the groove.


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