In the most part of an enclosed rotor-stator system with separated boundary layers, the flow structure is characterized by a central core rotating as a solid body with a constant core-swirl ratio. This behavior is not always observed in an isolated rotor-stator cavity, i.e., without any centripetal or centrifugal throughflow, opened to the atmosphere at the periphery: Recent works have brought to evidence an increasing level of the core-swirl ratio from the periphery to the axis, as in the case of a rotor-stator with superposed centripetal flow. The present work is based on an asymptotical approach in order to provide a better understanding of this process. Assuming that the boundary layers behave as on a single rotating disk in a stationary fluid on the rotor side, and on a stationary disk in a rotating fluid on the stator side, new analytical relations are obtained for the core-swirl ratio, the static pressure on the stator, and also the total pressure at midheight of the cavity. An experimental study is performed: Detailed measurements provide data for several values of the significant dimensionless parameters: 1.14≤10−6×Re≤1.96, 0.05≤G≤0.10, and 0.07≤104×Ek≤2.65. The analysis of the results shows a good agreement between the theoretical solution and the experimental results. The analytical model can be used to provide a better understanding of the flow features. In addition, radial distributions of both core-swirl ratio, dimensionless static pressure on the stator, as well as dimensionless total pressure at midheight of the cavity, which are of interest to the designers, can be computed with an acceptable accuracy knowing the levels of the preswirl coefficient Kp and the solid body rotation swirl coefficient KB.
Stability of boundary layers along a rotating disk.
