scholarly journals Recent Advances in Acoustics of Transitional Airfoils with Feedback-Loop Interactions: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1057
Author(s):  
Vladimir Golubev

We discuss herein recent experimental and numerical studies examining resonant flow-acoustic feedback–loop interactions in transitional airfoils (i.e., possessing a notable area of laminar-to-turbulent boundary-layer transition) characteristic of low-to-medium Reynolds number flow regimes. Such interactions are commonly attributed to the viscous dynamics of the convected boundary-layer structures scattering into acoustic waves at the trailing edge which propagate upstream and re-excite the convected vortical structures. While it has been long suspected that the acoustic feedback mechanism is responsible for the highly pronounced, often multi-tonal response, the exact reason of how the boundary-layer instability structures could reach a sufficient degree of amplification to sustain the feedback-loop process and exhibit specific tonal signature remained unclear. This review thus pays particular attention to the critical role of the separation bubble in the feedback process and emphasizes the complementary roles of the experimental and numerical works in elucidating an intricate connection between the airfoil radiated tonal acoustic signature and the properties of the separation zones as determined by airfoil geometry and flow regimes.

Author(s):  
Xuesong Wu

In this paper, the classical triple-deck formalism is employed to investigate two instability problems in which an acoustic feedback loop plays an essential role. The first concerns a subsonic boundary layer over a flat plate on which two well-separated roughness elements are present. A spatially amplifying Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) wave between the roughness elements is scattered by the downstream roughness to emit a sound wave that propagates upstream and impinges on the upstream roughness to regenerate the T–S wave, thereby forming a closed feedback loop in the streamwise direction. Numerical calculations suggest that, at high Reynolds numbers and for moderate roughness heights, the long-range acoustic coupling may lead to absolute instability, which is characterized by self-sustained oscillations at discrete frequencies. The dominant peak frequency may jump from one value to another as the Reynolds number, or the distance between the roughness elements, is varied gradually. The second problem concerns the supersonic ‘twin boundary layers’ that develop along two well-separated parallel flat plates. The two boundary layers are in mutual interaction through the impinging and reflected acoustic waves. It is found that the interaction leads to a new instability that is absent in the unconfined boundary layer.


Author(s):  
W. J. Solomon

Multiple-element surface hot-film instrumentation has been used to investigate boundary layer development in the 2 stage Low Speed Research Turbine (LSRT). Measurements from instrumentation located along the suction surface of the second stage nozzle at mid-span are presented. These results contrast the unsteady, wake-induced boundary layer transition behaviour for various turbine configurations. The boundary layer development on two new turbine blading configurations with identical design vector diagrams but substantially different loading levels are compared with a previously published result. For the conventional loading (Zweifel coefficient) designs, the boundary layer transition occurred without laminar separation. At reduced solidity, wake-induced transition started upstream of a laminar separation line and an intermittent separation bubble developed between the wake-influenced areas. A turbulence grid was installed upstream of the LSRT turbine inlet to increase the turbulence level from about 1% for clean-inlet to about 5% with the grid. The effect of turbulence on the transition onset location was smaller for the reduced solidity design than the baseline. At the high turbulence level, the amplitude of the streamwise fluctuation of the wake-induced transition onset point was reduced considerably. By clocking the first stage nozzle row relative to the second, the alignment of the wake-street from the first stage nozzle with the suction surface of the second stage nozzle was varied. At particular wake clocking alignments, the periodicity of wake induced transition was almost completely eliminated.


Author(s):  
Axel Heidecke ◽  
Bernd Stoffel

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation of a 1.5-stage low pressure turbine. The main focus of the numerical work was the prediction of the stator-2 boundary layer development under the influence of the stator stator clocking. The turbine profile used for the examination is a so called high-lift-profile and was designed for a laminar-turbulent transition over a steady separation bubble. The boundary conditions were defined by the 1.5-stage test turbine located at our laboratory, where also the measurement data was derived from. The calculations were conducted with a two-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver using a finite volume discretisation scheme. The higher level turbulence models v′2-f and the LCL-turbulence model, which are capable to predict boundary layer transition were compared with measurement data at midspan.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Winhart ◽  
Martin Sinkwitz ◽  
Andreas Schramm ◽  
Pascal Post ◽  
Francesca di Mare

Abstract In the proposed paper the transient interaction between periodic incoming wakes and the laminar separation bubble located on the rear suction surface of a typical, highly loaded LPT blade is investigated by means of highly resolved large-eddy simulations. An annular, large scale, 1.5-stage LPT test-rig, equipped with a modified T106 turbine blading and an upstream rotating vortex generator is considered and the numerical predictions are compared against hot film array measurements. In order to accurately assess both baseline transition and wake impact, simulations were conducted with unperturbed and periodically perturbed inflow conditions. Main mechanisms of transition and wake-boundary layer interaction are investigated utilizing a frequency-time domain analysis. Finally visualizations of the main flow structures and shear layer instabilities are provided utilizing the q-criterion as well as the finite-time Lyapunov exponent.


Author(s):  
Antoine Ducoin ◽  
Jacques Andre´ Astolfi ◽  
Marie-Laure Gobert

In this paper, we investigate through an experimental approach the laminar to turbulent transition in the boundary-layer flow along a hydrofoil at a Reynolds number of 7.5 × 105, together with the vibrations of the hydrofoil induced by the transition. The latter is caused by a Laminar Separation Bubble (LSB) resulting from a laminar separation of the boundary-layer. The experiments, conducted in the hydrodynamic tunnel of the Research Institute of the French Naval Academy, are based on wall pressure and flow velocity measurements along a rigid hydrofoil, which enable a characterization of the Laminar Separation Bubble and the identification of a vortex shedding at a given frequency. Vibrations measurements are then carried out on a flexible hydrofoil in the same operating conditions. The results indicate that the boundary-layer transition induces important vibrations, whose characteristics in terms of frequency and amplitude depend on the vortex shedding frequency, and can be coupled with natural frequencies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey P. Bons ◽  
Daniel Reimann ◽  
Matthew Bloxham

Flow measurements were made on a highly loaded low pressure turbine blade in a low-speed linear cascade facility. The blade has a design Zweifel coefficient of 1.34 with a peak pressure coefficient near 47% axial chord (midloaded). Flow and surface pressure data were taken for Rec=20,000 with 3% inlet freestream turbulence. For these operating conditions, a large separation bubble forms over the downstream portion of the blade suction surface, extending from 59% to 86% axial chord. Single-element hot-film measurements were acquired to clearly identify the role of boundary layer transition in this separated region. Higher-order turbulence statistics were used to identify transition and separation zones. Similar measurements were also made in the presence of unsteady forcing using pulsed vortex generator jets just upstream of the separation bubble (50% cx). Measurements provide a comprehensive picture of the interaction of boundary layer transition and separation in this unsteady environment. Similarities between pulsed flow control and unsteady wake motion are highlighted.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 752-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Malkiel ◽  
R. E. Mayle

In the interest of being able to predict separating–reattaching flows, it is necessary to have an accurate model of transition in separation bubbles. An experimental investigation of the process of turbulence development in a separation bubble shows that transition occurs within the separated shear layer. A comparison of simultaneous velocity traces from comparison of simultaneous velocity traces from probes separated in the lateral direction suggests that Kelvin–Helmholtz waves, which originate in the laminar shear layer, do not break down to turbulence simultaneously across their span when they proceed to agglomerate. The streamwise development of intermittency in this region can be characterized by turbulent spot theory with a high dimensionless spot production rate. Moreover, the progression of intermittency along the centerline of the shear layer is similar to that in attached boundary layer transition. The transverse development of intermittency is also remarkably similar to that in attached boundary layers. The parameters obtained from these measurements agree with correlations previously deduced from turbulence intensity measurements.


Author(s):  
Curt H. Liebert ◽  
Raymond E. Gaugler ◽  
Herbert J. Gladden

Convection cooled turbine vane metal wall temperatures experimentally obtained in a hot cascade for a given one-vane design were compared with wall temperatures calculated with TACT1 and STAN5 computer codes which incorporated various models for predicting laminar-to-turbulent boundary layer transition. Favorable comparisons on both vane surfaces were obtained at high Reynolds number with only one of these transition models. When other models were used, temperature differences between calculated and experimental data obtained at the high Reynolds number were as much as 14 percent in the separation bubble region of the pressure surface. On the suction surface and at lower Reynolds number, predictions and data unsatisfactorily differed by as much as 22 percent. Temperature differences of this magnitude can represent orders of magnitude error in blade life prediction.


Author(s):  
Nicole M. Wolgemuth ◽  
D. Keith Walters

This study analyzes the predicted flow over a NACA 0012 airfoil at varying angles of attack and three different Reynolds numbers. The ability of three different turbulence models to predict boundary layer separation and transition behavior is investigated. Particular interest is paid to prediction of the separation bubble that develops near the leading edge of the airfoil suction surface prior to stall. The FLUENT CFD solver was used to simulate turbulent airflow over the airfoil. The three turbulence models include the standard and realizable forms of the k-ε model, available in FLUENT, as well as a recently developed transition-sensitive k-ω model that was implemented into the solver using user-defined functions. By employing the new, transition-sensitive model, computed properties of the flow field were found to be closer to experimental data than results produced by utilizing built-in turbulence models. Most importantly, the new, transition-sensitive model predicts the occurrence of the separation bubble, which the other models are unable to predict. The new model also clearly reproduces the laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow that occurs over the airfoil.


1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Ito¯ ◽  
Y. Watanabe ◽  
H. Ishimaru ◽  
Y. Abe

The discharge coefficients for two inlet nozzles with different contraction shapes were studied experimentally together with the behavior of the boundary layer on the nozzle wall. For the inlet nozzle which has the same contraction shape as the ISA 1932 nozzle, it was found that boundary-layer transition with an intermediary separation bubble is responsible for the occurrence of a large hump in the discharge coefficients. The well-rounded inlet nozzle showed a satisfactory performance. The effect of pressure tap size and that of the proximity of a wall to the inlet on discharge coefficients were quantified experimentally.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document