Experimental study on the aerodynamic influence of purge flow in a turbine cascade with different mainstream incidence angles

Demand for high reliability and long life of modern turbine requires that turbine components should be cooled adequately. The cooling flow purged into the rotor-stator disk cavity will inevitably interact with the mainstream. The current paper mainly focuses on the aerodynamic influence of cooling flow on the secondary flows in the mainstream. Both particle image velocimetry and blade wall pressure measurement were utilized to study the flow field within the turbine blade passage under different mainstream incidence angles and purge flow rates. The purge flow was found to promote the development of the passage vortex by inducing vortices which can enhance the vorticity of the passage vortex. In addition, the mainstream incidence angle also has an impact on the development of the passage vortex through affecting the blade loading and the horseshoe vortex. Furthermore, the transient results demonstrate that the time-averaged vortex is the superposition of large number of transient vortices, and the purge flow causes more transient vortices with large size and high strength.

Numerical Simulation of Local Scour around Three Cylindrical Piles in a Tandem Arrangement

Scouring is one of the most common potential causes of bridge pile foundation failure, with loss of life, economic and environmental impacts. Comprehensive studies on the numerical simulation of local scour around pile groups are still limited. This paper presents a numerical simulation using Flow-3D software to calculate the maximum sediment scour depth and investigate the mechanism around the groups of three cylinders in a tandem arrangement. A validation using the experimental study was carried out to confirm the reliability of the present numerical model. By using the Van Rijn transport rate equation and RNG k-ε turbulence model, the results of time evolution of scour depth and bed elevation contour show good agreement with the experimental study. The numerical simulation of three cylinders in a tandem arrangement were conducted with pile spacing ratios, G/D of 2 and 3. The local scour is affected by the horseshoe vortex from the downflow driven by the downward pressure gradient and rotates in front of the pile and the high bed shear stress, triggered by flow acceleration. The deepest maximum local scour depth is always obtained by the front pile as a shield pile, followed by the piles behind. The trend of the maximum local scour depth in a tandem arrangement is in accordance with the experimental studies and has a better agreement than previous numerical studies with the same model setup. This means that the numerical model used to simulate pile groups is accurate and capable of calculating the depth of sediment scour.

Experimental studies of the kinematics flow and bottom’s reformations in the area of bridge pier during the construction of the bridge crossing

The results of laboratory modeling of bottom reformations in the area of bridge pier crossing over water barriers are presented. The basics of hydraulic modeling are described taking into account the similarity criteria. The flow around a rectangular box (tongued-and-grooved protection of a constructed pier) is experimentally studied, the pattern of erosion if an ice-cutter device is installed in front of the box in the form of a triangle directed at an acute angle towards the flow is considered. The structure of the bottom relief in the vicinity of the tongued-and-grooved box is experimentally studied under the conditions of the bottom erosion. Two cycles of experiments were performed for different values of the flow depth and specific discharge of water. Localization and quantitative characteristics of washouts and alleviation of sandy soil in the vicinity of the streamlined design are established. It is noted that the main mechanism for the formation of the bottom relief is a horseshoe vortex at the base of the pier. A stagnation zone is formed inside the horseshoe. In the absence of an ice cutter, the main zones of soil erosion occur in the corners of the frontal bezel of the box, alluvium forms in the rear unit of the design. By installing an ice-cutter device in front of the box, the erosion zones move to the vicinity of the corners lying at the base of the triangular ice-cutter facing the box. The alluvium remains in the wake of the box. At the same time, the absolute values of the erosion depth and the height of the alluvium under installing the ice-cutter close to the box are reduced. The data of velocity measurements on the free surface and in the flow thickness are also given.

Effect of sand mining on the flow hydrodynamics around an oblong bridge pier

Extraction of sand from riverbed has catastrophic repercussions on aquatic animalia habitat, water quality, and the environment. Alongside, physical alterations in the fluvial hydraulics arising on account of sand mining are also worthy of attention. Flows passing over the pits excavated in a channel have enhanced erosive propensity, which can be a cause of concern for the downstream hydraulic structures. The complex nature of flow interacting with the bridge piers after passing over a mining pit is not fully understood. Experiments were conducted to apprehend the effects of a dredged pit on the turbulence flow-field around an oblong pier. Flow was passed in an erodible sand bed rectangular channel having an oblong pier for the first case. In the second case, a pit was dredged in the mobile bed to replicate a mined channel, and the pier was subjected to the same discharge. The streambed at the approach of the pier experiences greater mean bed shear because of dredging. The amplification of the instantaneous bed shear beneath the turbulent horseshoe vortex (THSV) zone at the pier front is almost twice due to channel dredging. The findings can be useful in understanding the streambed instabilities around bridge piers in mining-infested channels.

Application of a Single Porous Basket as a Pier Scour Countermeasure

This paper presents a study on bridge pier protection with a single porous basket (SPB) in clear-water experiments. The SPB is a type of combined flow-altering countermeasure. The SPB was installed at a distance ahead of the protected pier. After a series of tests, the results showed that appropriate installation of the SPB was able to effectively adjust the flow pattern to reduce the down-flow motion and horseshoe vortex ahead of the pier. Dominant factors for the pier protection—considered for all tests—included the distance between the basket and pier, submerged depth of the basket, basket length, pier diameter, basket diameter, hole size, porosity, and the flow approaching angle. After evaluating these parameters through laboratory tests, the results of protection were optimized. In optimal conditions, the SPB was able to provide maximum pier protection and decrease the maximum scour depth by as much as 75.53%.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE ENDWALL HEAT TRANSFER OF A TRANSONIC NOZZLE GUIDE VANE WITH UPSTREAM JET PURGE COOLING PART 1 - EFFECT OF DENSITY RATIO

Nozzle guide vane platforms often employ complex cooling schemes to mitigate the ever-increasing thermal loads on endwall. This study analyzes, experimentally and numerically, and describes the effect of coolant to mainstream blowing ratio, momentum ratio and density ratio for a typical axisymmetric converging nozzle guide vane platform with an upstream doublet staggered, steep-injection, cylindrical hole purge cooling scheme. Nominal flow conditions were engine-representative and as follows: Maexit = 0.85, Reexit,Cax = 1.5×106 and an inlet large-scale freestream turbulence intensity of 16%. Two blowing ratios were investigated, each corresponding to the design condition and its upper extrema at M = 2.5 and 3.5, respectively. For each blowing ratio, the coolant to mainstream density ratio was varied between DR=1.2, representing typical experimental neglect of coolant density, and DR=1.95, representative of typical engine conditions. The results show that with a fixed coolant-to-mainstream blowing ratio, the density ratio plays a vital role in the coolant-mainstream mixing and the interaction between coolant and horseshoe vortex near the vane leading edge. A higher density ratio leads to a better coolant coverage immediately downstream of the cooling holes but exposes the in-passage endwall near the pressure side. It also causes the in-passage coolant coverage to decay at a higher rate in the flow direction. From the results gathered, both density ratio and blowing ratio should be considered for accurate testing, analysis, and prediction of purge jet cooling scheme performance.

Evolution of wake structures behind oscillating hydrofoils with combined heaving and pitching motion

The wake of an oscillating teardrop hydrofoil with combined heaving and pitching motion was studied numerically at Reynolds number of 8000 and Strouhal numbers of $St=0.21{-}0.94$ . The lower Strouhal number exhibited high efficiency propulsion with small thrust generation. However, larger thrust generation at high $St$ required more power, which lowered the propulsive efficiency. Quantitative assessment of vortex evolution, along with qualitative investigation of the formation and interaction of primary structures, revealed the association with elliptic instability characteristics for both co-rotating and counter-rotating vortex structures in both wakes. With respect to advection of the leading-edge vortex, the pressure distribution further depicted evidence of spanwise instability with distinct temporal evolution along the suction and pressure surfaces of the oscillating foil. Three-dimensional assessment of wake structures located downstream of the trailing edge depicted the existence of dislocations associated with primary vortex ‘rollers’. At low $St$ , these were limited to fine spanwise corrugations (valleys and bulges) on weaker leading edge rollers, which enlarged as the rollers advected downstream. In contrast, at high $St$ , the wake exhibited conjoint hairpin-horseshoe vortex structures that led to stronger deformations on the coupled vortex rollers. The statistical characteristics of secondary structures resembled the long wavelength mode and mode A identified previously for purely pitching and heaving foils, respectively. They also mimicked mode B for stationary cylinders. Novel wake models are introduced based on a complete vivid three-dimensional depiction of coherent wake structures.