Analysis of transitional flow and heat transfer over turbine blades: Algebraic versus low-Reynolds-number turbulence model

Abstract

The numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer over turbine blades involving laminar-turbulent transition is presented. The predicted results are compared with the experimental surface heat transfer and pressure distributions for two transonic turbine blades over a wide range of flow conditions. The time-dependent, mass-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved by an explicit four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme in the finite volume formulation. Local time stepping, variable-coefficient implicit residual smoothing and a full multigrid method have been implemented to accelerate the steady state calculation. The turbulence is simulated by the algebraic Baldwin-Lomax model together with an explicitly imposed model for transition. For comparison, the low-Reynolds-number version of the two-equation ( k-∊) model of Chien is also used. The modified Baldwin-Lomax model performs well in predicting the onset of laminar-turbulent transition, whereas the Chien model shows a tendency to mimic the transition early and over a shorter distance.