Calculation of Wake-Induced Unsteady Flow in a Turbine Cascade

Abstract

Numerical predictions are reported for two-dimensional unsteady flow in a linear turbine cascade, where the unsteadiness is caused by passing wakes generated by the preceding row of blades. In particular, an experiment is simulated in which the passing wakes were generated by cylinders moving on a rotating squirrel cage. Blade-to-blade calculations were carried out by solving the unsteady two dimensional flow equations with an accurate finite-volume procedure, thereby resolving the periodic unsteady motion. The effects of stochastic turbulent fluctuations are simulated with a two-layer turbulence model, in which the standard k–ε model is applied in the bulk of the flow and a one-equation model in the near-wall region. This involves also a transition model based on an empirical formula from Abu-Ghannam and Shaw (1980), which was adapted for the unsteady situation by applying it in a Lagrangian way, following fluid parcels in the boundary layer under disturbed and undisturbed free streams on their travel downstream. The calculations are compared with experiments for various wake-passing frequencies. On the whole, the complex unsteady flow behavior is simulated realistically, including the moving forward of transition when the wake-passing frequency increases, but not all details can be reproduced.