Abstract
Tesla turbines are a kind of unconventional bladeless turbines, which utilize the viscosity of working fluid to rotate the rotor and realize energy conversion. They offer an attractive substitution for small and micro conventional bladed turbines due to two major advantages. In this study, the effects of two influential geometrical parameters, disc thickness and disc spacing distance, on the aerodynamic performance and flow characteristics for two kinds of multichannel Tesla turbines (one-to-one turbine and one-to-many turbine) were investigated and analyzed numerically. The results show that, with increasing disc thickness, the isentropic efficiency of the one-to-one turbine decreases a little and that of the one-to-many turbine reduces significantly. For example, for turbine cases with 0.5 mm disc spacing distance, the former drops less than 7% and the latter decreases by about 45% of their original values as disc thickness increases from 1 mm to 2 mm. With increasing disc spacing distance, the isentropic efficiency of both kinds of turbines increases first and then decreases, and an optimal value and a high efficiency range exist to make the isentropic efficiency reach its maximum and maintain at a high level, respectively. The optimal disc spacing distance for the one-to-one turbine is less than that for the one-to-many turbine (0.5 mm and 1 mm, respectively, for turbine cases with disc thickness of 1 mm). To sum up, for designing a multichannel Tesla turbine, the disc spacing distance should be among its high efficiency range, and the determination of disc thickness should be balanced between its impacts on the aerodynamic performance and mechanical stress.
Highlights
In the last two decades, one of the interests is to develop small-scale turbomachinery due to market demands driving and manufacture techniques making progress [1], which is mainly applied to small power generation unit, such as distributed energy systems using low-grade energy and increasing energy utilization efficiency
If the disc thickness is too large, the air flowing into disc channels will be more difficult, the aerodynamic performance becomes worse
Previous study on the computational solid mechanical (CSM) analysis indicates that the disc thickness should not be less than 1 mm for the Tesla turbine with disc outer diameter of 100 mm
Summary
In the last two decades, one of the interests is to develop small-scale turbomachinery due to market demands driving and manufacture techniques making progress [1], which is mainly applied to small power generation unit, such as distributed energy systems using low-grade energy and increasing energy utilization efficiency. The effects of disc spacing distance and rotational speed on a Tesla turbine were analyzed numerically by our research group, and the results show that an optimal value of both parameters exists for the turbine to obtain its highest efficiency, respectively [27,28,29]. [31], but only the flow in the nozzle-rotor chamber and the rotor are included in numerical calculations It has been analyzed experimentally for the one-to-many turbine, while, for the one-to-one turbine, its influence and the fluid mechanism have not been investigated [32]. Two kinds of multichannel Tesla turbines (one-to-one turbines and one-to-many turbines) with different disc spacing distance and disc thickness are simulated numerically to investigate their influence on the aerodynamic performance and flow characteristics. This paper provides theoretical and engineering reference for designing a multichannel Tesla turbine
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