Effect of inlet total pressure non-uniform distribution on aerodynamic performance and flow field of turbine

Abstract

The inlet boundary conditions of a real turbine have significant spatial non-uniformity, which has a strong effect on its downstream aerodynamic characteristics. However, the importance of the total pressure non-uniformity has not been appropriately recognized in the literature. This study deals with the influence rule and mechanism of different inlet total pressure distributions on the aerodynamic losses of aero turbines. The total pressure distortion height and maximum total pressure distortion intensity at the exit of the combustor were used to structure the modeled different non-uniform inlet boundary conditions that are imposed on the nozzle guide vane and the first stage of the GE-E3 high-pressure turbine. The results show that when the total pressure near the endwall is higher than that at the midspan, the increase in total pressure intensity at the endwall or the increase in distortion height will significantly reduce the aerodynamic efficiency of the turbine. This phenomenon is primarily caused by the convergence and collision of the flow near the pressure surface. When the total pressure near the endwall is weaker than the total pressure at the midspan, the different non-uniform features have no obvious effect on total aerodynamic losses.