Flow characteristics of radial inflow in impeller rear cavity with baffle plate

Abstract

The research purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the baffle plate on the airflow in the rear cavity of the centrifugal impeller and optimize the performance of the secondary air system's air bleed section. In this paper, a comprehensive experimental study was carried out on the flow characteristics in the impeller rear cavity with baffle plate. The windage torque, flow structure and pressure drop between inlet and outlet were measured respectively. The experiment was carried out with the condition that the range of rotational Reynolds number was from 8.33 × 105 to 22.2 × 105 and the range of mass flow rate coefficient was from 0.92 × 104 to 2.92 × 104. The results show that the static cavity and the narrow stator-rotor cavity formed by the baffle plate effectively suppress the overall swirl coefficient in the cavity. Thus, the static pressure and total pressure drop in the rotor–stator cavity were reduced. The influence of the baffle plate on the windage torque of the rotary disk is related to the turbulence parameters. Under large turbulence parameters, the windage torque would be reduced with baffle plate, while under small turbulence parameters, the baffle plate would increase with baffle plate. In general, the baffle plate can improve the flow capacity and optimize the bleed air performance with proper structure and operation conditions.