Impact of turbulence intensity on the unsteady flow characteristics of the integrated aggressive inter-turbine duct

Abstract

Aggressive inter-turbine duct (AITD) which has ultra-short axial length and ultra-large area ratio is widely applied in the modern turbofan engine to meet the demand of higher efficiency and better low pressure rotor dynamic characteristics. However, the adverse stream-wise pressure gradient in this duct is enhanced, and there are complicate upstream and downstream flow conditions. The flow field of the AITD and its downstream low pressure turbine is seriously deteriorated and prone to separate, especially in high-altitude cruise state. The integrated AITD which integrates the AITD with strut had been proved to can restrain the traditional AITD's three-dimensional flow separation. Besides, periodic wake can suppress the downstream blade suction surface's flow separation by “calmed region” effect according to former studies. The AITD of this research taken from a real engine utilizes integrated design and inherent upstream wake to suppress the flow separation of the AITD's end wall and low pressure turbine nozzle's suction surface correspondingly. In this article, the computational simulation method is used to quantify the impact of turbulence intensity ( T u) on the integrated AITD's unsteady flow characteristics, especially the separation and transition mechanism of low pressure turbine nozzle's suction surface boundary layer. Research shows that the impact of T u on the integrated AITD's flow property depends on the balance of T u's dual effect.