Improving Efficiency of a High Work Turbine Using Non-Axisymmetric Endwalls: Part II—Time-Resolved Flow Physics

Abstract

This paper is the second part of a two part paper that reports on the improvement of efficiency of a one-and-half stage high work axial flow turbine. The first part covered the design of the endwall profiling as well as a comparison with steady probe data, this part covers the analysis of the time-resolved flow physics. The focus is on the time-resolved flow physics that lead to a total-to-total stage efficiency improvement of Δηtt = 1.0% ± 0.4%. The investigated geometry is a model of a high work (Δh/U2 = 2.36), axial shroudless HP turbine. The time-resolved measurements have been acquired upstream and downstream of the rotor using a Fast Response Aerodynamic Probe (FRAP). The paper contains a detailed analysis of the secondary flow field that is changed between the axisymmetric and the non-axisymmetric endwall profiling cases. The flowfield at exit of the first stator is improved considerably due to non-axisymmetric endwall profiling and results in reduced secondary flow and a reduction of loss at both hub and tip, as well as a reduced trailing shed vorticity. The rotor has reduced losses and a reduction of secondary flows mainly at the hub. At the rotor exit the flow field with non-axisymmetric endwalls is more homogenous due to the reduction of secondary flows in the two rows upstream of the measurement plane. This confirms that non-axisymmetric endwall profiling is an effective tool for reducing secondary losses in axial turbines. Using a frozen flow assumption the time-resolved data is used to estimate the axial velocity gradients, which are then used to evaluate the streamwise vorticity and dissipation. The non-axisymmetric endwall profiling of the first nozzle guide vane show reductions of dissipation and streamwise vorticity due to reduced trailing shed vorticity. This smaller vorticity explains the reduction of loss at mid-span, which is shown in the first part of the two part paper. This leads to the conclusion that non-axisymmetric endwall profiling also has the potential of reducing trailing shed vorticity.