Investigation of the Flow Field in a HP Turbine Stage for Two Stator-Rotor Axial Gaps: Part I — 3D Time-Averaged Flow Field

Abstract

An extensive experimental analysis on the subject of unsteady flow field in high pressure turbine stages was carried out at the Laboratorio di Fluidodinamica delle Macchine (LFM) of Politecnico di Milano. The research stage represents a typical modern HP gas turbine stage designed by means of 3D techniques, characterised by a leaned stator and a bowed rotor and operating in high subsonic regime. The first part of the program concerns the analysis of the steady flow field in the stator-rotor axial gap by means of a conventional five-hole probe and a temperature sensor. Measurements were carried out on eight planes located at different axial positions allowing the complete definition of steady flow field both in absolute and relative frame of reference. The evolution of the main flow structures, such as secondary flows and vane wakes, downstream of the stator are here presented and discussed in order to evidence the stator aerodynamic performance and, in particular, the different flow field approaching the rotor blade row for the two axial gaps. This results set will support the discussion of the unsteady stator-rotor effects presented in paper Part II. Furthermore, 3D time-averaged measurements downstream of the rotor were carried out at one axial distance and for two stator-rotor axial gaps. The position of the probe with respect to the stator blades is changed by means of rotating the stator in circumferential direction, in order to describe possible effects of the non-uniformity of the stator exit flow field downstream of the stage. Both flow fields, measured for the nominal and for a very large stator-rotor axial gap, are discussed and results show the persistence of some stator flow structures downstream of the rotor, in particular for the minimum axial gap. Eventually the flow fields are compared to evidence the effect of the stator-rotor axial gap on the stage performance from a time-averaged point of view.