Numerical Investigation of the Compressible Flow Through a Turbine Center Frame Duct

Abstract

Numerical investigation of the compressible flow in the Turbine Center Frame (TCF) duct was carried out using a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method, and a Hybrid RANS/Large Eddy Simulation (HLES) method, i.e. Stress-Blended Eddy Simulation (SBES). The reference Reynolds number based on the TCF inlet condition is 530,000, and the inlet Mach number is 0.41. It is found that the boundary layer flow behavior is very sensitive to the incoming turbulence characteristics, so the upstream grid used to generate turbulence in the experiment is also included in the computational domain. Results have been validated carefully against experimental data, in terms of static pressure distribution on hub and casing walls, total pressure and Mach number profiles on the TCF measurement planes, as well as over-all pressure loss coefficient. Further, various fundamental mechanisms dictating the intricate flow phenomena, including concave and convex curvature effects, interactions between inlet turbulent structures and boundary layer, and turbulent kinetic energy budget, have been studied systematically. The current study is to evaluate the performance of HLES method for TCF flows and develop a further understanding of unsteady flow physics in the TCF duct. The results obtained in this work provide physical insight into the mechanisms relevant to the turbine intercase or TCF duct flows subjected to complex inlet disturbances.