Scale-resolving simulation of a low-pressure turbine on hybrid supercomputers

Abstract

The increased computing power of modern hybrid supercomputers is expanding the applicability of scale-resolving simulations in scientific and industrial applications. This paper is devoted to such a supercomputer simulation technology for turbomachinery. A heterogeneous parallel algorithm is outlined and its parallel performance is demonstrated on various hybrid supercomputers by executing a single simulation on dozens of central and graphics processing units. The scale-resolving numerical simulation of the flow in a linear cascade of T106C high-lift low-pressure turbine blades is considered. The presence of a laminar–turbulent transition on the suction side of the blade, caused by the separation of the boundary layer, leads to a significant increase in the loss of kinetic energy. The effect of increasing losses with a decrease in the Reynolds number is captured. A strong dependence of the numerical results on the incoming turbulent flow conditions is observed. The effect of imposing synthetic turbulence at the inflow is studied, as well as the required mesh resolution to capture the laminar–turbulent transition well.