Tip Clearance Effects on Inlet Hot Streaks Migration Characteristics in High Pressure Stage of a Vaneless Counter-Rotating Turbine

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In this paper, three-dimensional multiblade row unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations at a hot streak temperature ratio of 2.0 have been performed to reveal the effects of rotor tip clearance on the inlet hot streak migration characteristics in high pressure stage of a Vaneless Counter-Rotating Turbine. The hot streak is circular in shape with a diameter equal to 25% of the high pressure turbine stator span. The hot streak center is located at 50% of the span and the leading edge of the high pressure turbine stator. The tip clearance size studied in this paper is 2.0mm (2.594% high pressure turbine rotor height). The numerical results indicate that the hot streak mixes with the high pressure turbine stator wake and convects towards the high pressure turbine rotor blade surface. Most of hotter fluid migrates to the pressure surface of the high pressure turbine rotor. Only a few of hotter fluid rounds the leading edge of the high pressure turbine rotor and migrates to the suction surface. The migration characteristics of the hot streak in the high pressure turbine rotor are dominated by the combined effects of secondary flow, buoyancy and leakage flow in the rotor tip clearance. The leakage flow trends to drive the hotter fluid towards the blade tip on the pressure surface and to the hub on the suction surface. Under the effect of the leakage flow, even partial hotter fluid near the pressure surface is also driven to the rotor suction surface through the tip clearance. Compared with the case without rotor tip clearance, the heat load of the high pressure turbine rotor is intensified due to the effects of the leakage flow. And the results indicate that the leakage flow effects trend to increase the low pressure turbine rotor inlet temperature at the tip region. The air flow with higher temperature at the tip region of the low pressure turbine rotor inlet will affect the flow and heat transfer characteristics in the downstream low pressure turbine.