Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade Research Articles

Assessment of turbulence adjoint method in sensitivity calculation and aerodynamic design optimization of turbomachinery cascades

Adjoint-based optimization faces the challenges from sensitivity accuracy when applying in design optimization of turbomachinery cascades with strong turbulence flow. In the study, sensitivities of aerodynamic parameters of different cascades are calculated using the discrete adjoint method, which are then used for design optimization of the cascades. The principles of adjoint method are firstly introduced and the procedures of sensitivity calculation using discrete adjoint method are described. Aerodynamic sensitivities of a high-pressure-turbine cascade and a controlled-diffusion compressor cascade are calculated by both the turbulence adjoint and constant-eddy-viscosity (CEV) adjoint methods. Through comparisons against the sensitivities by finite difference method, the improved accuracy in sensitivity calculation by turbulence adjoint method is demonstrated. Moreover, at the off-design condition of the compressor cascade with intensified turbulence flow, more improvements in sensitivity accuracy are gained. Finally, aerodynamic design optimizations of these two cascades are conducted. The results illustrate that more gains in performance improvements can be obtained by turbulence adjoint method, especially in the optimization of compressor cascade at the off-design condition. The impacts of aerodynamic shape optimization on performance variations of the cascades are addressed.

Aerodynamic evaluation of cascade flow with actual geometric uncertainties using an adaptive sparse arbitrary polynomial chaos expansion

In this paper, an adaptive sparse arbitrary polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) is first proposed to quantify the performance impact of realistic multi-dimensional manufacturing uncertainties. The Stieltjes algorithm is employed to generate the PCE basis functions concerning geometric variations with arbitrary distributions. The basis-adaptive Bayesian compressive sensing algorithm is introduced to retain a small number of significant PCE basis functions, requiring fewer model training samples while preserving fitting accuracy. Second, several benchmark tests are used to verify the computational efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method. Eventually, the coexistence effects of six typical machining deviations on the aerodynamic performance and flow fields of a controlled diffusion compressor cascade are investigated. The probability distributions of the machining deviations are approximated by limited measurement data using kernel density estimation. By uncertainty quantification, it can be learned that the mean performance seriously deteriorates with increasing incidences, while the performance at negative incidences is more dispersed. By global sensitivity analysis, the leading-edge profile error should be given high priority when working at negative incidences, and the inlet metal angle error would be carefully inspected first when the cascade works at high positive incidences. Furthermore, controlling the manufacturing accuracy of the suction surface profile error can play a certain role in improving the robustness of aerodynamic performance in off-design conditions. Through flow field analysis, it further proves that actual leading-edge errors are the most important ones to aerodynamics and reveals how the effects of leading-edge errors propagate in the cascade passage, thus affecting the aerodynamic loss.

Large eddy simulation of a compressor cascade and the influence of spanwise domain

A controlled diffusion compressor cascade is studied using large eddy simulation (LES). The aim of this study is to assess the capability of LES to be used in an industrial context. The Reynolds number is approximately 700 000 based on chord length and inlet velocity. A ‘thin-slice’ representation of the cascade is used as the reference grid, and the influence of a narrow span is studied by comparison simulations with a domain that has a span five times larger than the thin-slice grid. While the instantaneous flow-fields of the thin-slice and wide-domain simulations are qualitatively similar, the thin-slice simulations suffer from flow confinement problems caused by the imposition of the narrow span. The non-unity axial velocity density ratio of the flow enforces the use of inviscid wall spanwise boundaries, which have a parasitic influence on the development of the flow in the thin-slice simulations. The resultant data obtained from the thin-slice simulations are therefore compromised and the computed loss estimation is considered unreliable. However, when comparing mean quantities such as surface pressure and boundary layer growth the narrow does give reasonable predictions. While the inviscid spanwise walls also affect the flow near the boundaries in the wide domain simulations, there is sufficient region of span from which reliable flow data and loss estimations can be obtained. For blade flows at off-design conditions, a span of 20 per cent of the blade chord is sufficient to give good agreement with experimental data. This incurs a computational cost that may be too high to incorporate parametric LES studies into the design cycle of turbomachinery components with current computers.

One- and two-equation turbulence models for the prediction of complex cascade flows using unstructured grids

One- and two-equation, low-Reynolds eddy-viscosity turbulence models are employed in the context of a primitive variable, finite volume, Navier–Stokes solver for unstructured grids. Through the study of the complex flow in a controlled-diffusion compressor cascade at off-design conditions, the ability of the models under consideration to predict the laminar separation bubble close to the leading edge and the boundary layer development is investigated. In order to control the unphysical growth of turbulent kinetic energy near the leading edge stagnation point, appropriate modifications to the conventional models are employed and tested. All of them improve the leading edge flow patterns and significantly affect the size of the predicted laminar separation bubble. The use of an adequately refined mesh around the airfoil, that is formed by triangles placed in a quasi-structured way, allows for the generation of grid elements of moderate aspect ratios. This helps to readily overcome any relevant problems of accuracy; a second-order upwind scheme without flux limiters or least squares approximations is successfully employed for the gradients. The test case includes quasi-3D effects by considering the streamtube thickness variation in the governing equations.

Effect of Tip Clearance at Midspan Section of Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade

Article Effect of Tip Clearance at Midspan Section of Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade was published on September 1, 1995 in the journal International Journal of Turbo & Jet-Engines (volume 12, issue 3).

Inlet turbulence distortion and viscous flow development in a controlled-diffusion compressor cascade at very high incidence

Detailed two-component laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) measurements of the flow through a controlleddiffusion (CD) compressor cascade at a Reynolds number of about 700,000 and at a low Mach number are reported in this article. A very high-incidence angle (8 deg above design) was considered throughout this investigation, which included the full experimental characterization of the turbulence Held. The LDV measurements were fully automated and were all taken in coincidence mode, thus turbulent flow correlations could be determined. Most significant was the measurement of the distortion of the inlet freestream turbulence upstream of the blade leading edges. Such information is important in assessing viscous codes which incorporate transport equations to describe the turbulence within the flowfield. The laminar leading-edge separation bubble, which reattached turbulent, was enlarged on the suction surface of the blade. Consistent with measurements at lower incidence angles, the suction surface boundary layer remained attached over the rear part of the blade. The pressure side boundary layer initially showed little or no growth, however, it finally developed into a profile similar to a wall jet. The wake profiles showed significant asymmetry due to the high loading on the blades at the increased incidence angle.

Wake Measurements and Loss Evaluation in a Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade

The results of two component laser-Doppler velocimeter (LDV) surveys made in the near wake (to one fifth chord) of a controlled diffusion (CD) compressor blade in a large-scale cascade wind tunnel are reported. The measurements were made at three positive incidence angles from near design to angles thought to approach stall. Comparisons were made with calibrated pressure probe and hot-wire wake measurements and good agreement was found. The flow was found to be fully attached at the trailing edge at all incidence angles and the wake profiles were found to be highly skewed. Despite the precision obtained in the wake velocity profiles, the blade loss could not be evaluated accurately without measurements of the pressure field. The blade trailing edge surface pressures and velocity profiles were found to be consistent with downstream pressure probe measurements of loss, allowing conclusions to be drawn concerning the design of the trailing edge.

Viscous Flow in a Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade With Increasing Incidence

A detailed two-component LDV mapping of the flow through a controlled diffusion compressor cascade at low Mach number ( ~ 0.25) and Reynolds number of about 7 × 105, at three inlet air angles from design to near stall, is reported. It was found that the suction-side boundary layer reattached turbulent after a laminar separation bubble, and remained attached to the trailing edge even at the highest incidence, at which losses were 3 to 4 times the minimum value for the geometry. Boundary layer thickness increased to fill 20 percent of the blade passage at the highest incidence. Results for pressure-side boundary layer and near-wake also are summarized. Information sufficient to allow preliminary assessment of viscous codes is tabulated.

Closure to “Discussion of ‘Viscous Flow in a Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade With Increasing Incidence’” (1990, ASME J. Turbomach., 112, p. 266)

Closure to “Discussion of ‘Viscous Flow in a Controlled Diffusion Compressor Cascade With Increasing Incidence’” (1990, ASME J. Turbomach., 112, p. 266)