High-lift Low-pressure Turbine Research Articles

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Boundary Layer of a High-Lift Low-Pressure Turbine Cascade Under Periodic Wakes With Different Flow Coefficients

Abstract This article investigates the boundary layer on the suction surface of a low-pressure turbine (LPT) subjected to upstream wakes with three different unsteady flow cases, characterized by the variation of flow coefficients. The unsteady behaviors of the boundary layer on the LPT suction surface are studied numerically and experimentally. The Reynolds number in the cascade is constant. Three flow coefficients are achieved by varying the bar speed, while the cascade's outlet velocity remains stable across the three test cases. The wake shapes under the three flow coefficients are captured by numerical simulation, and the instantaneous characteristics of the boundary layer are analyzed by hot-film test data and numerical results. The wake can be divided into a center and a tail, each with different effects on boundary layer multimode transitions. The wake center promotes the separation bubble breakdown, inducing wake-induced transition. Klebanoff streaks, formed by shear sheltering at the blade's leading edge, accelerate wake-induced transition by breaking down vortices in the interaction between the wake tail and the boundary layer. Under the three different flow coefficients, the wake shapes are different, resulting in a difference in the intensity and development of the Klebanoff streaks. The interactions among the Klebanoff streaks and roll-up vortices, the wake shapes, and the timing of Klebanoff streak involvement in the wake-induced transitions are important coupled factors. Additionally, the flow coefficient can change the factors, resulting in different wake-induced transitions, which should be considered in the design of high-lift LPTs.

Unsteady Interaction Between Purge Flow and Secondary Flow in High-Lift Low Pressure Turbine

Abstract The coupling effect between the complex vortex system and the rim purge flow in the endwall region of a high-lift low pressure turbine (LPT) will significantly influence the evolution of secondary flow and the corresponding losses. This paper focused on the unsteady interaction mechanism between the rim purge flow and the secondary flow inside the high-lift LPT under the periodic wake passing. The large eddy simulation (LES) method was used to reveal the influence mechanism of rim purge flow, rotor-stator cavity interaction and unsteady wakes on the secondary flow. Detailed experimental measurement was carried out for the flow field of high-lift LPT under the influences of static purge flow. The results showed that the rim purge flow significantly increased the overturning and underturning downstream of the endwall region, resulting in aggravating secondary loss. The rotating-rim increased the difference of the circumferential velocity between the mainstream and the purge flow, aggravating the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability, inducing the K-H vortex structure with stronger energy amplitude, and further increasing the endwall flow loss. The incoming wakes weakened the energy amplitude of the K-H vortex at the rim purge outlet, thinned the thickness of the low-energy fluid at the blade leading edge. Additionally, the interaction between the wakes and the secondary vortices further suppressed the development of the secondary flow. Nevertheless, the incoming wakes caused additional mixing losses and made a negative impact on the overall aerodynamic performance of the high-lift LPT.

Study of the influence of multiple factors on the boundary layer of a high-lift LPT with the RBF-GA method

In a high-altitude cruising state, boundary layer separation exists in high-lift low-pressure turbines, and inflow conditions corresponding to different blade designs can directly affect the working efficiency of low-pressure turbines. In particular, the reduced frequency of wake and free-stream turbulence intensity in an inlet flow can greatly influence boundary layer separation and transition development. In this paper, the influence of different inflow turbulence intensities and reduced wake frequencies on the development of suction surface boundary layers in high-lift low-pressure turbines under the influence of upstream wakes is studied by numerical simulations and experiments. Due to the combination of inflow free-stream turbulence intensity and reduced wake frequency, many inflow conditions can be chosen in the design process, and the unsteady influence of upstream wakes complicates the boundary layer flow. In this paper, an RBF (radial basis function)-GA (genetic algorithm) machine learning method is used to explore the optimal inlet conditions corresponding to the minimum profile loss of the Pak-B profile. The search region of the free-stream turbulence intensity is 2%–4%, and the reduced frequency of the wake is changed by changing the flow coefficient, whose variation range is 0.7–1.3. It is found that the RBF-GA machine learning method can attain an inflow condition with a lower profile loss while using the same amount of computation and effort.

RANS Prediction of Losses and Transition Onset in a High-Speed Low-Pressure Turbine Cascade

Current trends in aero-engine design are oriented at designing high-lift low-pressure turbine blades to reduce engine weight and dimensions. Therefore, the validation of numerical methods able to correctly capture the boundary layer transition at cruise conditions with a steady inflow for high-speed blades is of great relevance for turbine designers. The present paper details numerical simulations of a novel open-access high-speed low-pressure turbine test case that are performed using RANS-based transition models. The test case is the SPLEEN C1 cascade, tested in transonic conditions at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics. Both physics-based and correlation-based transition models are employed to predict blade loading, boundary layer characteristics, and wake development. 2D simulations are run for a wide range of operating conditions ranging from low to high transonic Mach numbers (0.7–0.95) and from low to moderate Reynolds numbers (70,000–120,000). The γ-Re˜θt transition model shows a good performance over the whole range of simulated operating conditions, thus demonstrating a good capability in both reproducing blade loading and average losses, although the wake’s width is underestimated. This leads to an overestimation of the total pressure deficit in the center of the wake which can exceed experimental measurements by more than 50%. On the other hand, the k-ν2-ω model achieves satisfactory results at Ma6,is = 0.95, where the boundary layer state is affected by the presence of a weak shock impinging on the blade suction side which thickens the boundary layer, leading to a predicted shape factor equal to five, downstream of the shock. However, at low and moderate Mach numbers, the k-ν2-ω model predicts long or open separation bubbles contrary to the experimental findings, thus indicating insufficient turbulence production downstream of the boundary layer separation. The slow boundary layer transition in the aft region of the suction side that is exhibited by the k-ν2-ω model also affects the prediction of the outlet flow, featuring large peaks of a total pressure deficit if compared to both the experimental measurements and the γ-Re˜θt predictions. For the k-ν2-ω model, the maximum overestimation of the total pressure deficit is approximately 60%.

Controlling secondary flow in high-lift low-pressure turbine using boundary-layer slot suction

The design of high-lift Low-Pressure Turbines (LPTs) causes the separation of the boundary layer on the suction side of the blade and leads to a strong secondary flow. This present study aims to minimize secondary losses through endwall slot suction and incoming wakes in a front-loaded high-lift LPT cascade with Zweifel of 1.58 under low Reynolds number of 25000. Two slotted schemes for the boundary layer of the endwall were designed (Plan A and Plan B), and the effects of suction mass flow on secondary flow were studied. The underlying physics of the endwall boundary layer of the suction and secondary flow under unsteady wakes was discussed. The results show that slot suction at the endwall boundary layer can significantly suppress the secondary flow by removing low-momentum fluids. Plans A and B significantly reduced the secondary kinetic energy by 44.2% and 36.9%, respectively, compared with the baseline cascade at the suction mass flow ratios of 1%. With an increase in the mass flow ratio of suction, the secondary flow was gradually reduced in both Plans A and B. It is more beneficial to control the secondary flow to destroy the intersection of the pressure side and suction side of the horseshoe vortex before it develops into a passage vortex. Under unsteady wakes, the combined effects of incoming wakes and endwall boundary layer suction can further suppress the secondary flow at the suction mass flow ratios of 2% for Plan A, because the positive and negative vorticity inside upstream wakes accelerated the mixing of the main flow and secondary flow and thus increased the energy of secondary vortices.

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

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.

Nonuniform height endwall fence optimization of a low-pressure turbine cascade

As the lift of turbine increases, the secondary flow in the endwall region seriously restricts improvement of the aerodynamic performance of low-pressure turbine. The particle swarm optimization is improved to pursue stronger optimization ability. An optimization platform is built that combines Bayesian optimization (BO), the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm and improved chaos particle swarm optimization. The test results show that the surrogate model optimization method proposed in this paper has more prominent application potential in the field of aerodynamic optimization. The above optimization method is used for the optimization design of the nonuniform height endwall fence (NHEF) of a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade to achieve an efficient secondary flow control effect. The NURBS curve is used to realize the parameterization of the NHEF. The secondary flow control mechanism of traditional fences and NHEF has been compared and analysed in detail. The numerical results show that the NHEF can effectively prevent the cross migration of the boundary layer, and the fence vortex induced by the fence can suppress the development of the passage vortex. The total pressure loss at the outlet of the cascade installed NHEF is reduced by 14.82%. The secondary flow control effect of the NHEF is better than that of a traditional fence. The feature importance analysis results of input variables show that the pitchwise position of the fence has the most obvious influence on the loss of the cascade. In addition, based on the results of feature importance, a 53% length reduction fence is designed to reduce the extra weight brought by the fence. The design achieves the effect of comprehensively considering the weight and aerodynamic performance.

Analysis of the Effect of the Leading-Edge Vortex Structure on Unsteady Secondary Flow at the Endwall of a High-Lift Low-Pressure Turbine

The horseshoe vortex system at the leading edge of a low-pressure turbine (LPT) has unsteady flow characteristics, and the flow field in the downstream cascade channel also has unsteady characteristics. In this study, CFD simulations are performed with the help of commercial software CFX, and experimental checks are performed using a fan-shaped cascade test bench to investigate the flow characteristics of the endwall of the PACKB blade type of a high-lift LPT under the same incoming Reynolds number and two incoming boundary layer thickness conditions. The obtained results show that there are different flow alteration characteristics and alteration frequencies of the horseshoe vortex system, among which the vortex system with a thicker boundary layer is larger in size and less spaced from each other, which is more likely to induce the fusion of vortex systems. The centrifugal instability causes the instability of the horseshoe vortex system, and the instability frequency is inversely proportional to the thickness of the boundary layer. With two inlet boundary layers, the instability frequencies of the vortex system are 125 Hz and 175 Hz, respectively, and the ratio of the frequency to the thickness of the boundary layer is reciprocal to each other. The stimulation effect of the unstable horseshoe vortex system on the downstream secondary flow intensity is greater than that of the steady state. The thin boundary layer case generates a greater unsteady loss in the cascade channel than the thick boundary layer case due to the poor stability of the vortex system.

Integrated optimization of a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade based on dynamic support vector regression

With the increase of the lift of turbine components, the performance of the turbine is significantly affected by the secondary flow. The combined optimization of the root modification and the profiled endwall (PEW) is investigated for more efficient secondary flow control in the endwall region of a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade. The NURBS surface is used in this paper to perform parametric modelling. Support vector machines (SVM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are used to complete the optimal design of the combination of cascade root and endwall. To ensure the accuracy of the regression model, dynamic parameter adjustment and dynamic point addition strategies are introduced in the optimization process to update the regression model. The study found that when the separate profiled endwall was optimized for the cascade, the total pressure loss of the cascade decreased by 10.39%; when the cascade was optimized by the combined shape of the cascade root and the endwall, the total pressure loss of the cascade decreased by 12.88%. The detailed flow field analysis shows that both the profiled endwall and integrated optimization can effectively weaken the cross-passage pressure gradient in the endwall region of the cascade passage. Compared with only profiled endwall, the integrated optimization restrains the passage vortex and the suction side leg of horseshoe vortex from developing towards the middle of the cascade, and the secondary flow loss in the endwall region is obviously reduced.

Vortex Unsteadiness in the Endwall Region of a High-Lift Low-Pressure Turbine Passage

Abstract Three-dimensional vortical structures within the endwall region of turbine passages directly affect the aerodynamic efficiency and heat transfer characteristics of the turbine. Interactions between the vortical endwall structures and the suction surface flow have been shown to be a significant source of loss generation through passages. One dominant vortex extends from the leading-edge junction region of the blade across the passage, where it interacts with the flow along the suction surface of the adjacent blade. In high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade passages, the vortical structure intermittently loses coherence and exhibits unsteady variations of strength and position as it extends across the passage. The present paper details the temporal behavior through high-speed measurements in a low-speed linear cascade of high-lift low-pressure turbine blades. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry measurements in the passage are used to evaluate the unsteady behavior of the vortex. Space-time iso-surface plots of Q-criterion clearly show the evolution of the vortex over time. Analysis of the data reveals the various time scales of fluctuations in strength and position. Comparisons of the temporal fluctuations in the high-lift turbine passage are made with similar phenomena found in canonical junction flow papers in the literature. Key findings support the hypothesis that in-passage vortex unsteady characteristics near the endwall are influenced by leading-edge junction flow dynamics, and provide additional insight into the unsteady endwall flow physics that is necessary to further the development of endwall loss reduction techniques.

Experimental and numerical investigation of periodic downstream potential flow on the behavior of boundary layer of high-lift low-pressure turbine blade

A high-lift and compact design can reduce the weight of low-pressure Turbine (LPT), but increase the complexity of the boundary layer flow of LPT, which affects the LPT blade profile loss. This study experimentally and numerically investigates the boundary layer of a high lift low-pressure turbine blade with a periodic downstream pressure field. The investigations are conducted at inflow Reynolds numbers of 87000. Experiments are performed on a low-speed cascade test rig, and CFD simulations are used to create a time-averaged and instantaneous flow field. With a downstream potential flow field, the velocity field and pressure field of the boundary layer are found to fluctuate periodically. Due to the viscous free shear layer, the velocity at the edge of the shear layer and the wall shear stress also exhibit a phase difference. By decomposing and reconstructing the instantaneous flow field, the downstream potential flow is shown to destabilize the separation bubble and induce the vortex-shedding earlier, causing transition to occur earlier, increasing profile losses. The disturbance energy distribution of the boundary layer is more broadened and migrates into smaller scale vortices. However, the downstream potential flow does not change the dominant role of K-H instability affecting transition.

Roughness effects on flow losses of a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade

Laminar separation induced flow transition has been regarded as one main source of flow losses of low-pressure turbines (LPTs). The realistic roughness favors the reduction of flow losses as the separation bubble reduces and even disappears. In this paper, a detailed grid-independent study is first presented to verify and validate the numerical solutions by solving Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes and shear stress transport γ-Reθ̃ transition model equations for a typical high-lift LPT. The roughness elements with different heights (Ra) are uniformly imposed on the whole suction side. The effects of Ra on the flow separation and transition and, thus, flow losses are studied. The results demonstrate that there is one critical Ra value, below which the flow losses decrease, while above which the flow losses increase as Ra increases. The roughness allocations by imposing roughness elements on different blade portions of the suction side are also studied. The sensitivities of flow loss reduction to roughness allocation are evaluated and illustrated. Moreover, the effects of Reynolds numbers (Re) are investigated. As Re decreases, the critical Ra value increases and a more roughened blade is favorable for flow loss reduction. This study paves the way for finding a practicable flow control method reducing the flow losses by optimally allocating roughness on the blade of high-lift LPTs.

Surface Roughness Impact on Boundary Layer Transition and Loss Mechanisms Over a Flat-Plate Under a Low-Pressure Turbine Pressure Gradient

Abstract An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the effects of surface roughness on the profile loss of a flat-plate with a contoured wall. All of the measurements have been conducted for the suction side pressure gradient of a high-lift low pressure turbine airfoil at the fixed freestream turbulence intensity (Tu) of 3.2% under Reynolds numbers of Rec = 1. 2 · 105 (cruise) and Rec = 5.2 · 105 (take-off). The time-resolved streamwise and wall-normal velocity fields for three different surface roughness values of Ra/C · 105 = 0.065, 4.417, and 7.428 have been measured with a 2D hot-wire probe. At the take-off condition (Rec = 5.2 · 105), attached flow transition occurs, and increased surface roughness increases the loss. For all of the surfaces, momentum deficits in the laminar to early transition region (γ ≈ 0.05) are similar. For the intermediate transition (γ ≈ 0.5), increased roughness reduces the Reynolds stress and accelerates the breakdown of large-scale turbulent spots into small-scale turbulent eddies. Therefore, turbulent energy and momentum deficit are decreased for rough surfaces. For the late transition (γ > 0.9), transitional boundary layers become similar to turbulent boundary layers, and increased surface roughness increases turbulent mixing, boundary layer thickness, and, hence, the momentum deficit. On the other hand, at the cruise condition (Rec = 1.2 · 105), separated flow transition occurs and increased surface roughness decreases loss. Since the portion of turbulent flow is relatively small, the overall profile loss is mainly determined by the momentum deficit generated during transition. Increased roughness decreases the maximum height and length of the separation bubble but does not affect the separation bubble onset location. The beneficial effects of increased surface roughness on the profile loss appear in the separated shear layer and reattachment. Increased surface roughness increases turbulent mixing in the separated shear layer, reducing the shear layer thickness and momentum deficit. In addition, increased surface roughness reduces the length scale and turbulence intensity of the shed vortices. Consequently, turbulent mixing and momentum deficit during the reattachment of boundary layers are decreased, resulting in a lower profile loss.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Reynolds Number and Reduced Frequency Effects on Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoils

Abstract This article compares experimental and numerical data for a low-speed high-lift low pressure turbine (LPT) cascade under unsteady flow conditions. Three Reynolds numbers representative of LPTs have been tested, namely, 5 × 104, 105, and 2 × 105; at two reduced frequencies, fr = 0.5 and 1, also representative of LPTs. The experimental data were obtained at the low-speed linear cascade wind tunnel at the Polytechnic University of Madrid using hot wire, Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), and pressure tappings. The numerical solver employs a sixth-order compact scheme based on the flux reconstruction method for spatial discretization and a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method to march in time. The longest case ran 550 h on 40 GPUs to reach a statistically periodic state. Pressure coefficients around the profile, boundary layer profiles and exit cross section distributions of velocity, pressure loss defect, shear Reynolds stress, and angle are compared against high-quality experimental data. Cascade loss and exit angle have also been compared against the experimental data. Very good agreement between experimental and numerical data is seen. The results demonstrate the suitability of the present methodology to predict the aerodynamic properties of unsteady flows around LPT linear cascades accurately.

Influence of the Upstream Wakes on the Boundary Layer of a High-Lift Low-Pressure Turbine at Positive Incidence

AbstractThe wake-induced transition, natural transition, and instability induced by the Klebanoff streaks complicate the transition process. In this paper, the boundary layer on the suction surface...

Prediction of Reynolds Number Effects on Low-Pressure Turbines Using a High-Order ILES Method

Abstract A comprehensive comparison between implicit large eddy simulations (ILES) and experimental results of a modern high-lift low-pressure turbine airfoil has been carried out for an array of Reynolds numbers (Re). Experimental data were obtained in a low-speed linear cascade at the Polytechnic University of Madrid using hot-wire anemometry and laser-Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The numerical code is fourth-order accurate, both in time and space. The spatial discretization of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations is based on a high-order flux reconstruction approach while a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is used to march in time the simulations. The losses, pressure coefficient distributions, and boundary layer and wake velocity profiles have been compared for an array of realistic Reynolds numbers. Moreover, boundary layer and wake velocity fluctuations are compared for the first time with experimental results. It is concluded that the accuracy of the numerical results is comparable to that of the experiments, especially for integral quantities such as the losses or exit angle. Turbulent fluctuations in the suction side boundary layer and the wakes are well predicted too. The elapsed time of the simulations is about 140 h on 40 graphics processor units. The numerical tool is integrated within an industrial design system and reuses pre- and post-processing tools previously developed for another kind of applications. The trend of the losses with the Reynolds number has a sub-critical regime, where the losses scale with Re−1, and a supercritical regime, where the losses scale with Re−1/2. This trend can be seen both in the simulations and in the experiments.

Unsteady wakes-secondary flow interactions in a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade

Detailed experimental measurements were conducted to study the interactions between incoming wakes and endwall secondary flow in a high-lift Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) cascade. All of the measurements were conducted in both the presence and absence of incoming wakes, and numerical analysis was performed to elucidate the flow mechanism. With increasing Reynolds number, the influence of the incoming wakes on suppressing the secondary flow gradually increased owing to the greater influence of incoming wakes on reducing the negative incidence angle at higher Reynolds numbers, leading to a lower blade loading near the leading edge and suppression of the Pressure Side (PS) leg of the horseshoe vortex. However, the effect of unsteady wakes on suppressing the profile losses gradually became weaker owing to the reduced size of the Suction Side (SS) separation bubble and increased mixing loss in the free-flow region at high Reynolds numbers. Incoming wakes clearly improved the aerodynamic performance of the low-pressure turbine cascade at low Reynolds numbers of 25,000 and 50,000. In contrast, at the high Reynolds number of 100,000, the profile loss at the midspan and mass-averaged total losses downstream of the cascade were higher in the presence of wakes than in the absence of wakes, and the unsteady wakes exerted a negative influence on the aerodynamic performance of the LPT cascade.

The effect of endwall boundary layer and incoming wakes on secondary flow in a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade at low Reynolds number

The endwall flow features are heavily dependent on the incoming boundary layer. It was particularly important to increase understanding the effect of inlet boundary layer thickness on endwall secondary flow under unsteady conditions. In present study, the influences of incoming wakes and various boundary layer thickness on endwall secondary flow were studied in a typical high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade, numerical calculation and experiment measurement of seven-hole probe were adopted at Re = 25,000 (based on the inlet velocity and the axial chord). Upstream wakes were simulated through moving rods upstream of the cascade. Detailed analysis was focused on the mechanisms of periodic wake influencing on the endwall vortex structures under thick endwall boundary layer condition. Influences of two different endwall boundary layer thickness on endwall secondary vortices structures were also comparatively analyzed. Under steady condition without wake, although thick incoming boundary layer reduces the cross-passage pressure gradient near endwall, more low momentum fluid inside thick endwall boundary layer is drawn into secondary vortices, finally resulting in stronger the pressure side leg of the leading edge horseshoe vortex and passage vortex, compared to the results of thin boundary layer condition. Under unsteady condition with thick inlet boundary layer, the “negative jet” effect of incoming wakes delays intersection of pressure side leg and suction side leg of leading edge horseshoe vortex on blade suction surface. The time-averaged strength of passage vortex and counter vortex core decreases by about 32%, and the underturning and overturning of endwall secondary flow is suppressed. The instantaneous results also indicate the endwall secondary vortices are reduced periodically at the position of wakes passing.

Effect of periodic wakes and a contoured endwall on secondary flow in a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade at low Reynolds numbers

The use of a contoured endwall has the potential to suppress endwall secondary flow. Unsteady wakes affect not only the boundary layer characteristics of blade suction surface at blade midspan but also the endwall flow structures. The lack of understanding of the flow mechanism of the combined effects of periodic wakes and contoured endwall on secondary flow limits their roles. This paper presents a experimental and numerical investigation of the endwall secondary flow in a typical high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade. Wakes were produced by moving rods upstream of cascade, and the flow fields at the exit of cascade were measured using a seven-hole pressure probe. The study focused on the combined effect of the upstream wakes and the contoured endwall on the secondary flow as well as the underlying physical mechanisms. The influences of the Reynolds numbers and the contoured endwall on the performance of high-lift low-pressure turbine endwall regions were also discussed. At steady conditions without wakes, the total losses in the turbine cascade increased with decreasing Reynolds number; the most intense passage vortex, counter vortex and corner vortex were observed at a low Reynolds number of 25,000 (based on the axial chord and the inlet velocity). The contoured endwall decreased the cross-passage pressure gradient, and suppressed the passage vortex. Under unsteady conditions, the interaction between upstream wakes and the passage vortex results in reduction of the passage vortex. The combined effect of the contoured endwall and periodic wakes redistributed the endwall pressure and further decreased the cross-passage pressure gradient. Consequently, the intensities of the passage vortex and counter vortex decreased by 17% and 11% respectively, compared with the flat endwall cascade with wakes. Contoured endwall with wakes reduced secondary kinetic energy of cascade exit by 53.8% than the result of the flat endwall no wake. Which is beneficial to improve the aerodynamic performance of the high-lift low-pressure turbine.

Evaluation of an algebraic model for laminar-to-turbulent transition on secondary flow loss in a low-pressure turbine cascade with an endwall

The predictive qualities of a recently developed algebraic intermittency model for laminar-to-turbulent transition are analysed for the flow through a linear cascade of low-pressure turbine blades with an endwall. Both steady RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes) and time-accurate RANS (URANS) simulations are performed. The results are compared with reference LES (Large Eddy Simulation) by Cui et al. (2017, Numerical investigation of secondary flows in a high-lift low pressure turbine, Int. J. of Heat and Fluid Flow, vol. 63) and results by the local correlation-based intermittency transport model (LCTM) by Menter et al. (2015, A one-equation local correlation-based transition model. Flow Turbul. Combust., vol. 95) for laminar and turbulent endwall boundary layers at the cascade entrance. Good agreement is obtained with the reference LES and with results by the LCTM for the evolution through the cascade of the mass-averaged total pressure loss coefficient and for profiles of pitchwise-averaged total pressure loss coefficient at the cascade exit.