Hub Cavity Research Articles

Ligand-induced CaMKIIα hub Trp403 flip, hub domain stacking, and modulation of kinase activity.

γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) analogs are small molecules that bind competitively to a specific cavity in the oligomeric CaMKIIα hub domain. Binding affects conformation and stability of the hub domain, which may explain the neuroprotective action of some of these compounds. Here, we describe molecular details of interaction of the larger-type GHB analog 2-(6-(4-chlorophenyl)imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine-2-yl)acetic acid (PIPA). Like smaller-type analogs, PIPA binding to the CaMKIIα hub domain promoted thermal stability. PIPA additionally modulated CaMKIIα activity under sub-maximal CaM concentrations and ultimately led to reduced substrate phosphorylation. A high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of a stabilized CaMKIIα (6x mutant) hub construct revealed details of the binding mode of PIPA, which involved outward placement of tryptophan 403 (Trp403), a central residue in a flexible loop close to the upper hub cavity. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) solution structures and mass photometry of the CaMKIIα wild-type hub domain in the presence of PIPA revealed a high degree of ordered self-association (stacks of CaMKIIα hub domains). This stacking neither occurred with the smaller compound 3-hydroxycyclopent-1-enecarboxylic acid (HOCPCA), nor when Trp403 was replaced with leucine (W403L). Additionally, CaMKIIα W403L hub was stabilized to a larger extent by PIPA compared to CaMKIIα hub wild type, indicating that loop flexibility is important for holoenzyme stability. Thus, we propose that ligand-induced outward placement of Trp403 by PIPA, which promotes an unforeseen mechanism of hub domain stacking, may be involved in the observed reduction in CaMKIIα kinase activity. Altogether, this sheds new light on allosteric regulation of CaMKIIα activity via the hub domain.

Hydroacoustic analysis of a full-scale marine vessel: Prediction of the cavitation-induced underwater radiated noise using large eddy simulations

This numerical study provides insight into the mechanism of noise generation by a cavitating flow in the wake of a marine propeller under realistic operating conditions, which poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems. We examined a full-scale vessel with an entire hull and an isolated model-scale marine propeller (INSEAN E779A) with a maneuverable rudder under various highly turbulent inflow conditions that strongly affect the spectral characteristics of the radiated noise. Insight into the acoustic behavior was gained by employing a combination of the large eddy simulation (LES) treatment of turbulence and the Schnerr–Sauer volume of fluid cavitation model. The hydrodynamic solution was coupled with the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) strategy for noise and vibration identification. We focused on the interactions between the characteristic cavitation patterns of marine propellers (sheet, tip, and hub cavities) and the dominant structures of the turbulent wake (tip, root, trailing edge, and hub vortices, as well as the distributed small-scale vorticity). The small-scale topological structures in the swirling wake of a propeller directly manifest in the radiated sound level and affect the intensity of multiple frequency ranges. Quantitative analysis of thrust, pressure fluctuations, and sound pressure levels (SPLs) demonstrates significant effects of blade loading, wake distribution, and cavitation development. The peak and average SPL distributions obtained through LES show lower dominant and higher average frequencies compared to those obtained by the FW-H method. The overall SPL obtained by LES were higher than those calculated using the FW-H acoustic analogy at all microphone locations. The overall noise was dominated by the low-frequency broadband noise, attributed to energetic helical vortices, and narrow-band peaks in the medium-high frequency range that originated from other sources, like cavitation structures.

Adaptation of von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics’ Isentropic Compression Tube Facility for High-Speed Low-Pressure Turbines Testing

Abstract This paper presents the commissioning of a newly designed High-Speed Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) stage, operating at transonic exit Mach numbers and low Reynolds numbers, typical of modern geared turbofan (GTF) applications. The work falls within the scope of the Clean Sky 2 project SPLEEN (Secondary and Leakage Flow Effects in High-speed Low-pressure Turbines), which consists of an extensive experimental characterization of LPTs for GTFs. Geometries and measurements will constitute a valuable open-access database for the validation of simulation methods and data analysis tools. At first, the characteristics of the research turbine are illustrated. The LPT stage is designed with an equal number of stationary vanes and shrouded rotor blades. The upstream and downstream hub cavities are purged and feature engine-realistic rim seals. The nominal operating condition of the stage is reported, along with a set of off-design conditions, obtained by varying rotor speed and purge mass flows. The second part of the paper describes the substantial revamping of the CT3 large-scale compression tube at Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, traditionally employed for high-pressure turbine testing, now adapted to host a high-speed LPT stage. The third section is an overview of the time-averaged and fast-response instrumentation. The test article is heavily instrumented, to maximize the amount of acquired data, while minimizing the number of blowdown tests. The dataset for each operating conditions includes aerothermal measurements in the annulus flow, in the hub cavities and in the shroud labyrinth seal. In addition, this section presents the design of an in-house traversing system for continuous probe traversing during the test. Finally, the outcome of the commissioning phase is discussed, with particular emphasis on the operating conditions stability, as well as on the inlet and cavity injection uniformity. The commissioning of a traversing system for continuous probe traversing during the short-duration test is also discussed.

On the Over-Prediction of Centrifugal Compressor Pressure Ratio in the High Impeller Tip Mach Number Regime

Abstract Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation is a routinely used tool for turbomachinery research and development, but it often over-predicts the pressure ratio of centrifugal compressors especially in the high impeller tip Mach number regime. In this work, the effects of a series of geometrical and numerical uncertainties and errors on the aerodynamic performance of a centrifugal compressor are investigated systematically. The investigated compressor is the NASA CC3 centrifugal compressor under different impeller tip Mach number conditions. The investigated geometrical/numerical factors include the impeller blade fillet, the impeller hub cavity, the impeller running tip clearance, the averaging method in the post-process, the turbulence model, the inlet duct hub rotation, and the inlet turbulence boundary condition. Results show that the uncertainty of the predicted total pressure ratio generally increases with the impeller tip Mach number. Among the investigated factors, the averaging method, the impeller blade fillet, the turbulence model, and the impeller hub cavity have the most pronounced effects in determining the compressor total pressure ratio. By adopting realistic geometric features, advanced turbulence modeling treatments, and the same averaging method as the experiment, the over-prediction in the total pressure ratio can be alleviated. Detailed flow mechanism analysis with respect to the impeller hub cavity and the turbulence model has been performed. These findings provide valuable guidance for future RANS simulations of centrifugal compressors.

Aerodynamics and Sealing Performance of the Downstream Hub Rim Seal in a High-Pressure Turbine Stage

The purpose of the paper is to characterize the aerodynamic behavior of a rotor-downstream hub cavity rim seal in a high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage. The experimental data are acquired in the Transonic Test Turbine Facility at the Graz University of Technology: the test setup includes two engine-representative turbine stages (the last HPT stage and first LPT stage), with the intermediate turbine duct in between. All stator-rotor cavities are supplied with purge flows by a secondary air system, which simulates the bleeding air from the compressor stages of the real engine. The HPT downstream hub cavity is provided with wall taps and pitot tubes at different radial and circumferential locations, which allows the performance of steady pressure and seed gas concentration measurements for different purge mass flows and HPT vanes clocking positions. Moreover, miniaturized pressure transducers are adopted to evaluate the unsteady pressure distribution, and an oil flow visualization is performed to retrieve additional information on the wheel space structures. The annulus pressure asymmetry depends on the HPT vane clocking, but this is shown to have negligible impact on the minimum purge mass flow required to seal the cavity. However, the hub pressure profile drives the distribution of the cavity egress in the turbine channel. The unsteady pressure field is dominated by blade-synchronous oscillations. No non-synchronous components with comparable intensity are detected.

Endwall geometric uncertainty and error on the performance of TUDA-GLR-OpenStage transonic axial compressor

The hub and casing walls of axial compressors are often modeled as smooth continuous surfaces in CFD simulations, but in real geometries, non-smooth pinches, steps and leakage cavities may exist. In the GPPS first Turbomachinery CFD Workshop, a comprehensive validation and verification campaign of RANS flow solvers was conducted, and all the simulation results consistently over-predicted the total pressure ratio at the rotor exit near the casing and the stator exit near the hub. From a recent examination of the test rig geometry, a pinched casing wall over the rotor and a leakage cavity below the stator were found, which were not considered in the workshop. In this paper, the effects of these endwall geometric uncertainties and errors are analyzed via numerical simulation. When considering the rotor casing pinch of the test geometry, the predicted total pressure ratio and choke mass flow of the compressor stage are smaller than that without the pinch, leading to better agreement with the measured data. When considering a stator hub cavity with a leakage flow rate of about 0.2% of the compressor inlet mass flow, the near-hub total pressure ratio distribution matches slightly better with the experimental data, but the effects on the global compressor stage characteristics are not visible. The relevant mechanisms of these changes in performances are analyzed in detail. The updated geometries and grids will be released to the public as a benchmark test case for turbomachinery CFD validation and verification.

The CaMKIIα hub ligand Ph-HTBA promotes neuroprotection after focal ischemic stroke by a distinct molecular interaction

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CaMKIIα) is a potential target for acute neuroprotection due to its key role in physiological and pathological glutamate signaling. The hub domain organizes the CaMKII holoenzyme into large oligomers, and additional functional effects on holoenzyme activation have lately emerged. We recently reported that compounds related to the proposed neuromodulator γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) selectively bind to the CaMKIIα hub domain and increase hub thermal stabilization, which is believed to have functional consequences and to mediate neuroprotection. However, the detailed molecular mechanism is unknown. In this study, we functionally characterize the novel and brain permeable GHB analog (E)-2-(5-hydroxy-2-phenyl-5,7,8,9-tetrahydro-6H-benzo[7]annulen-6-ylidene)acetic acid (Ph-HTBA). Administration of a single dose of Ph-HTBA at a clinically relevant time point (3–6 h after photothrombotic stroke) promotes neuroprotection with a superior effect at low doses compared to the smaller GHB analog 3-hydroxycyclopent-1-enecarboxylic acid (HOCPCA). In contrast to HOCPCA, Ph-HTBA reduces Ca2+-stimulated CaMKIIα Thr286 autophosphorylation in primary cortical neurons and substrate phosphorylation of recombinant CaMKIIα, potentially contributing to its neuroprotective effect. Supported by previous in silico docking studies, we suggest that Ph-HTBA makes distinct molecular interactions with the hub cavity, which may contribute to its differential functional profile and superior neuroprotective effect compared to HOCPCA. Together, this highlights Ph-HTBA as a promising tool to study hub functionality, but also as a good candidate for clinical development.

Effect of the hub cavity leakage on the aerodynamic performance and strength characteristics of the 150 kW SCO2 centrifugal compressor

The hub cavity leakage has large effect on the aerodynamic performance on the Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) centrifugal compressor. In this paper, the aerodynamic performance and strength characteristics of the 150 kW SCO2 centrifugal compressor with the hub cavity were numerically investigated using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and [Formula: see text] turbulence model. The high precision physical properties tables of SCO2 were used to calculate the SCO2 property parameters across the centrifugal compressor flow passages. The aerodynamic performance of the 150 kW SCO2 centrifugal compressor without and with the hub cavity and the labyrinth seal at different mass flow coefficients was compared. The equivalent (von-Mises) stress and the deformation on the SCO2 centrifugal impeller were obtained by the combination of the aerodynamic pressure and centrifugal force calculation. The results show that the isentropic efficiency of the SCO2 centrifugal compressor without and with the hub cavity and the labyrinth seal at the designed flow coefficient equal 73.2% and 72.1% respectively. The effects of the hub cavity leakage on the pressure ratio of the SCO2 centrifugal compressor are limited. The hub cavity leakage decreases with the flow coefficient increasing. The similar isentropic efficiency of the SCO2 centrifugal compressor without and with the hub cavity and the labyrinth seal at the largest flow coefficient is obtained. The axial thrust of the SCO2 centrifugal compressor with the hub cavity and the labyrinth seal ranges from 1000N to 2000N at different flow coefficients, as well as keeps the same direction. The maximum equivalent (von-Mises) stress of the impeller is 109.95 MPa and less than the allowable stress 137 MPa (using 304 steel as the impeller material). The maximum deformation of the seal teeth is less than 0.003 mm. This work provides the reference of the compressor design and safety operation for the SCO2 centrifugal compressor.

Details of Shrouded Stator Hub Cavity Flow in a Multistage Axial Compressor Part 2: Leakage Flow Characteristics in Stator Wells

Abstract The flow in shrouded stator cavities can be quite complex with axial, radial, and circumferential variations. As the leakage flow recirculates and is re-injected into the main flow path upstream of the stator, it deteriorates the near-hub flow field and, thus, degrades the overall aerodynamic performance of the compressor. In addition, the windage heating in the cavity can raise thermal-mechanical concerns. Fully understanding the details of the shrouded-hub cavity flow in a multistage environment can enable better hub cavity designs. In the first part of the paper, the influence of the hub leakage flow on compressor performance and its interactions with the primary flow were investigated. While the impact of hub leakage flow on the primary passage is readily available in the open literature, details inside the cavity geometry are scarce due to the difficulties in instrumenting that region for an experiment or modeling the full cavity geometry. To shed light on this topic, the flow physics in the stator cavity inlet and outlet wells are investigated in this paper using a coupled computational fluid dynamics model with the inclusion of the stator cavity wells for the Purdue 3-stage (P3S) axial compressor, which is representative of the rear stages of a high-pressure-compressor in core engines. At the inlet cavity, the presence of at least one pair of vortices influences the trajectory of the cavity leakage flow. The amount of leakage flow also determines the size of the vortical structures, with larger clearances creating a smaller vortex and vice versa. After passing through the labyrinth seals, the leakage flow travels along the stator landing first and then transitions to the rotor drum. In general, a flow path closer to the rotor drum achieves higher circumferential velocity but also exhibits significant temperature rise. A rise in circumferential velocity directly corresponds to a rise in temperature. In addition, the windage heating increases with increasing seal clearance. Furthermore, the inlet well contributes the most to overall windage, nearly 50% of the total windage heating, while the labyrinth seals and outlet well account for very little.

Effect of an Axially Tilted Variable Stator Vane Platform on Penny Cavity and Main Flow

Abstract This paper presents the impact of an axially tilted variable stator vane (VSV) platform on penny cavity flow and passage flow, with the aid of both optical and pneumatic measurements in an annular cascade wind tunnel as well as steady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. Variable stator vanes in axial compressors require a clearance from the endwalls. This means that penny cavities around the vane platform are inevitable. Production and assembly deviations can result in a vane platform which is tilted about the circumferential axis. Penny cavity and main flow in geometries with and without platform tilting were compared in an annular cascade wind tunnel. Detailed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were conducted inside the penny cavity and in the vane passage. Steady pressure and velocity data was obtained by two-dimensional multi-hole pressure probe traverses in the inflow and the outflow. Furthermore, pneumatic measurements were carried out using pressure taps inside the penny cavity. Additionally, oil flow visualization was conducted on the airfoil, hub, and penny cavity surfaces. Steady CFD simulations have been benchmarked against experimental data. The results show that tilting the vane platform reduces the penny cavity leakage mass flow. By decreasing penny cavity leakage, platform tilting also affects the passage flow where it leads to a reduced turbulence level and total pressure loss in the leakage flow region. In summary, the paper demonstrates the influence of penny platform tilting on cavity flow and passage flow and provides new insights into the mechanisms of penny cavity-associated losses.

Unsteady Steam Turbine Optimization Using High-Fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract This paper presents the computational methodology and experimental investigations accomplished to enhance the efficiency of a turbine stage by applying non-axisymmetric profiling on the rotor hub wall. The experimental setup was a two-stage axial turbine, which was tested at “LISA” test facility at ETH Zurich. The first stage was considered to create the flow history for the second stage, which was the target of the optimization. The hub cavity of the second stage was designed with large dimensions as a requirement of a steam turbine. The goal was to optimize the interaction of the cavity leakage flow with the rotor passage flow to reduce the losses and increase efficiency. The computational optimization was completed using a genetic algorithm coupled with an artificial neural network on the second stage of the test turbine. Unsteady time-accurate simulations were performed using in-house developed “MULTI3” solver. Besides implementing all geometrical details (such as hub and tip cavities and fully 3D blade geometries) from the experimental setup into the computational model, it was learned that the unsteady upstream effect could not be neglected. A novel approach was introduced using unsteady inlet boundary conditions to consider the multistage effect while reducing the computational cost to half. The importance of this implementation was tested by performing a steady simulation on the optimized geometry. The predicted efficiency gain from steady simulations was 4.5 times smaller (and negligible) compared to the unsteady approach. Excluding the cavity geometry was also assessed in a different simulation setup showing 3.9% over-prediction in the absolute efficiency value. Comprehensive steady and unsteady measurements were performed utilizing pneumatic, fast response aerodynamic probe (FRAP), and fast response entropy probe (FENT) on the baseline and profiled test cases. The end wall profiling was found to be successful in weakening the strength of the hub passage vortex by a 19% reduction in the under-over turning. As a result, the blockage was reduced near the hub region leading to more uniform mass flow distribution along the span. The flow angle deviations at the higher span position were also corrected due to better control of the flow angles. Furthermore, the improvements were confirmed by reductions in entropy, secondary kinetic energy, and pressure unsteadiness. The accurate computational implementations led to an excellent agreement between the predicted and measured efficiency gain.

Sensitivity analysis on the impact of geometrical and operational variations on turbine hub cavity modes and practical methods to control them

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the impact of different design and operational variations on the instabilities induced at the hub cavity outlet of a turbine. The experiments were conducted at the “LISA” test facility at ETH Zurich. The axial gap at the 2nd stage hub cavity exit was varied, and also three different flow deflectors were implemented at the cavity exit to control the cavity modes (CMs). Furthermore, the turbine pressure ratio was altered to mimic the off-design condition and study the sensitivity of the CMs to this parameter. Measurements were performed using pneumatic, and Fast Response Aerodynamic Probes (FRAP) at stator and rotor exit. In addition, unsteady pressure transducers were installed at the cavity exit wall to measure the characteristic parameters of the CMs. For the small axial gap, distinct and strong CMs were generated, which actively interacted with stator and rotor hub flow structures. Increasing the gap damped the fluctuations; however, a broader range of frequencies was amplified. The flow deflectors successfully suppressed the CMs by manipulating the shear layer velocity profile and blocking the growing instabilities. Eventually, the increase in the turbine pressure ratio strengthened the CMs and vice versa.

Turbine Hub Cavity Modes and Their Impact on Efficiency

Abstract Non-synchronous pressure and temperature fluctuations at the hub cavity of a turbine stage are the main focus of this study. Cavity modes are unsteady fluctuations generated at the cavity exit due to instabilities in this region. The cavity modes carried into the main flow impose an unsteady flow field in the rotor passages, which varies the passage-wise flow parameters considerably. A two-stage axial turbine was designed and tested in the “LISA” test facility at ETH Zurich. A reference case with baseline geometry and a modified case with an axial deflector at the hub cavity exit were tested. Comprehensive unsteady pressure and temperature measurements were performed using fast response aerodynamic (FRAP) and entropy probes (FENT), respectively. In addition, 12 fast response unsteady pressure transducers were mounted on the stationary wall of the cavity exit to measure the main characteristic parameters of the cavity modes. Full annular unsteady simulations were also carried out for both cases to support the experiments. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) successfully predicted the effect of cavity modes on both frequency and amplitude of the fluctuations. The cavity modes indicated fluctuation amplitudes up to eight times of the blade passing fluctuations at the cavity exit. The analysis shows that the convected cavity modes alter the efficiency of different rotor passages by redistributing the mass flow and the losses resulting in a drop in overall efficiency. This work suggests that implementing a small axial deflector at the hub cavity exit would completely eliminate the cavity modes leading to a reduced pressure unsteadiness and enhanced efficiency.

Numerical Characterisation of a HP Compressor Stage Equipped with a Closed Shrouded Stator Cavity

Abstract In axial compressors, shrouded stator cavity flows are responsible for performance degradation due to their interaction with the power stream. The present paper aims at exploring the possibility of employing a single stage high pressure axial compressor as a test vehicle for cavity flows investigations. In a first step, the robustness of the adopted RANS approach is tested against experimental data on the closed-cavity baseline configuration (i.e. no downstream-to-upstream recirculation). In a second phase, the effect of different hub cavities layouts of different levels of realism is numerically investigated. The focus is set on the representativeness of a closed cavity configuration with injection. The cavity flow topology and impact on the overall performance are considered in the analysis. At its final extent, this paper provides numerical and experimental guidelines for the robust assessment of cavity flows topology and performance effects.

Description of the Flow in a Two-Stage Low-Pressure Turbine With Hub Cavities

Abstract In gas turbine, multi-stage row blading and technological effects can exhibit significant differences for the flow compared with isolated smooth blade rows. Upstream stages promote a non-uniform flow field at the inlet of the downstream rows that may have large effects on mixing or boundary layer transition processes. The rows of current turbines (and compressors) are already very closely spaced. Axial gaps between adjacent rows of approximately 1/4 to 1/2 of the axial blade chord are common practice. Future designs with higher loading and lower aspect ratios, i.e., fewer and bigger blades, and the ever present aim at minimizing engine length or compactness, will aggravate this condition even further. Interaction between cascade rows will therefore keep increasing and need to be taken into account in loss generation estimation. Also the cavities at hub platform induce purge flow blowing into main annulus and additional losses for the turbine. A robust method to account for the loss generated due to these different phenomena needs to be used. The notion of exergy (energy in the purpose to generate work) provides a general framework to deal with the different transfers of energy between the flow and the gas turbine. This study investigates the flow in a two-stage configuration representative of a low-pressure turbine including hub cavities based on large eddy simulation (LES). A description of the flow in the cavities, the main annulus, and at rim seal interface is proposed. The assessment of loss generated in the configuration is proposed based on an exergy analysis. The study of losses restricted to boundary layer contributions and secondary flows show the interaction processes of secondary vortices and wake generated in upstream rows on the flow in downstream rows.

Description of the flow in a linear cascade with an upstream cavity Part 1: Influence of turbulence (draft)

In gas turbines, transitional flows are likely to occur over many components depending on the geometrical arrangement, inlet turbulence and Reynolds number. In the case of a low-pressure turbine, the transition from a laminar to a turbulent boundary layer is generally either a bypass process due to free stream turbulence or a separation-induced transition due to the adverse pressure gradient on the blade. The overall blade losses and the operating point are strongly dependent on the ability to predict this boundary layer state, the size and length of the separation bubble. Therefore, turbomachinery designers require tools which accurately predict the laminar-turbulent transition. The Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) formalism is currently commonly used due a to relatively low computational cost. Except particular developments, this approach is not suited to predict transition processes. The Large Eddy-Simulation (LES) approach is able to predict transition processes at a higher computational cost making it suitable for low-pressure turbine applications in conjunction with inlet turbulence injection since the free-stream turbulence is generally non-negligible and affect near-wall flow behavior. The present study introduces a description of the flow in a linear cascade with an upstream hub cavity at a Reynolds number representative of low-pressure turbines by three different approaches (RANS, LES and LES with inlet turbulence injection). This study shows the influence of turbulence modelling and turbulence injection at the inlet of the domain on the boundary layer state at hub and shroud modifying the secondary vortices radial migration in the blade passage and the cancelling of suction side separation bubble at high free-stream turbulence. The Kevin–Helmholtz instability at the rim seal interface is also cancelled at high free-stream turbulence.

Numerical analysis of hub cavity leakage

Purpose This paper aims to predict the effect of the hub cavity leakage on the overall performance with numerical simulations in the fan/booster of a high bypass ratio turbofan engine. Design/methodology/approach Simulations are conducted for leakage at the fan, the outlet of guide vane and the three-stage booster, as well as hub leakage (contain cavities and sealing). The results obtained are compared to the corresponding simulations without hub leakage. Findings The rotor/stator interaction locations are evaluated to discover a better location. The results show that the seal tooth structure produces secondary flow and turbulence in the root of blade suction surface, which increases the aerodynamic loss. The sealing clearance should be controlled to shrink the turbulent region and decrease the leakage. Practical implications This work can provide a theoretical guidance and technical support for the compressor design, which avoid many repeated manufactures and reduce waste of resources. Originality/value This work improves the understanding of the impact mechanism of hub cavity leakage on the performance when the clearance size of seal is variable.

Delineating Loss Sources Within a Linear Cascade With Upstream Cavity and Purge Flow

Purge air is injected in cavities at the hub of axial turbines to prevent hot mainstream gas ingestion into interstage gaps. This process induces additional losses for the turbine due to an interaction between the purge and mainstream flow. This paper investigates the flow in a low-speed linear cascade rig with upstream hub cavity at a Reynolds number commonly observed in modern low-pressure turbine stages by the use of numerical simulation. Numerical predictions are validated by comparing against experimental data available. Three different purge mass flow rates are tested using three different rim seal geometries. Numerical simulations are performed using a large-eddy simulation (LES) solver on structured grids. An investigation of the different mechanisms associated with the turbine flow including cavity and purge air is intended through this simplified configuration. The underlying mechanisms of loss are tracked using an entropy formulation. Once described for a baseline case, the influence of purge flow and rim seal geometry on flow mechanisms and loss generation is described with the emphasis to obtain design parameters for losses reduction. The study quantifies loss generation due to the boundary layer on wetted surfaces and secondary vortices developing in the passage. The analysis shows different paths by which the purge flow and rim seal geometry can change loss generation including a modification of the shear layer between purge and mainstream, interaction with secondary vortices, and a modification of the flow behavior close to hub compared with a smooth configuration. The study shows the influence of purge flow rate and swirl on the strengthening of secondary vortices in the passage and the ability of axial overlapping rim seal to delay the development of secondary vortices compared with simple axial gaps.

Influences of the diameter of the balance hole on the flow characteristics in the hub cavity of the centrifugal pump

The diameter of the impeller balance hole in a centrifugal pump is closely related to axial force. Thus, to select the appropriate diameter of a balance hole is crucial for balancing the axial force of the centrifugal pump. After the validation of the CFD method and the grids independence study, the characteristics of flow in the hub cavity have been analyzed in 4 cases with different diameters of balance holes. The leakage rate of the liquid in the hub cavity of the centrifugal pump is calculated and compared with the test result. According to the research, when no balance hole exists, the distribution of liquid velocity in the core area of the hub cavity exhibits axial symmetry, and the circumferential velocity component is approximately 0.4 times of the impeller’s rotational speed. When the balance hole exists, the distribution of liquid velocity in the hub cavity does not exhibit axial symmetry, and the circumferential velocity component is larger than 0.4 times of the impeller’s rotational speed. The radial leakage velocity on the turbulent boundary layer of the pump cover will increase with the increasing diameter of the balance hole.

Numerical Investigation on Labyrinth Seal Leakage Flow and Its Effects on Aerodynamic Performance for a Multistage Centrifugal Compressor

Labyrinth seals are widely used in industrial centrifugal compressors to reduce leakage. However, no work has been conducted to numerically investigate the detailed seal leakage flow and its effects in an environment of multistage centrifugal compressor. To clarify the flow mechanism of leakage flow and the interaction mechanism between leakage and mainstream flow in multistage centrifugal compressors, the flow of the last two stages from a four-stage centrifugal compressor is studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model with and without considerations of labyrinth seal leakage paths, i.e., two shroud seals, one interstage seal, and one balance piston seal. The results show that the leakage flow in shroud and hub cavities can be described as a Batchelor-type flow. The Ekman number of the cavity Batchelor flow is small and corresponds to thin boundary layers while the Rossby number is at unity order implying the importance of rotating effects. The leakage flow through the shroud, interstage, and balance piston labyrinth seals is decreased by the combined effects of throttling and diffusion flow, and has distinctive flow structures associated with the type of labyrinth seal. The influence of leakage flow on the mainstream flow can be described by suction or injection mode. The suction mode is beneficial to the improvement of mainstream flow quality while the injection mode is harmful. This work is of scientific significance to enrich the knowledge of internal fluid mechanics and of potential application value to control and design the leakage flow in real configurations of multistage centrifugal compressors.