级环境下叶片扩压器流场的实验与数值研究

为了研究离心压缩机级环境下的非定常干扰的基本流动现象,并验证多级叶轮机械的CFD软件的分析能力, 对一大尺度离心压缩机的叶片扩压器流场进行了实验测量和数值计算. 实验采用了固定热线、相位锁定------系综平均技术,用常温热线风速仪对叶轮后的叶片扩压器通道内不同周向、径向和轴向位置处的非定常速度进行了测量,同时提出了非定常强度的概念,以定量考核非定常的影响.实验结果表明, 叶片扩压器内的非定常流动非常复杂,其时间周期并非叶轮叶片通过时间,随着与离心叶轮之间的距离增大,非定常扰动逐渐减弱,但一直延续到叶片扩压器的出口.另外,对该实验压缩机级开展了两个不同的数值计算,并与实验数据进行了比较：定常数值计算软件采用了作者发展的确定应力模型,非定常数值计算是用商业软件NUMECA实现的,计算采用了滑移界面技术. 两个计算结果与实验在扩压器的进口截面处吻合得很好.     

Flow and performance characteristics of an Allison 250 gas turbine S-shaped diffuser: Effects of geometry variations

The S-shaped diffuser which connects the exit of the compressor to the inlet of the combustion chamber of the Allison 250 gas turbine has been investigated using the Shear-Stress Transport turbulence model (SST) and the commercial code ANSYS-CFX. The diffuser geometry includes an initial conical diffuser which smoothly transitions into a constant cross-section S-duct. The numerical model and setup were validated using both in-house processed experimental data and experimental data from the literature on a similar geometry. The stream-wise velocity profile was observed to flatten in the initial divergent section, and then the region of the flow with the highest velocity is pushed toward the outer surface of the first bend, with a secondary-flow in the plane of the cross-section. This distortion of the stream-wise velocity intensified when the inlet turbulence intensity was decreased or when the Reynolds number was increased. An increase of the Reynolds number also translated into higher static pressure recovery potential and lower wall friction coefficients. Six variations of the diffuser geometry were considered, all having the same total cross-sectional area ratio and centreline offset. The qualitative results were the same as those of the Allison 250 diffuser, but unlike the base geometry, all the considered variants showed separated-flow regions (and reversed-flow regions in some cases) of different sizes and at different locations. The performance indicators for the Allison 250 S-shaped diffuser were the highest overall. Most interestingly, the current duct geometry outperformed its variant with a cross-sectional area expansion extending over its entire length, which is the most common inlet duct configuration.     

Short round diffuser with a high area ratio and a permeable partition

The parameters of a short round diffuser whose channel diameter increases threefold along a length equal to about half the inlet diameter, are experimentally investigated. The absence of flow separation in this diffuser is ensured by specially selecting the channel profile and mounting a hydraulic resistance in the form of a permeable partition at the diffuser outlet. The experiments were carried out at the inlet flow Mach numbers up to 0.2. When the flow at the diffuser entry is steady, an axisymmetric flow is formed immediately downstream of the entry. The static pressure in the flow that has passed through the diffuser increases by 20% of the ram pressure at the entry. There is a possibility of optimizing the diffuser parameters.     

Application of particle image velocimetry to a transonic centrifugal compressor

As part of an ongoing research project the performance and internal flow field of a high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressor is being investigated. Based on previous, primarily, point-wise laser-optical measurements the compressor was redesigned and resulted in an improved impeller and diffuser with a single-stage pressure ratio of 6:1 at 50,000 rpm. Current research activities involve the use of particle image velocimetry (PIV) to analyze and further improve the understanding of the complex flow phenomena inside the vaned diffuser given the capability of PIV of capturing spatial structures. The study includes phase-resolved measurements of the flow inside a diffuser vane passage with respect to the impeller blade position. Both, instantaneous and phase-averaged velocity fields are presented. The flow field results obtained by PIV are to be used for future validation of the related CFD calculations, which in turn are expected to lead to further improvements in compressor performance. In addition, the potential of stereo PIV for this type of turbomachinery application could be successfully demonstrated.     

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of diffuser performance in gas-powered jet pumps

Jet pump diffuser performance is analyzed, both in terms of past experimental work dealing with the high inlet flow distortions involved and in the sense that this problem is amenable to predictive investigation by computational fluid dynamics techniques. In these highly nonuniform flow conditions, diffusers are seen to justify their inclusion in a jet pump design, for regaining static pressure downstream of the vacuum chamber, even though their performance in effectiveness terms is lowered by about two thirds at high inlet glow distortion levels. A satisfactory correlation has been found between outlet and inlet conditions and diffuser area ratio, extending well beyond past experimental published results for diffuser geometry and distorted inlet flows.     

小型高速离心压气机级内部的三维流场分析

利用三维数值模拟技术对微型燃气轮机中的离心压气机部分进行了数值分析,得到了离心压气机设计转速下的级特性曲线和各通流部件中的流动情况。数值分析表明:设计转速下压气机的级特性非常陡峭;整个特性线范围内离心叶轮基本在亚音速情况下工作,而径向扩压器是在跨音速条件下工作,离心压气机整机的最大流量是由径向扩压器的喉部面积决定的;离心压气机级内部各通流部件之间流动的相互干扰是引起流动分离的重要原因,各通流部件之间流动的相互匹配和协调将决定了离心压气机整机的性能和稳定性。     

LES study on the influence of the diffuser inlet angle of a centrifugal pump on pressure fluctuations

Large-Eddy Simulations are conducted on a centrifugal pump at design and reduced flow-rates for three diffuser geometries, to investigate the effect of changing the diffuser inlet angle on the overall performance and the pressure fields. In particular, pressure fluctuations are investigated, which affect the unsteady loads acting on the pump, as well as vibrations, noise and cavitation phenomena. The considered modification of the diffuser geometry is targeted at decreasing the incidence angle at the off-design flow-rate by rotating the stationary blades of the pump around their leading edge. Results are compared against those of an earlier study, where the same modification of the diffuser inlet angle was achieved by increasing also the radial gap between impeller and diffuser, whose blades were rotated relative to their mid camber location. The comparisons across cases demonstrate that the radial gap between the trailing edge of the impeller blades and the leading edge of the diffuser blades has a more profound influence on pressure fluctuations, compared to the angle of incidence on the diffuser blades of the flow coming from the impeller.     

A Thickened-Hole Model for Large Eddy Simulations over Multiperforated Liners

Flow instabilities such as Rotating Stall and Surge limit the operating range of centrifugal compressors at low mass-flow rates. Employing compressible Large Eddy Simulations (LES), their generation mechanisms are exposed. Toward low mass-flow rate operating conditions, flow reversal over the blade tips (generated by the back pressure) causes an inflection point of the inlet flow profile. There, a shear-layer induces vortical structures circulating at the compressor inlet. Traces of these flow structures are observed until far downstream in the radial diffuser. The tip leakage flow exhibits angular momentum imparted by the impeller, which deteriorates the incidence angles at the blade tips through an over imposed swirling component to the incoming flow. We show that the impeller is incapable to maintain constant efficiency at surge operating conditions due to the extreme alteration of the incidence angle. This induces unsteady flow momentum transfer downstream, which is reflected as compression wave at the compressor outlet traveling toward the impeller. There, the pressure oscillations govern the tip leakage flow and hence, the incidence angles at the impeller. When these individual self-exited processes occurs in-phase, a surge limit-cycle establishes.     

Experimental performance analysis of an annular diffuser with and without struts

In this paper, the performance analysis of an annular diffuser is presented. In a typical industrial gas turbine diffuser, a certain number of structural members, called struts, serve both as load bearings support and as passages for cooling air and lubricant oil.

Measurements were made in a 35% scaled down model of a PGT10 gas turbine exhaust diffuser with and without struts in order to determine the total and static pressure development and the effect of struts on both the local phenomena and the overall performance. More realistic flow conditions are made available by a ring of 24 axial guide vanes at inlet, which represent the last turbine rotor. The model has been tested on a wind tunnel facility developed at the University of Perugia with inlet speed around 80 m/s, allowing satisfactory accuracy for flow measurements and similarity with the PGT10 diffuser in terms of Reynolds number. Static pressure taps located at various streamwise positions on the hub and the casing allowed the estimation of pressure recovery development. A Pitot tube and a hot split-film anemometer were used to determine static and total pressure inside the diffuser at different axial positions. The comparison between the two cases, with and without the struts, was made also by the use of global parameters, which correlate static and total pressure.

In a previous paper, a detailed three-dimensional analysis of the flow path inside the diffuser was presented and the detrimental effect of the struts, in terms of flow separation and unsteadiness, was discussed. The stationary flow measurements and the investigation of the diffuser without the struts are presented in this paper. The whole research project represent a complete diffuser investigation available to develop an optimal design and to advance the computational and design tools for gas turbine exhaust diffusers.     

Turbulent flow in a conical diffuser: A review

This is a review of experimental studies of turbulent flow in a conical diffuser by eight Ph.D. students, eleven M.Sc. students, one M.Eng. student, and myself in the past 29 years. During this time, two conical diffusers were constructed: the first was of cast aluminum construction, and the second was of plastic fabrication. These two diffusers were basically the same in geometry except that the pipe section was constructed as an integral part of the plastic diffuser to avoid the lip at the junction of the inlet pipe and the diffuser. The conical diffuser had a total divergence angle of 8°, an area ratio of 4:1, and an inlet diameter of 0.1016 m (4 in.).

The flow at the inlet of the diffuser was usually fully developed pipe flow, but sometimes it was boundary layer grown on the pipe wall. Hot-wire and pulse-wire anemometry together with computer facilities were used to obtain the results of complex flow present in the conical diffuser. Mean velocity profiles were obtained throughout the diffuser, which in turn were used to obtain strain rates and their principal direction. Turbulence moments up to fourth order were measured. The results were used to assess momentum, turbulent kinetic energy, and shear stress equations. Other features such as instantaneous flow reversals in the wall region, relative strength of large eddies, extra strain rate, and the production of kinetic energy also were investigated to find the dynamical picture in the diffuser flow.     

Sensitivity of an asymmetric 3D diffuser to vortex-generator induced inlet condition perturbations

Modifications of the turbulent separated flow in an asymmetric three-dimensional diffuser due to inlet condition perturbations were investigated using conventional static pressure measurements and velocity data acquired using magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV). Previous experiments and simulations revealed a strong sensitivity of the diffuser performance to weak secondary flows in the inlet. The present, more detailed experiments were conducted to obtain a better understanding of this sensitivity. Pressure data were acquired in an airflow apparatus at an inlet Reynolds number of 10,000. The diffuser pressure recovery was strongly affected by a pair of longitudinal vortices injected along one wall of the inlet channel using either dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators or conventional half-delta wing vortex generators. MRV measurements were obtained in a water flow apparatus at matched Reynolds number for two different cases with passive vortex generators. The first case had a pair of counter-rotating longitudinal vortices embedded in the boundary layer near the center of the expanding wall of the diffuser such that the flow on the outsides of the vortices was directed toward the wall. The MRV data showed that the three-dimensional separation bubble initially grew much slower causing a rapid early reduction in the core flow velocity and a consequent reduction of total pressure losses due to turbulent mixing. This produced a 13% increase in the overall pressure recovery. For the second case, the vortices rotated in the opposite sense, and the image vortices pushed them into the corners. This led to a very rapid initial growth of the separation bubble and formation of strong swirl at the diffuser exit. These changes resulted in a 17% reduction in the overall pressure recovery for this case. The results emphasize the extreme sensitivity of 3D separated flows to weak perturbations.     

Sensitivity of an asymmetric 3D diffuser to plasma-actuator induced inlet condition perturbations

Experiments were conducted for the flow in a straight-walled 3D diffuser fed by a fully developed turbulent duct flow. Previous work found that this diffuser has a stable 3D separation bubble whose configuration is affected by the secondary flows in the upstream duct. Dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators were used to produce low-momentum wall jets to determine if the separation behavior could be modified by weak forcing. Actuators producing a streamwise force along the wall where separation occurred in the baseline flow had a relatively small effect. However, spanwise acting plasma actuators that produced a pair of streamwise vortices in the inlet section of the diffuser had a strong effect on the diffuser pressure recovery. The diffuser performance could be either improved or degraded depending on the actuation parameters, including the actuator modulation frequency, duty cycle, and drive voltage. Velocity profile measurements in the diffuser inlet showed that the streamwise vortices affect the uniformity of the streamwise mean velocity accounting for some of the performance changes. However, phase-locked hotwire measurements at the diffuser exit indicate that the periodic nature of the forcing also plays an important role for cases with enhanced pressure recovery.     

Effects of swirl on flow separation and performance of wide angle diffusers

Experimental investigations have been carried out to determine whether the introduction of a circumferential velocity component can produce worthwhile improvements in the performance of, and eliminate flow separation in, wide angle conical diffusers. The swirl generator is a 24 flat-bladed, radial intake type. Systematic experimentation has been carried out for one diffuser configuration fitted with a tailpipe (16.5° and 4.4 area ratio) using varying strengths of inlet swirl and introducing the dissipated mechanical energy as the main criterion of diffuser performance. The best inlet swirl strength produced about 60% reduction of the total diffuser losses in swirl-free flow. The analysis of these results, together with information obtained from flow visualisation experiments, suggests that increasing the swirl beyond an observed threshold completely eliminated flow separation, but it also gave rise to a central zone of recirculating flow and hence additional dissipative losses. We conclude that the optimum improvement achievable in wide angle diffuser performance using swirl does not require the addition of more energy than it saves     

Flow characteristics in the downstream region of a conical diffuser

Using the Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with the k-? model of turbulence, the characteristics of flow in the region downstream of a conical diffuser with 5° angle of inclination are calculated. Two representative stations 1D₂ and 10D₂ after the diffuser exit are selected for comparison against experimental results. The calculations indicate an underestimation of mean velocity and turbulence kinetic energy at the first station, while satisfactory agreement is obtained for the mean velocity at the second station. The use of a modified k-? model sensitive to adverse pressure conditions improves the predictions considerably. The effect of inlet properties and Reynolds number on the flow characteristics at the above stations is studied using various inlet profiles and a range of Reynolds numbers based on the inlet diameter from 50 000 to 280 000.     

采用不同黏性处理方法的宽无叶扩压器不稳定流动研究

径向无叶扩压器的全局稳定性可能受到核心主流失稳,出口回流与壁面边界层分离等因素影响,对于宽无叶扩压器,无黏核心主流与壁面边界层流动对不稳定扰动诱发的作用机理是当前研究的重点.本文首先通过数值计算获得了大宽度比孤立无叶扩压器平均流动,然后基于小扰动理论和周向均质假设,分别对欧拉方程与 Navier-Stokes 方程进行线性化,建立了基于无黏核心流动的稳定性分析方法,以及基于涡黏性与分子黏性的混合稳定性分析方法;通过与实验结果的对比,验证了混合稳定性分析方法预测所得流动失稳频率和全局直接模态的准确性;最后基于伴随方法获得了特征值的结构敏感性,揭示了不同黏性处理条件下宽无叶扩压器内全局不失稳扰动的源发区域.在只考虑核心主流的无黏条件下,宽无叶扩压器内流动不稳定扰动来源于流场中部,为二维的离心失稳;在同时考虑核心主流与边界层的作用时,宽无叶扩压器不稳定扰动不仅来源于扩压器流场中部的核心主流,壁面回流对于不稳定扰动的产生了重要影响.      

Turbulence measurements in the inlet plane of a centrifugal compressor vaneless diffuser

Detailed flow measurements at the inlet of a centrifugal compressor vaneless diffuser are presented. The mean 3-d velocities and six Reynolds stress components tensor are used to determine the turbulence production terms which lead to total pressure loss. High levels of turbulence kinetic energy were observed in both the blade and passage wakes, but these were only associated with high Reynolds stresses in the blade wakes. For this reason the blade wakes mixed out rapidly, whereas the passage wake maintained its size, but was redistributed across the full length of the shroud wall. Peak levels of Reynolds stress occurred in regions of high velocity shear and streamline curvature which would tend to destabilize the shear gradient. Four regions in the flow are identified as potential sources of loss - the blade wake, the shear layers between passage wake and jet, the thickened hub boundary layer and the interaction region between the secondary flow within the blade wake and the passage vortex. The blade wakes generate most turbulence, with smaller contributions from the hub boundary layer and secondary flows, but no significant contribution is apparent from the passage wake shear layers.     

离心风机子午通道内湍流场数值模拟

由进风口－叶轮－无叶扩压器－蜗壳等部件组成的离心风机通道内流分析是非常复杂的，目前还只能是分别计算各部件内的流场，但必须考虑部件间的相互影响。本文采用轴对称Ｎ－Ｓ方程，根据三维叶轮通道计算给出的叶片力分布，求解了考虑叶片力的进风口－叶轮－无叶扩压器组成的子午通道问题，所得结果可用来给出三维叶轮通道计算的进口条件，并可用于优化设计进风口及叶轮前、后盘形状。该方法已得到实践检验。     

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以某跨声速轴流压气机单转子为研究对象,应用数值模拟技术,采用全通道 计算方案,利用Jameson有限体积中心差分格式并结合Spalart-Allmaras 湍流模型获得进口畸变条件下该轴流压气机转子性能和内部流动细节,详细分析了进气周向 总压畸变对压气机转子内流场流动结构的影响. 并将计算结果与实验结果进行了比较, 结果表明,数值模拟的结果与实验结果符合较好,计算方案切实可行.     

Pulsating flow in a planar diffuser upstream of automotive catalyst monoliths

The flow distribution across automotive exhaust catalysts has a significant effect on their conversion efficiency. The exhaust gas is pulsating and flow distribution is a function of engine operating condition, namely speed (frequency) and load (flow rate). This study reports on flow measurements made across catalyst monoliths placed downstream of a wide-angled planar diffuser presented with pulsating flow. Cycle-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were made in the diffuser and hot wire anemometry (HWA) downstream of the monoliths. The ratio of pulse period to residence time within the diffuser (defined as the J factor) characterises the flow distribution. During acceleration the flow remained attached to the diffuser walls for some distance before separating near the diffuser inlet later in the cycle. Two cases with J ∼ 3.5 resulted in very similar flow fields with the flow able to reattach downstream of the separation bubbles. With J = 6.8 separation occurred earlier with the flow field resembling, at the time of deceleration, the steady flow field. Increasing J from 3.5 to 6.8 resulted in greater flow maldistribution within the monoliths; steady flow producing the highest maldistribution in all cases for the same Re.     

Flow friction on co-rotating parallel-disk assemblies with forced through-flow

The power requirement for a rotating parallel-disk assembly with through-flow is experimentally studied. The flow velocity at the test core exit is measured using a traverse hot-wire probe, from which the exit kinetic energy is determined. A traverse pitot tube is utilized to monitor the velocity distribution in the inlet duct from which the flow rate is evaluated. The total pressure characteristics, fluid power transmission, rotor efficiency and moment coefficient (i.e. power number) are determined from the measurements of static pressures, rotational speed and torque. It is disclosed that the onset of stall propagation, a unique characteristics of shear pump, can be detected from a total pressure plot.