• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.157-160
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• 2008

Tip clearance is a critical point in turbine to reduce friction between blade and casing. To estimate the direct effectiveness of the tip clearance, numerically analyzed are flow passing through rotors with and without tip clearance. The Results by CFX tells that rotors with tip clearance have vortex structure which makes larger loss in turbine, and shows lower total-to-total efficiency than that without tip clearance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.357-363
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• 2016

In this study, we perform a series of aero-thermo-mechanical analyses to predict the running-tip clearance and the effects of impeller deformation on the performance using a centrifugal compressor. During operation, the impeller deformation due to a combination of the centrifugal force, aerodynamic pressure and the thermal load results in a non-uniform tip clearance profile. For the prediction, we employ the one-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method using CFX 14.5 and ANSYS. The predicted running tip clearance shows a non-uniform profile over the entire flow passage. In particular, a significant reduction of the tip clearance height occurred at the leading and trailing edges of the impeller. Because of the reduction of the tip clearance, the tip leakage flow decreased by 19.4%. In addition, the polytrophic efficiency under operating conditions increased by 0.72%. These findings confirm that the prediction of the running tip clearance and its impact on compressor performance is an important area that requires further investigation.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.7 no.6 s.27
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• pp.38-44
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• 2004

In this study, the overall performance and the effect of the tip leakage flow of the centrifugal compressor with a refrigerant HFC-l34a were numerically studied using CFX-TASCflow. To study the effect of the tip leakage flow, the numerical study of the overall performance of HFC-l34a centrifugal compressor with a cascade diffuser was preceded and compared with the experimental result. Six different tip clearances were used to consider the influence of the tip clearance on the performance. The tip leakage flow was illustrated for qualitative discussion. The results obtained in this study can be applied to the determination of the cold clearance.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.451-456
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• 2003

In this study, the overall performance and the effect of the tip leakage flow of the centrifugal compressor with the refrigerant HFC-l34a were numerically studied using CFX-TASCflow. To study the effect of a tip leakage flow, the numerical study of the overall performance of HFC-l34a centrifugal compressor with a cascade diffuser was preceded and compared with experimental result. Six different tip clearances were used to consider the influence of a tip clearance on performance. The tip leakage flow was illustrated for qualitative discussion. The results obtained in this study can be applied to the determination of the cold clearance.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.46-53
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• 2008

Flow structures in an axial compressor with a non-uniform tip clearance were predicted by solving a simple prediction method. For more reliable prediction at the off-design condition, off-design flow characteristics such as loss and flow blockage were incorporated in the model. The predicted results showed that flow field near the design condition is largely dependent on the local tip clearance effect. However overall flow field characteristics are totally reversed at off-design condition, especially at the high flow coefficient. The tip clearance effect decreases, while the local loss and flow blockage make a complicated effect on the compressor flow field. The resultant fluid induced Alford's force has a negative value near the design condition and it reverses its sign as the flow coefficient increases and shows a very steep increase as the flow coefficient increases.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.8 no.1 s.28
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• pp.7-15
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• 2005

Tip clearance of centrifugal compressor affects the performance. Larger tip clearance results in lower efficiency. What really affects the performance is the running tip clearance, not the cold tip clearance. When the compressor is operating, blade strain and the pressure difference between impeller backplate and hub affects the running tip clearance. This paper describes measured running tip clearance and its effects on the performance of centrifugal compressor. Cold tip clearance before operation was 0.4 mm and running tip clearance varied from 0.86 mm to 0.25 mm with impeller exit pressure. As the pressure at impeller exit increases, the running tip clearance tends to decreases. The target running tip clearance for Compressor at $100\%$ speed was 0.3 mm, and it turned out to be exactly 0.30 mm from experiment.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.41-45
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• 2012

The effects of inducer tip clearance on the suction performance of a pump for turbopumps are investigated. Experiments for the pump with inducer tip clearances of 1.8% and 1.4% of blade height were performed. The experimental results showed that the suction performance of the pump increased as the tip clearance decreased. It seems that the suction performance of the pump becomes better with smaller tip clearances because the strength of the inducer backflow becomes weak with the decreased tip clearance.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.411-418
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• 2004

Tip clearance of centrifugal compressor affects the performance. Larger tip clearance results in lower efficiency. What really affects the performance is the running tip clearance, not the cold tip clearance. When the compressor is operating, blade strain and the pressure difference between impeller backplate and hub affects the running tip clearance. This paper describes measured running tip clearance and its effects on the performance of centrifugal compressor. Cold tip clearance before operation was 0.4 mm and running tip clearance varied from 0.86 mm to 0.25 mm with impeller exit pressure. As the pressure at impeller exit increases, the routing tip clearance tends to decreases. The target running tip clearance for compressor at $100\%$ speed was 0.3 mm and it turned out to be exactly 0.30 mm from experiment.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.5 no.2 s.15
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• pp.7-14
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• 2002

The effect of tip clearance is important part for turbomachinery performance. Tip leakage flow due to tip clearance is mixed with passage vortex. Large amount of loss is generated at the mixing region and overall performance of turbomachinery is reduced. Numerical calculation of the 1st stage rotor of GE7FA gas turbine is carried out to investigate tip clearance effect on performance, pitchwise variations of velocity profiles, pressure distributions and loss coefficients. A commercial code, CFX-TascFlow is validated in this study.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.389-397
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• 2003

Effect of tip leakage flow on through flow and performance of a centrifugal compressor impeller was numerically studied using CFX-TASC flow. Seven different tip clearances were used to consider the influence of tip clearance on performance. Secondary flow and loss factor were evaluated to understand the loss mechanism inside the impeller due to tip leakage flow. The calculated results were circumferentially averaged along the passage and at the impeller exit for quantitative discussion. Tip clearance effect on Performance could be decomposed into inviscid and viscous components using one dimensional equation. The inviscid component is related with the specific work reduction and the viscous component is related with the additional entropy generation. Two components affected Performance equally. while efficiency drop was mainly influenced by viscous loss. Performance and efficiency drop due to tip clearance were proportional to the ratio of tip clearance to exit blade height. A simple model suggested in the present study predict performance and efficiency drop quite successfully.