• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1106-1112
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• 1999

Substantial losses behind axial flow rotor are generated by the wake, various vortices in the hub region and the tip leakage vortex in the tip region. Particularly, the leakage vortex formed near blade tip is one of the main causes of the reduction of performance, generation of noise and aerodynamic vibration in downstream. In this study, the three-dimensional flow fields in an axial flow rotor were calculated with varying tip clearance under various flow rates, and the numerical results were compared with experimental ones. The numerical technique was based on SIMPLE algorithm using standard $k-{\varepsilon}$ model(WFM) and Launder & Sharma's Low Reynolds Number $k-{\varepsilon}$ model(LRN). Through calculations, the effects of tip clearance and attack angle on the 3-dimensional flow fileds behind a rotor and leakage flow/vortex were investigated. The presence of tip leakage vortex, loci of vortex center and its behavior behind the rotor for various tip clearances and attack angles was described well by calculation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.336-345
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• 1998

The substantial loss behind axial flow rotor was generated by wake, various vortices in the hub region and the leakage vortex in the tip region. Particularly, the leakage vortex formed near blade tip was one of the main causes of the reduction of performance, the generation of noise and the aerodynamic vibration in rotor downstream. In this study, the three-dimensional flowfields in an axial flow rotor for various tip clearances were calculated, and the numerical results were compared with the experimental ones. The numerical technique was based on SIMPLE algorithm using standard k-.epsilon. model (WFM). Through calculations, the effects of the tip clearance on the overall performance of rotor and the loss distributions, and the increase in the displacement, momentum, and blade-force-deficit thickness of the casing wall boundary layer were investigated. The mass-averaged flow variables behind rotor agreed well with the experimental results. The presence of the tip leakage vortex behind rotor was described well. Although the loci of leakage vortex by calculation showed some differences compared with the experimental results, its behavior for various tip clearances was clarified by examining the loci of vortex center.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.106-116
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• 2009

In order to investigate change of vortex structures and its evolving proceses, two dimensional LDV system was used for measurement of velocity vectors of tip vortex, and PIV system was also used for visualizations of tip vortex array for two bladed rotor, respectively. Experiments provided vortex locations, tangential and axial velocity components of tip vortex at six wake ages of 9.5, 10.5, 60.5, 99.5, 129.5, 169.5 and corresponded six wake ages shifted with 180 degrees per each. It was resulted that tip vortices generated by the first blade satisfy Landgrebe's model for their vortex locations even after they were accelerated by the second blade in downstream. Tangential velocity components of tip vortices follow Vatistas' n=2 model on both inside and outside regions of rotor slipstream without loss of vortex circulation. Axial velocity profiles revealed that there were small but significant perturbations just outside the primary vortex core which implies the second blade affects the wake substantially. It was also found that tip paths of each blade were not willing to be coincided intrinsically.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.84-96
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• 2005

Helical tip vortex is known as stable vortex structure, however the specific frequency component of far wake perturbation induces the vortex pairing in hover and axial flight. It is expected that the tip vortex pairing phenomena may happen in transition flight and very low advance ratio flight so that inflow may be most nonuniform in the low advance ratio flight. The objectives of this paper are that a tip-vortex instability during the transition from hover into very low advance ratio forward flight is numerically predicted to understand a physics by using a time-marching free-wake method. To achieve the objectives, numerical method is firstly validated in typical axial and forward flights cases. Present scheme with trim routine can predict airloads and inflow distribution of forward flight with good accuracy. Then, the transition flight condition is calculated. The rotor used in this wake calculation is a small-scale AH-1G model. By using a tip-vortex trajectory tracking method, the tip-vortex pairing process are clearly observed in transient flight($\mu$=0.03) and disappears at a slightly higher advance ratio($\mu$=0.05). According to the steady flight simulation at $\mu$=0.03, it is confirmed the tip-vortex pairing process is continued in the rear part of rotor disk and not occurs in the front part. Time averaged inflow in this case is predicted as smooth distribution.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.845-850
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• 2003

Unsteady nature of a tip leakage vortex in an axial flow fan operating at a design and off-design operating conditions has been investigated by measuring the velocity fluctuation in a blade passage with a rotating hotwire probe sensor. Two hot-wire probe sensors rotating with the fan rotor were also introduced to obtain the cross-correlation coefficient between the two sensors located in the vortical flow as well as the fluctuating velocity. The results show that the vortical flow structure near the rotor tip can be clearly observed at the quasi-orthogonal planes to a tip leakage vortex. The leakage vortex is enlarged as the flow rate is decreased, thus resulting in the high blockage to main flow. The spectral peaks due to the fluctuating velocity near the rotor tip are mainly observed in the reverse flow region at higher flow rates than the peak pressure operating condition. However, no peak frequency presents near the rotor tip for near stall condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.39-48
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• 2023

In this study, we investigate the effects of slots installed on the tip of a rotor blade on aerodynamic characteristics. The slots weaken the strength and spatial coherence of the tip vortex at early vortex age and accelerate the dissipation of the generated tip vortex. Accordingly, the turbulence intensity of the rotor wake is reduced at both near and far wake, which leads to a reduction in broadband noise. Tonal noise is also reduced by mitigation of tip vortices, but tonal noise reduction is limited to a narrower range of azimuths than broadband noise due to the extinction of tip vortices. In addition, slots reduce both mean thrust and thrust fluctuations. Reduction in thrust fluctuations leads to a reduction in blade loading noise, resulting in a reduction in tonal noise.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.223-230
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• 2005

The unsteady nature of vortex structures has been investigated by a large eddy simulation (LES) in an axial flow fan with a shroud covering only the rear region of its rotor tip. The simulation shows that the tip vortex plays a major role in the structure and unsteady behavior of the vortical flow in the fan. The movements of the vortex structures induce high-pressure fluctuations on the rotor blade and in the blade passage. Frequency characteristics of the fluctuating pressure on the rotor blade are analyzed using wavelet transform. The dominant frequency of the real-time pressure selected at the high pressure fluctuation region corresponds well to that of the fluctuating rotor torque and the experimental result of fan noise. It is mainly generated due to the unsteady behavior of the vortical flow, such as the tip vortex and the leading edge separation vortex.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2015

The present work performs three-dimensional flow calculations based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) to investigate the flow field of a transonic rotor (NASA Rotor 37) at near-stall condition. It is found that the DES approach is likely to predict well the complex flow characteristics such as secondary vortex or turbulent flow phenomenon than RANS approach, which is useful to describe the flow mechanism of a transonic compressor. Especially, the DES results show improvement of predicting the flow field in the wake region and the model captures reasonably well separated regions compared to the RANS model. Besides, it is discovered that the three-dimensional vortical flows after the vortex breakdown from the rotor tip region are widely distributed and its vortex structures are clearly present. Near the rotor leading edge, a part of the tip leakage flows in DES solution spill over into next passage of the blade owing to the separation vortex flow and the backflow is clearly seen around the trailing edge of rotor tip. Furthermore, the DES solution shows strong turbulent eddies especially in the rotor hub, rotor tip section and the downstream of rotor trailing edge compared to the RANS solution.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2000

The wake geometries of a two-bladed rotor in axial flights using a time-marching free-wake method without a non-physical model of the far wake are calculated. The computed free-wake geometries of AH-1G model rotor in climb flight are compared with the experimental visualization results. The time-marching free-wake method can predict the behavior of the tip vortex and the wake roil-up phenomena with remarkable agreements. Tip vortices shed from the two-bladed rotor can interact with each other significantly. The interaction consists of a turn of the tip vortex from one blade rolling around the tip vortex from the other. Wake expansion of wake geometries in radial direction after the contraction is a result of adjacent tip vortices begging to pair together and spiral about each other. Detailed numerical results show regular pairing phenomenon in the climb flights, the hover at high angle of attack and slow descent flight too. On the contrary, unstable motions of wake are observed numerically in the hover at low angle of attack and fast descent flight. It is because of the inherent wake instability and blade-vortex-interaction rather then the effect of recirculation due to the experimental equipment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1005-1014
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• 2004

Experiments were done for the three dimensional unsteady flow in a counter-rotating axial flow fan under peak efficiency operating condition. Flow fields in a counter rotating axial flow fan were measured at cross-sectional planes of the upstream and downstream of each rotor. Cross sectional flow patterns were investigated through the acquired data by the 45$^{\circ}$ inclined hot-wire. Flow characteristics such as tip vortex, secondary flow and tip leakage flow were confirmed through axial, radial and tangential velocity vector plot. It has been found that the radial and tangential velocity components disappeared, while the axial velocity component highly increased as soon as the tip vortex was generated. It has been observed that secondary flow and turbulence intensity which were increased by the front rotor were dissipated passing through the rear rotor. As the result the energy loss of the counter rotating axial flow fan decreased at the downstream of rear rotor. Also, it has been verified that tip vortex pattern of the rear rotor was dampened because the tip vortex generated by front rotor was mixed with that of the rear rotor.