• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.395-398
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• 2009

Currently, a new generation of ducted fan UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) is under development for a wide range of inspection, investigation and combat missions as well as for a variety of civil roles like traffic monitoring, meteorological studies, hazard mitigation etc. The current study presents extensive results obtained experimentally in order to investigate the tip clearance effects on performance characteristics of a ducted fan for small UAV systems. Three ducted fans having different tip clearance gap and with same rotor size were examined under three different yawed conditions of calibrated slanted hot-wire probe. Three dimensional velocity flow fields were measured from hub to tip at outlet of the ducted fan. The analysis of data were done by PLEAT (Phase locked Ensemble Averaging Technique) and three non-linear differential equations were solved simultaneously by using Newton -Rhapson numerical method. Flow field characteristics such as tip vortex and secondary flow were confirmed through axial, radial and tangential velocity contour plots. At the same time, the effects of tip clearance on axial thrust and input power were also investigated by using wind tunnel measurement system. For enhancing the performance of ducted fan, tip clearance level should be as small as possible.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.957-968
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• 1999

Performance tests of an airfoil fan and measurement of flow fields at the impeller exit are carried out to investigate the effects of the tip clearance between the rotor and inlet casing on the impeller performance. The impeller is twelve bladed of NACA 65-810 airfoils and tested with 3 different size of gap; 1, 2, 4mm. The relative decrease of pressure rising performance of the fan is 15 percent for the design flow rate when the gap size is 1 percent of the impeller diameter. The reduction of performance becomes large as the flow rate increases. The leakage flow through the clearance affects the through flow of the impeller, which results in decrease of the slip factor as well as the impeller efficiency. The data base obtained in the present study can be used for the design and flow analysis of the airfoil fans.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.226-235
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• 2000

The performance prediction of an airfoil fan using a commerical code, STAR/CD, is verified by comparing the calculated results with measured performance data and velocity fields of an airfoil fan. The effects of inlet tip clearance on performance are investigated. The calculations overestimate the pressure rise performance by about 10-25 percent. However, the performance reduction due to tip clearance is well predicted by numerical simulations. Main source of performance decrease is not only the slip factor but also impeller efficiency. The reduction in performance is 12-16 percent for 1 percent gap of the diameter. The calculated reductions in impeller efficiency and slip factor are also linearly proportional to the gap size. The span-wise distributions of phase averaged velocity and pressure at the impeller exit are strongly influenced by the radial gap size. The radial component of velocity and the flow angle increase over the passsage as the gap increases. The slip factor decreases and the loss increases with the gap size. The high velocity of leakage jet affects the impeller inlet and passage flows. With a larger clearance, the main stream moves to the impeller hub side and high loss region extends from the shroud to the hub.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.25-34
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• 2008

In this paper, three-dimensional multiblade row unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations at a hot streak temperature ratio of 2.0 have been performed to reveal the effects of rotor tip clearance on the inlet hot streak migration characteristics in low pressure stage of a Vaneless Counter-Rotating Turbine. The hot streak is circular in shape with a diameter equal to 25% of the high pressure turbine stator span. The hot streak center is located at 50% of the span and the leading edge of the high pressure turbine stator. The tip clearance size studied in this paper is 2.0mm(2.59% high pressure turbine rotor height, and 2.09% low pressure turbine rotor height). The numerical results show that the hot streak is not mixed out by the time it reaches the exit of high pressure turbine rotor. The separation of colder and hotter fluid is observed at the inlet of low pressure turbine rotor. Most of hotter fluid migrates towards the rotor pressure surface, and only little hotter fluid migrates to the rotor suction surface when it convects into the low pressure turbine rotor. And the hotter fluid migrated to the tip region of the high pressure turbine rotor impinges on the leading edge of the low pressure turbine rotor after it goes through the high pressure turbine rotor. The migration of the hotter fluid directly results in very high heat load at the leading edge of the low pressure turbine rotor. The migration characteristics of the hot streak in the low pressure turbine rotor are dominated by the combined effects of secondary flow and leakage flow at the tip clearance. The leakage flow trends to drive the hotter fluid towards the blade tip on the pressure surface and to the hub on the suction surface, even partial hotter fluid near the pressure surface is also driven to the rotor suction surface through the tip clearance. Compared with the case without rotor tip clearance, the heat load of the low pressure turbine rotor is intensified due to the effects of the leakage flow. And the numerical results also indicate that the leakage flow effect trends to increase the low pressure turbine rotor outlet temperature at the tip region.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.8 s.227
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• pp.902-909
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• 2004

A steady-state Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulation was conducted to investigate the distribution of the Reynolds stress tensor inside tip leakage vortex of a linear compressor cascade. Two different inlet flow angles ${\beta}=29.3^{\circ}$(design condition) and $36.5^{\circ}$(off-design condition) at a constant tip clearance size of $1\%$ blade span were considered. Classical methods of solid mechanics, applied to view the Reynolds stress tensor in the principal direction system, clearly showed that the high anisotropic feature of turbulent flow field was dominant at the outer part of tip leakage vortex near the suction side of the blade and endwall flow separation region, whereas a nearly isotropic turbulence was found at the center of tip leakage vortex. There was no significant difference in the anisotropy of the Reynolds normal stresses inside tip leakage vortex between the design and off-design condition.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2012

Three dimensional unsteady numerical calculations were performed to investigate unsteadiness of the tip leakage flow in an axial compressor. The first stage of the four-stage low-speed research axial compressor was examined. Since this compressor has a relatively large tip clearance, the unsteadiness of the tip leakage flow is induced. Through the results from the unsteady calculations, the process of the induced unsteady tip leakage flow was investigated. It was shown that the leakage flow that occurred at a rotor blade tip clearance affected the pressure distribution on the pressure side near the tip of the adjacent blade, thus caused the fluctuation of the pressure difference between the pressure side and suction side. Consequently, the unsteady tip leakage flow was induced at the adjacent rotor blade. The unsteady feature of the tip leakage flow was changed as the operating point was moved. The interface between the tip leakage flow and the main flow only affected the trailing edge region at the design point whereas the interface influenced up to the leading edge at the low flow rate point. As the flow rate decreased, additionally, it was seen that the vortex size of the tip leakage flow increased and the relatively large length scale disturbance occurred. On the other hand, using frequency analysis, it was shown that the unsteadiness was not associated with the rotor speed and was about 40% of the blade passing frequency. This feature was explained in the rotor relative frame of reference, and the frequency decreased as the flow rate decreased.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.177-187
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• 2013

A scaling method valid for most turbomachines based on first principles is derived. It accounts for axial and centrifugal turbomachines with respect to relative gap width/tip clearance, relative roughness, Reynolds number and/or Mach number for design and off-design operation as well. The scaling method has been successfully validated by a variety of experimental data obtained at TU Darmstadt. The physically based, hence reliable and universal method is compared with previous, empirical scaling methods.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2014

In order to develop a universal cryogenic piston pump of small size for increasing utilization of liquid hydrogen, dynamic compression performance of piston pump were evaluated and improvements were also discussed for piston rod and piston tip. The cryogenic piston pump has crosshead structure and inclined cup shape piston tip. As the results, it was found that i) insulation of heat flow from piston-rod part is required for stable operation ii) improving the self-clearance adjustment effect of piston tip and reducing piston eccentricity were desirable to promote pumping pressure and operating range.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 2017

The output power of turbine is greatly affected by the losses generated within the passage. In order to develop a better turbine or loss models, an experimental study was conducted using a linear cascade experimental apparatus. The total pressure loss and flow structures were measured at two cross-sectional planes located downstream of blade row. Measurement was conducted in a steady state for the several different locations of the blade row along the rotational direction. The blade row moved by 20 % of the pitch, and tip clearance was varied from 2% to 8%. Axial-type blades were used and its blade chord was 200mm. A square nozzle was applied and its size was $200mm{\times}200mm$. The experiment was conducted at a Reynolds number of $3{\times}10^5$ based on the chord. Nozzle flow angle sets to $65^{\circ}$ based on the axial direction and the solidity of blade row was 1.38. From the experimental results, the total pressure loss was greatly varied in the receding region than in the entering region. The flow properties within the blade passage were strongly changed according to the location of blade row.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.5 s.248
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• pp.446-456
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• 2006

The effect of relative position of the stationary turbine blade for the fixed vane has been investigated on blade tip and shroud heat transfer. The local mass transfer coefficients were measured on the tip and shroud fur the blade fixed at six different positions within a pitch. A low speed stationary annular cascade with a single turbine stage was used. The chord length of the tested blade is 150 mm and the mean tip clearance of the blade having flat tip is 2.5% of the blade chord. A naphthalene sublimation technique was used for the detailed mass transfer measurements on the tip and the shroud. The inlet flow Reynolds number based on chord length and incoming flow velocity is fixed to $1.5{\times}10^5$. The results show that the incoming flow condition and heat transfer characteristics significantly change when the relative position of the blade changes. On the tip, the size of high heat/mass transfer region along the pressure side varies in the axial direction and the difference of heat transfer coefficient is up to 40% in the upstream region of the tip because the position of flow reattachment changes. On shroud, the effect of tip leakage vortex on the shroud as well as tip gap entering flow changes as the blade position changes. Thus, significantly different heat transfer patterns are observed with various blade positions and the periodic variation of heat transfer is expected with the blade rotation.