• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.606-616
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• 2003

A numerical analysis has been conducted in order to simulate the characteristics of complex flow through linear cascades of high performance turbine blade with/without tip clearance by using a pressure-correction based, generalized 3D incompressible Wavier-Stokes CFD code. The development and generation of horseshoe vortex, passage vortex, leakage vortex, tip vortex within tip clearance, etc. are clearly identified through the present simulation which uses the RNG k-$\varepsilon$ turbulent model with wall function method and a second-order linear upwind scheme for convective terms. The present simulation results are consistent with the generally known tendency that occurs in the blade passage and tip clearance. A 3D model for secondary and leakage flows through turbine cascades with/without tip clearance is also suggested from the present simulation results, including the effects of tip clearance height.

• 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.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.979-989
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• 2004

Numerical simulations have been performed to investigate tip clearance effect on through-flow and performance of a centrifugal compressor which has the same configuration of impeller with six different tip clearances. Secondary flow and loss distribution have been surveyed to understand the flow mechanism due to the tip clearance. Tip leakage flow strongly interacts with mainstream flow and considerably changes the secondary flow and the loss distribution inside the impeller passage. A method has been described to quantitatively estimate the tip clearance effect on the performance drop and the efficiency drop. The tip clearance has caused specific work reduction and additional entropy generation. The former, which is called inviscid loss, is independent of any internal loss and the latter, which is called viscous loss, is dependent on every loss in the flow passage. Two components equally affected the performance drop as the tip clearances were small, while the efficiency drop was influenced by the viscous component alone. The additional entropy generation was modeled with all the kinetic energy of the tip leakage flow. Therefore, the present paper can provide how to quantitatively estimate the tip clearance effect on the performance and efficiency.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.619-622
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• 2002

It has been recognized that the flow in the blade passage of an axial turbomachinery rotor is very complex and is influenced by various flow phenomena, of which the tip leakage flow passing through the gap between rotor blade tip and casing plays a significant role. The losses produced due to the existence of the clearance have been known to be a large contributor of the rotor overall losses. Despite several experimental studies on non-rotating blade in the cascade configuration, and on actual rotating blades, the detailed nature of the complex flow phenomena associated with tip leakage, however, remains largely unresolved. Thus, a single-stage compressor test rig was built and measurements were taken at upstream and downstream of the rotor of this compressor at the aerodynamics laboratory of University of New South Wales. A five-hole probe and a hot-wire probe were used to measure mean and fluctuating flow parameters. The results show that tip leakage losses rise rapidly beyond tip gap of 0.01 Furthermore, the present project also identifies the regions in the wake behind the rotor of the axial compressor where such losses are concentrated. These results should be useful in the better design of rotors for improved performance of axial compressor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.8 s.239
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• pp.948-955
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• 2005

A three-dimensional computation was conducted to understand effects of the inlet boundary layer thickness on the internal flow in a low-speed axial compressor operating at the design condition($\phi=85\%$) and near stall condition($\phi=65\%$). At the design condition, the flows in the axial compressor show, independent of the inlet boundary layer thickness, similar characteristics such as the pressure distribution, size of the hub comer-stall, tip leakage flow trajectory, limiting streamlines on the blade suction surface, etc. However, as the load is increased, the hub corner-stall grows to make a large separation region at the junction of the hub and suction surface for the inlet condition with thick boundary layers at the hub and casing. Moreover, the tip leakage flow is more vortical than that observed in case of the thin inlet boundary layer and has the critical point where the trajectory of the tip leakage flow is abruptly turned into the downstream. For the inlet condition with thin boundary layers, the hub corner-stall is diminished so it is indistinguishable from the wake. The tip leakage flow leans to the leading edge more than at the design condition but has no critical point. In addition to these, the severe reverse flow, induced by both boundary layer on the blade surface and the tip leakage flow, can be found to act as the blockage of flows near the casing, resulting in heavy loss.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.3 s.234
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• pp.322-329
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• 2005

The flow characteristics in the blade passage and in the wake region of a low speed axial flow fan have been investigated by experimental analysis using a rotating hot-wire sensor for design and off-design operating conditions. The results show that the tip leakage vortex is moved upstream when flow rate is decreased, thus disturbing the formation of wake flow near the rotor tip. The tip leakage vortex interfaces with blade pressure surface, and results in high velocity fluctuation near the pressure surface. From axial velocity distributions downstream of the fan rotor, large axial velocity decay near the rotor tip is observed at near stall condition, which results in large blockage compared to that at the design condition. Although the wake flow downstream of the rotor blade is clearly measured at all operating conditions, the trough of the high velocity fluctuation due to Karmann vortex street in the wake flow is mainly observed at a higher flow condition than the design flow rate.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2005

Numerical analysis of three-dimensional viscous flow-fields in the turbine rotor passages was carried out to investigate flow physics including the interaction between secondary vortices, tip leakage vortex, and the rotor wake. The blade tip geometry was accurately modeled adopting the embedded H grid system. An explicit four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme was used for the time integration of both the mean flow and turbulence equations. The computational results for the entire turbine rotor flows, particularly the tip clearance flow and the secondary flows, were interpreted and compared with the experimental data from the Penn State turbine stage. The predictions for major features of the flow field have been found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.11 s.254
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• pp.1074-1083
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• 2006

In the present study, the effect of blade rotation on blade heat transfer is investigated by comparing with the heat transfer results for the stationary blade. The experiments are conducted in a low speed annular cascade with a single stage turbine and the turbine stage is composed of sixteen guide vanes and blades. The chord length and the height of the tested blade are 150 mm and about 125 mm, respectively. The blade has a flat tip and the mean tip clearance is 2.5% of the blade chord. A naphthalene sublimation method is used to measure detailed mass transfer coefficient on the blade. For the experiments, the inlet Reynolds number is $Re_c=1.5{\times}10^5$, which results in the blade rotation speed of 255.8 rpm. Blade rotation induces a relative motion between the blade and the shroud as well as a periodic variation of incoming flow. Therefore, different heat/mass transfer patterns are observed on the rotating blade, especially near the tip and on the tip. The relative motion reduces the tip leakage flow through the tip gap, which results in the reduction of the tip heat transfer. However, the effect of the tip leakage flow on the blade surface is increased because the tip leakage vortex is formed closer to the surface than the stationary case. The overall heat/mass transfer on the shroud is not affected much by the blade rotation.