Francesca di Mare

Application of a Low Reynolds Differential Reynolds Stress Model to a Compressor Cascade Tip-Leakage Flow

The tip-leakage flow of a low speed compressor cascade at Ma = 0. 07 and Re = 400, 000 was simulated employing the Jakirlic/Hanjalic-ω h (JH-ω h ) differential Reynolds Stress model (DRSM) and results are presented. The predictions are compared with those obtained using the SSG/LRR-ω DRSM and the Menter SST k-ω linear eddy viscosity model (LEVM). In addition to the mean flow quantities, the focus is on the Reynolds stresses and their anisotropy. Both DRSMs show significant improvements compared to the LEVM with respect to the mean flow quantities; however, details of the turbulence structure are more accurately predicted by the JH-ω h model.

CFD Analysis of Steam Turbines With the IAPWS Standard on the Spline-Based Table Look-Up Method (SBTL) for the Fast Calculation of Real Fluid Properties

Accurate simulations of non-stationary processes in steam turbines by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) require precise and extremely fast algorithms for computing real fluid properties. To fulfill these requirements, the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS) issues the “Guideline on the Fast Calculation of Steam and Water Properties with the Spline-Based Table Look-Up Method (SBTL)” as an international standard. Through the use of this method, spline functions for the independent variables specific volume and specific internal energy (v,u) are generated for water and steam based on the industrial formulation IAPWS-IF97. With these spline functions, thermodynamic and transport properties can be computed. The desired backward functions of the variables pressure and specific volume (p,v), and specific internal energy and specific entropy (u,s) are numerically consistent with the spline functions from (v,u). The properties calculated from these SBTL functions are in agreement with those of IAPWS-IF97 within a maximum relative deviation of 10 to 100 ppm depending on the property and the range of thermodynamic states spanned under the given conditions (range of state). Consequently, the differences between the results of process simulations using the SBTL method and those obtained through the use of IAPWS-IF97 are negligible. Moreover, the computations from the (v,u) spline functions are more than 200 times faster than the iterative calculations with IAPWS-IF97.In order to demonstrate the efficiency and applicability of the SBTL method, the SBTL functions have been implemented into the CFD software TRACE, developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). As a result, the computing times required for the simulations of steam flow in a turbine cascade considering real fluid behavior are reduced by a factor of 6–10 in comparison to the calculations based on IAPWS-IF97. Furthermore, computing times are increased by a factor of 1.4 only with respect to CFD calculations where steam is considered to be an ideal gas, through the use of the SBTL method.© 2015 ASME

Two-Way Hybrid LES/CAA Approach Including Acoustic Feedback Loop for the Prediction of Thermoacoustic Instabilities in Technical Combustors

Due to the reduction of fuel consumption and new global emission limits, especially for the pollutant emissions of NOx, improvements to lean combustion technologies in aeroengine combustors are unavoidable. Near to the lean limits, combustion tends to be unstable. A geometry related coupling between unsteady heat release and acoustic perturbations leads to thermoacoustic instabilities, which show an undesirable impact on pressure, velocity and heat release in the combustor Such instabilities occur when the unsteady heat release fluctuations are in phase with the acoustic pressure fluctuations. The. aim of this study is to find an industrially applicable, three-dimensional numerical model for the prediction of combustion noise, which can also provide insight in thermoacoustic instabilities and acoustic effects in a responsive environment in enclosed, technical combustion systems. The turbulent reacting flow in a realistic gas turbine combustor has been computed by means of Large Eddy Simulation coupled to a tabulated chemistry approach based on the Flamelet Generated Manifold ansatz. The reactive LES provides very well suited method to study the impact of unsteady heat release as a major source of acoustic noise in combustion. For the simultaneous treatment of the reacting flow and its acoustic features, a Computational Aero Acoustics (CAA) solver has been coupled with the LES solver following a hybrid approach. In this work the acoustic wave propagation is calculated by the Linearized Euler Equations (LEE). The interface between both codes is optimized for the realisation of an acoustic feedback loop in order to obtain a suitable representation of acoustically self-excited oscillations. To demonstrate the prediction capability of the hybrid LES/CAA approach, geometry-dependent thermoacoustic instabilities in a generic half-dump combustor, for which experimental data are available, are investigated. The numerical results are compared to measured pressure fluctuations under both thermoacoustically stable and unstable conditions.

Numerical Simulation of the Flow in the Row Labyrinth Seal of an Axial Turbine Using a Low-Mach Preconditioning Technique

Labyrinth seals on shrouded blades are an effective way for reducing efficiency penalties, as compared to free ended blades. Due to the difficulties of gaining optical access to cavity regions, mostly pressure measurements are available in the literature, from which the details of the flow must be inferred. The use of numerical tools can provide insight in the flow topology and therefore help obtaining a better understanding of the factors (geometric, thermodynamic and aerodynamic) which can affect the performance of the machine. Whilst in the main passage relatively high Mach numbers are to be found (0.3–1.3), the flow field in the cavities is dominated by extremely low flow speeds with strong recirculation patterns. The treatments of such flows, where large disparities between the acoustic and convective speed exist, are known to be highly problematic if density-based solution methods are employed. As the flow conditions approach the incompressibility limit a degradation of the convergence behaviour can be observed, leading, potentially to incorrect solutions. In order to overcome these problems preconditioning methods can be conveniently applied to the Navier-Stokes equations. In the current work the formulation of a fully implicit local preconditioning method with domain control of the Mach number dependency is presented. Numerical simulations of turbomachine components are generally performed on truncated domains. In order to prevent unphysical reflections at open boundaries and interfaces non-reflecting boundary conditions have been developed, e.g. [6, 8]. As reported in the available literature, low Mach preconditioning can cause stability problems and strongly impair the quality of the results especially in proximity of the domain’s boundaries. As shown in [14, 21] an appropriate scaling treatment of the boundary conditions is also required to alleviate such issues. In the current work non-reflecting boundary conditions, based on the formulation of Giles [6, 8], have been suitably modified to work reliably also in the limit of incompressible flows. To prove the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm implemented in the DLR’s CFD code TRACE, a canonical testcase representing an abstraction of the flow topology found in a labyrinth seal, such as a lid-driven cavity, is shown. Finally, the simulation of the steady flow in a multistage, shrouded low-pressure turbine is presented. For this, a classic RANS approach has been adopted using the k-ω model to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed method in a typical industrial application. Of particular significance and interest is the analysis of the mass conservation properties of the numerical scheme attained at mixing planes between rotor and stator and at non-matching grid interfaces, denoted as “zonal” and “zonal-mixed” interfaces.