Effect of tip geometry and tip clearance on aerodynamic performance of a linear compressor cascade

The tip leakage flow between a blade and a casing wall has a strong impact on compressor pressure rise capability, efficiency, and stability. Consequently, there is a strong motivation to look for means to minimize its impact on performance. This paper presents the potential of passive tip leakage flow control to increase the aerodynamic performance of highly loaded compressor blades. Experimental investigations on a linear compressor cascade equipped with blade winglets mounted to the blade tips have been carried out. Results for a variation of the tip clearance and the winglet geometry are presented. Current results indicate that the use of proper tip winglets in a compressor cascade can positively affect the local aerodynamic field by weakening the tip leakage vortex. Results also show that the suction-side winglets are aerodynamically superior to the pressure-side or combined winglets. The suction-side winglets are capable of reducing the exit total pressure loss associated with the tip leakage flow and the passage secondary flow to a significant degree.

Effect of blade tip geometry on tip leakage vortex dynamics and cavitation pattern in axial-flow pump

A series of blade tip geometries, including original plain tip, rounded tip on the pressure side and diverging tip towards the suction side, were adopted to investigate the effect of blade geometry on tip leakage vortex dynamics and cavitation pattern in an axial-flow pump. On the basis of the computation, it clearly shows the flow structure in the clearance for different tip configurations by the detailed data of axial velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. The in-plain trajectory, in aspects of the angle between the blade suction side and vortex core and the initial point of tip leakage vortex, was presented using the maximum swirling strength method. The most striking feature is that the inception location of tip leakage vortex is delayed for chamfered tip due to the change of blade loading on suction side. Some significant non-dimensional parameters, such as pressure, swirling strength and turbulent kinetic energy, were used to depict the characteristics of tip vortex core. By the distribution of circumferential vorticity which dominates the vortical flows near the tip region, it is observed that the endwall detachment as the leakage flow meets the mainstream varies considerably for tested cases. The present study also indicates that the shear layer feeds the turbulence into tip leakage vortex core, but the way is different. For the chamfered tip, high turbulence level in vortex core is mainly from the tip clearance where large turbulent kinetic energy emerges, while it is almost from a layer extending from the suction side corner for rounded tip. At last, the visualized observations show that tip clearance cavitation is eliminated dramatically for rounded tip but more intensive for chamfered tip, which can be associated with the vortex structure in the clearance.

Experimental Study of Effects of Tip Geometry on the Flow Field in a Turbine Cascade Passage

This study investigates the effects of blade tip geometry on the flow field of a turbine cascade at the incidence angle of 0 degree experimentally. The tests were performed in a low-speed turbine cascade wind tunnel. The Reynolds number based on the blade chord was about 172300 at the exit. Traverses of the exit flow field were made in order to measure the overall performance. The effects of using fiat tip and grooved tip with a chord-wise channel were studied. The case with the flat tip is referenced as the baseline. The tip clearances are all 1 mm measuring 0.84 percent of the blade span. The depth of channel is 2mm.The flow field at 10% chord downstream from the cascade trailing edge was measured at 38 span-wise positions and 26 pitch-wise positions using a mini five-hole pressure probe. The static pressure distribution on the tip end wall is measured at 16 pitch-wise stations and 17 chord-wise stations. Results show that there exists great pressure gradient in the pressure side for the fiat tip and the pressure side squealer tip, which means strong leakage flow. The pressure gradient from the pressure side to the suction side is greatly decreased for the grooved tip, and the resulting leakage flow is weaker. The core of the leakage vortex moves closer to the suction side for the pressure side squealer tip and farther away from the suction side for the suction side squealer tip. The pressure side squealer has little advantages over the fiat tip in improving the flow capacity and reducing the overall losses. The suction side squealer tip and grooved tip can effectively decrease the intensity of the tip leakage vortex, improve the flow capacity and reduce loss of the turbine cascade passage and the grooved tip performs the best.

Nanoindentation in elastoplastic materials:insights from numerical simulations

Finite element simulations of nanoindentation were performed on an elastoplastic material using Berkovich and conical indenters to investigate the effects of geometry on the load-displacement response of the material.The Berkovich indenter,widely used in nanoindentation experiments,is typically simplified to a theoretically equivalent 70.3°conical indenter for numerical simulations,which allows for a less computationally intensive two-dimensional(2D)axisymmetric analysis.Previous studies into the validity of this equivalence assumption for indentations in elastoplastic materials have varying conclusions.Using 2D and 3D finite element simulations,the present study investigates the response of elastoplastic materials,obeying a combined isotropic and kinematic hardening,to indentation with conical and Berkovich indenters.Simulations show that there is a clear difference in the load-displacement response of the selected material to the two indenters.The Berkovich geometry is found to produce a more localized pattern of contact stresses and plastic strains,leading to a smaller mobilized force for the same magnitude of displacement.To further validate the numerical simulations,experimental results of nanoindentation into an aluminium specimen were compared to elastoplastic finite element simulation results.Comparisons suggest that machining-induced residual stresses have likely affected the experimental results.

Computational Study of the Effects of Shroud Geometric Variation on Turbine Performance in a 1.5-Stage High-Loaded Turbine

Generally speaking, main flow path of gas turbine is assumed to be perfect for standard 3D computation. But in real engine, the turbine annulus geometry is not completely smooth for the presence of the shroud and associated cavity near the end wall. Besides, shroud leakage flow is one of the dominant sources of secondary flow in tur- bomachinery, which not only causes a deterioration of useful work but also a penalty on turbine efficiency. It has been found that neglect shroud leakage flow makes the computed velocity profiles and loss distribution signifi- cantly different to those measured. Even so, the influence of shroud leakage flow is seldom taken into considera- tion during the routine of turbine design due to insufficient understanding of its impact on end wall flows and tur- bine performance. In order to evaluate the impact of tip shroud geometry on turbine performance, a 3D computa- tional investigation for 1.5-stage turbine with shrouded blades was performed in this paper. The following ge- ometry parameters were varied respectively：