scholarly journals Effect of Partial Shrouds on the Performance and Flow Field of a Low-Aspect-Ratio Axial-Flow Fan Rotor

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sitaram ◽  
G. Ch. V. Sivakumar

The flow field at the rotor exit of a low aspect ratio axial flow fan for different tip geometries and for different flow coefficients is measured in the present study. The following configurations are tested: (1) rotor without partial shroud, designated as rotor (wos), (2) rotor with partial shroud, designated as rotor (ws), and (3) rotor with perforated (perforations in the shape of discrete circular holes) partial shroud, designated as rotor (wps). From steady state measurements, the performance of rotor (wps) is found to be the best. Both the rotors with partial shrouds have stalled at a higher flow coefficient compared to that of rotor (wos). From periodic flow measurements, it is concluded that the low velocity region near the tip section is considerably reduced with the use of partial shrouds with perforations. The extent of this low velocity region for both rotor (wos) and rotor (wps) increases with decreasing flow coefficient due to increased stage loading. This core of low momentum fluid has moved inwards of the annulus and towards the pressure side as the flow coefficient decreases. The extent of the low momentum fluid is smaller for rotor (wps) than that of rotor (wos) at all flow coefficients.

Author(s):  
K. Viswanath ◽  
M. Govardhan

This paper reports a study of the combined effects of swirl and circumferential inlet flow distortion on the flow field of an axial flow fan stage. The study involves steady state measurements of the flow field at the rotor inlet, exit and the stator exit of the single stage axial flow fan subjected to circumferential inlet flow distortion and swirl. Flow field survey was done at two flow coefficients, namely, ϕ = 0.45 and ϕ = 0.285. The flow at the inlet to the rotor was measured using a three hole pressure probe and five hole pressure probes were used at the rotor and stator exits. The study indicated that at the design flow coefficient swirl had caused deterioration of the performance in addition to that caused by distortion. In addition, the attenuation of distortion was high in the presence of swirl.


Author(s):  
X. Q. Xing ◽  
S. Zhou ◽  
X. L. Zhao

Theory researches, numerical analyses and experiment studies of sweep aerodynamics in turbo-machinery had rapidly developed during the 1990s. Taking a low-aspect-ratio, high-loaded axial flow transonic rotor as the baseline, this paper attempts to probe the connotation of sweep aerodynamics of transonic fans and compressors. The definition of sweep angle was discussed. Flow field, key factors that affect structures of flow fields, linkage between leading edges as well as flow field structures in swept rotors were presented. In order to find out the optimum sweep leading edge curve under prescribed conditions, a numerical optimization program that can be added into design processes was developed.


Author(s):  
Bhaskar Roy ◽  
Lokesh Agrawal

In axial compressor or fan one of the major sources of losses is uncontrolled development of casing boundary layer and its interaction with the rotating blades. These losses are aggravated in an axial compressor or fan with low aspect ratio blades due to strong secondary flow development. The recess vaned Casing treatment has been used in a low speed contra-rotating axial flow fan unit with low aspect ratio blades. The casing treatment aims at removing casing boundary layer from near the second fan tip and inject the flow back near the first fan tip. The treatment works on a principle of automatic suction and injection. The boundary layer control mechanism is expected to be automatically adjusted by axial static pressure gradient across the vanes. The recess vaned casing treatment has yielded significant improvement in contra-rotating fan unit performance, and has increased the surge margin, essentially through fluid flow control near the casing.


Author(s):  
K. L. Lewis

In Part 1 of this paper, a repeating stage condition was shown to occur in two low aspect ratio turbines, after typically two stages. Both turbulent diffusion and convective mechanisms were responsible for spanwise transport. In this part, two scaling expressions are determined that account for the influence of these mechanisms in effecting spanwise transport. These are incorporated into a throughflow model using a diffusive term. The inclusion of spanwise transport allows the use of more realistic loss distributions by the designer as input to the throughflow model and therefore focuses attention on areas where losses are generated. In addition, modelling of spanwise transport is shown to be crucial in predicting the attenuation of a temperature profile through a turbine.


Author(s):  
Michael B. Wilkinson ◽  
Johan van der Spuy ◽  
Theodor W. von Backström

An axial flow fan design methodology is developed to design large diameter, low pressure rise, rotor-only fans for large air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure aims to design highly efficient axial flow fans that perform well when subjected to off design conditions commonly encountered in air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure makes use of several optimisation steps in order to achieve this. These steps include optimising the hub-tip ratio, vortex distribution, blading and aerofoil camber distributions in order to attain maximum total-to-static efficiency at the design point. In order to validate the design procedure a 24 ft, 8 bladed axial flow fan is designed to the specifications required for an air-cooled heat exchanger for a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The designed fan is numerically evaluated using both a modified version of the actuator disk model and a three dimensional periodic fan blade model. The results of these CFD simulations are used to evaluate the design procedure by comparing the fan performance characteristic data to the design specification and values calculated by the design code. The flow field directly down stream of the fan is also analysed in order to evaluate how closely the numerically predicted flow field matches the designed flow field, as well as determine whether the assumptions made in the design procedure are reasonable. The fan is found to meet the required pressure rise, however the fan total-to-static efficiency is found to be lower than estimated during the design process. The actuator disk model is found to under estimate the power consumption of the fan, however the actuator disk model does provide a reasonable estimate of the exit flow conditions as well as the total-to-static pressure characteristic of the fan.


Author(s):  
Steven W. Burd ◽  
Terrence W. Simon

The vast number of turbine cascade studies in the literature has been performed in straight-endwall, high-aspect-ratio, linear cascades. As a result, there has been little appreciation for the role of, and added complexity imposed by, reduced aspect ratios. There also has been little documentation of endwall profiling at these reduced spans. To examine the role of these factors on cascade hydrodynamics, a large-scale nozzle guide vane simulator was constructed at the Heat Transfer Laboratory of the University of Minnesota. This cascade is comprised of three airfoils between one contoured and one flat endwall. The geometries of the airfoils and endwalls, as well as the experimental conditions in the simulator, are representative of those in commercial operation. Measurements with hot-wire anemometry were taken to characterize the flow approaching the cascade. These measurements show that the flow field in this cascade is highly elliptic and influenced by pressure gradients that are established within the cascade. Exit flow field measurements with triple-sensor anemometry and pressure measurements within the cascade indicate that the acceleration imposed by endwall contouring and airfoil turning is able to suppress the size and strength of key secondary flow features. In addition, the flow field near the contoured endwall differs significantly from that adjacent to the straight endwall.


1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
R. G. Williamson ◽  
S. H. Moustapha ◽  
J. P. Huot

Two nozzle designs, involving the same low aspect ratio, high turning angle vanes, and differing in outer wall contour, were tested over a range of exit Mach numbers up to supersonic values. The experiments were conducted on a large-scale, full annular configuration with and without a representative rotor downstream. Nozzle performance was found to be significantly affected by rotor operation, the influence depending on the detailed characteristics of the nozzle flow field, as well as on the design and operation of the rotor itself. It is suggested that performance evaluation of low aspect ratio nozzles of high turning angle may require appropriate testing with a rotor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Florian Baier ◽  
Aatresh Karnam ◽  
Ephraim Gutmark

Author(s):  
Ja´nos Vad ◽  
Ali R. A. Kwedikha ◽  
Helmut Jaberg

Experimental and computational studies were carried out in order to survey the energetic aspects of forward and backward sweep in axial flow rotors of low aspect ratio blading for incompressible flow. It has been pointed out that negative sweep tends to increase the lift, the flow rate and the ideal total pressure rise in the vicinity of the endwalls. Just the opposite tendency was experienced for positive sweep. The local losses were found to develop according to combined effects of sweep near the endwalls, endwall and tip clearance losses, and profile drag influenced by re-arrangement of the axial velocity profile. The forward-swept bladed rotor showed reduced total efficiency compared to the unswept and swept-back bladed rotors. This behavior has been explained on the basis of analysis of flow details. It has been found that the swept bladings of low aspect ratio tend to retain the performance of the unswept datum rotor even in absence of sweep correction.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document