The high efficiencies of small radial turbines have led to their application in space power systems and numerous APU and shaft power engines. Experimental and analytical work associated with these systems has included examination of blade shroud clearance, blade loading, and exit diffuser design. Results indicate high efficiency over a wide range of specific speed and also insensitivity to clearance and blade loading in the radial part of the rotor. The exit diffuser investigation indicated that a conventional conical outer wall may not provide the velocity variation consistent with minimum overall diffuser loss. A list of recently published NASA radial turbine reports is included.
Investigations made at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory(now the NASA Lewis Research Center) on secondary-flow phenomena in stator and rotor-blade rows are interpreted, with the aid of lowspeed flow visualization experiments, in order to establish sources and patterns of secondary flows there. Two stator configurations were designed to modify the stator-exit loss patterns and were investigated in conjunction with a transonic rotor to determine the effect on overall turbine performance of either reducing or eliminating stator-blade wakes and secondary-flow loss accumulations.
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