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This paper presents an investigation of the effect of steady and transient free-stream wind shear on the wake structure and performance characteristics of a horizontal axis wind turbine rotor. A new three-dimensional unsteady vortex-panel method potential flow solver based on a free-vortex wake methodology, AeroSIM+, is used for this purpose. The code is validated using the experimental data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiments. The effects of vortex core model, core size, expansion, and filament stretching on torque and thrust predictions are investigated. Three-different wind shear cases, i.e., uniform inflow (no wind shear), steady vertical wind shear that uses a power law velocity profile (Normal Wind Profile, NWP) and transient Extreme Wind Shear (EWS), are investigated. The results show that the existence of wind shear can create a very complex wake structure with substantial asymmetries, streamwise vorticity generation, and non-periodicities downstream of the turbine rotor. In addition, the blades are subjected to asymmetrical surface pressure variations that in turn result in high amplitude fluctuations in power and thrust levels generated by the turbine.

This paper presents the results of heat transfer, total pressure loss, and wake flow field measurements downstream of two-row staggered elliptical and circular pin fin arrays. Two different types of elliptical fins are tested, i.e., a Standard Elliptical Fin (SEF) and a fin that is based on NACA four digit symmetrical airfoil shapes (N fin). The results are compared to those of a corresponding circular pin fin array. The minor axis lengths for both types of elliptical fins are kept equal to the diameter of the circular fins. Experiments are performed using Liquid Crystal Thermography and total pressure probe wake surveys in a Reynolds number range of 18 000 and 86 000 as well as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements at ReD=18 000. The pin fins had a height-to-diameter ratio of 1.5. The streamwise and the transverse spacings were equal to one circular fin diameter, i.e., S/D=X/D=2. For the circular fin array, average Nusselt numbers on the endwall within the wake are about 27% higher than those of SEF and N fin arrays. Different local heat transfer enhancement patterns are observed for elliptical and circular fins. In terms of total pressure loss, there is a substantial reduction in case of SEF and N fins. The loss levels for the circular fin are 46.5% and 59.5% higher on average than those of the SEF and N fins, respectively. An examination of the Reynolds analogy performance parameter show that the performance indices of the SEF and the N fins are 1.49 and 2.0 times higher on average than that of circular fins, respectively. The thermal performance indices show a collapse of the data, and the differences are much less evident. Nevertheless, N fins still show slightly higher thermal performance values. The wake flow field measurements show that the circular fin array creates a relatively large low momentum wake zone compared to the SEF and N fin arrays. The wake trajectories of the first row of fins in circular, SEF and N fin arrays are also different from each other. The turbulent kinetic energy levels within the wake of the circular fin array are higher than those for the SEF and the N fin arrays. The transverse variations in turbulence levels correlate well with the corresponding local heat transfer enhancement variations.

Detailed measurements of the flow field within the entire 2nd stage of a two stage axial turbomachine are performed using Particle Image Velocimetry. The experiments are performed in a facility that allows unobstructed view on the entire flow field, facilitated using transparent rotor and stator and a fluid that has the same optical index of refraction as the blades. The entire flow field is composed of a “lattice of wakes”, and the resulting wake-wake and wake-blade interactions cause major flow and turbulence non-uniformities. The paper presents data on the phase averaged velocity and turbulent kinetic energy distributions, as well as the average-passage velocity and deterministic stresses. The phase-dependent turbulence parameters are determined from the difference between instantaneous and the phase-averaged data. The distributions of average-passage flow field over the entire stage in both the stator and rotor frames of reference are calculated by averaging the phase-averaged data. The deterministic stresses are calculated from the difference between the phase-averaged and average-passage velocity distributions. Clearly, wake-wake and wake-blade interactions are the dominant contributors to generation of high deterministic stresses and tangential non-uniformities, in the rotor-stator gap, near the blades and in the wakes behind them. The turbulent kinetic energy levels are generally higher than the deterministic kinetic energy levels, whereas the shear stress levels are comparable, both in the rotor and stator frames of references. At certain locations the deterministic shear stresses are substantially higher than the turbulent shear stresses, such as close to the stator blade in the rotor frame of reference. The non-uniformities in the lateral velocity component due to the interaction of the rotor blade with the 1st stage rotor-stator wakes, result in 13% variations in the specific work input of the rotor. Thus, in spite of the relatively large blade row spacings in the present turbomachine, the non-uniformities in flow structure have significant effects on the overall performance of the system.

This experimental study provides striking examples of the complex flow and turbulence structure resulting from blade-wake and wake-wake interactions in a multi-stage turbomachine. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are performed within the entire 2nd stage of a two-stage turbomachine. The experiments are performed in a facility that allows unobstructed view of the entire flow field, facilitated using transparent rotor and stator and a fluid that has the same optical index of refraction as the blades. This paper contains data on the phase-averaged flow structure including velocity, vorticity and strain-rate, as well as the turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress, at mid span, for several orientation of the rotor relative to the stator. Two different test setups with different blade geometries are used in order to highlight and elucidate complex phenomena involved, as well as to demonstrate that some of the interactions are characteristic to turbomachines and can be found in a variety of geometries. The first part of the paper deals with the interaction of a 2nd stage rotor with the wakes of both the rotor and the stator of the 1st stage. Even before interacting with the blade, localized regions with concentrated mean vorticity and elevated turbulence levels form at the intersection of the rotor and stator wakes of the 1st stage. These phenomena persist even after being ingested by the rotor blade of the 2nd stage. As the wake segment of the 1st stage rotor blade arrives to the 2nd stage, the rotor blades become submerged in its elevated turbulence levels, and separate the region with positive vorticity that travels along the pressure side of the blade, from the region with negative vorticity that remains on the suction side. The 1st stage stator wake is chopped-off by the blades. Due to difference in mean tangential velocity, the stator wake segment on the pressure side is advected faster than the segment on the suction side (in the absolute frame of reference), creating discontinuities in the stator wake trajectory. The non-uniformities in phase-averaged velocity distributions generated by the wakes of the 1st stage persist while passing through the 2nd stage rotor. The combined effects of the 1st stage blade rows cause 10°–12° variations of flow angle along the pressure side of the blade. Thus, in spite of the large gap between the 1st and 2nd rotors (compared to typical rotor-stator spacings in axial compressors), 6.5 rotor axial chords, the wake-blade interactions are substantial. The second part focuses on the flow structure at the intersection of the wakes generated by a rotor and a stator located upstream of it. In both test setups the rotor wake is sheared by the non-uniformities in the horizontal velocity distributions, which are a direct result of the “discontinuities” in the trajectories of the stator wake. This shearing creates a kink in the trajectory of the rotor wake, a quadruple structure in the distribution of strain, regions with concentrated vorticity, high turbulence levels and high shear stresses, the latter with a complex structure that resembles the mean strain. Although the “hot spots” diffuse as they are advected downstream, they still have elevated turbulence levels compared to the local levels around them. In fact, every region of wake intersection has an elevated turbulence level.

PIV measurement s and computational simulations (2D, unsteady Navier-Stokes) are performed to visualize the inherently unsteady j et oscillation inside a fluidi c oscillator. Both the measurements and comput ations are obtained for a j et exit Reynold s number of 32 \ , based on the maximum velocity and the nozzle width at the jet exit plane. The computed jet oscillation frequency is in close agreement with the measured PIV frequency. Formation of a pressure gradient across the jet is observed from the computations. The variation of the jet oscillation frequency with jet exit Reynolds number is also determined by single sensor hot-wire measurements inside the oscillation chamber.

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Detailed experimental investigation of the wall heat transfer enhancement and total pressure loss characteristics for two alternative elliptical pin fin arrays is conducted and the results are compared to the conventional circular pin fin arrays. Two different elliptical pin fin geometries with different major axis lengths are tested, both having a minor axis length equal to the circular fin diameter and positioned at zero degrees angle of attack to the free stream flow. The major axis lengths for the two elliptical fins are 1.67 and 2.5 times the circular fin diameter, respectively. The pin fin arrays with H/D = 1.5 are positioned in a staggered 2 row configuration with 3 fins in the first row and 2 fins in the second row with S/D = X/D = 2. Endwall heat transfer and total pressure loss measurements are performed two diameter downstream of the pin fin arrays (X/D = 2) in a rectangular cross-section tunnel with an aspect ratio of 4.8 and for varying Reynolds numbers between 10000 and 47000 based on the inlet velocity and the fin diameter. Liquid Crystal Thermography is used for the measurement of convective heat transfer coefficient distributions on the endwall inside the wake. The results show that the wall heat transfer enhancement capability of the circular pin fin array is about 25–30% higher than the elliptical pin fin arrays in average. However in terms of total pressure loss, the circular pin fin arrays generate 100–200% more pressure loss than the elliptical pin fin arrays. This makes the elliptical fin arrays very promising cooling devices as an alternative to conventional circular pin fin arrays used in gas turbine blade cooling applications.