THE MODELING OF UNSTEADY TURBULENT FLOWS IN TURBOMACHINES

Abstract

The suitability of existing models for the simulation of flow through turbomachines is investigated and compared with a recently proposed adaptive turbulence model. Discussed are the improvements in accuracy that can be achieved by using non-linear turbulence models and unsteady calculations. The adaptive turbulence model is based on two equation turbulence modeling. It uses the temporal and spatial scales of the flow field to automatically adapt itself to the unresolved turbulent fluctuations. At its asymptotic limits it reduces either to a Direct Numerical Simulation – when the turbulent scales are in the order of the Kolmogorov micro scale – or to a standard two equation model – when the fluctuations are not resolved at all.

In order to compare the quality of the presented models two cases have been considered: the flow past a cylinder and a subsonic as well as transonic flow past the VKI turbine blade. Calculations have been performed for each case using all the models and the results have been compared with measurements. The unsteady calculations gave better agreement with the experimental data demonstrating the superiority over steady state calculations for turbomachines.