NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF THE FLOW FIELD NEAR THE TIP OF A ROTATING TURBINE BLADE
S. Han, B. Han, P. Jin, and R. J. Goldstein UDC 532.517.2 Numerical analysis of the three-dimensional flow fields in an annual cascade with tip clearance and rotation and in a linear cascade is carried out. A comparison with flow visualization verifies the computational result. The comparison indicates that the numerical analysis captures the separation on the tip edge of the pressure side of the blade and the flow direction over the tip surface. However, it does not properly indicate the separation on the leading edge of the suction side. Rotation weakens the leakage flow so that the size of the separation bubble decreases on the tip surface. Large tip clearance increases leakage flow so that the tip vortex is larger and moves to the suction side. Heat Transfer Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA; email: bshan@me.umn.edu. The article submitted June, 29, 2000. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 14-22, July-August, 2001. Original article submitted September 29, 2000. JEPTER7492020016 JEPTER749206