Numerical and experimental investigation of turbomachinery rotor flow fields

Experimental and numerical investigation of turbomachinery flows were conducted. Emphasis is placed on the measurement of the flow field inside a low speed compressor rotor. A three-sensor hot-wire probe was used to measure the outer end-wall flow, a five-hole probe is used to measure the inviscid flow, and a two-sensor hot-wire probe was used to measure the blade boundary layer. All three probes were rotated with the rotor. In the numerical study, emphasis is placed on the development of a space-marching method for incompressible flow. Algebraic eddy viscosity models as well as a modified k-epsilon model were used to model the turbulence. The k-epsilon model was modified in order to take into account the anisotropy of the eddy viscosity and the rotation effects on turbulence. The problems associated with the prediction of turbomachinery flows with space-marching (or parabolic) methods are discussed. Emphasis is given to the grid system and the boundary conditions.