Square tabs were placed on the base of an ellipsoidal center-body (CB) in short annular diffusers. Tests were conducted in subsonic swirling flow with an inlet Reynolds number of 1 × 105. The tabs, with a projected height equivalent to the boundary layer thickness, reduced the outlet distortion and incurred a pressure penalty in the three smaller diffusers whose designs were not expected to stall. The largest area ratio (AR = 6.18) diffuser improved back pressure coefficient 4.6% with four tabs that blocked 4.7% of the inlet cross section over its bare diffuser but was 42% lower than that obtained by the AR = 2.73 diffuser with no tabs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was useful for capturing relevant flow features that corroborated with experimental data and literature. Tabs oriented normal to the diffuser axis were less effective at influencing the flow as swirl angle increased but similar elongated wakes oriented with the flow direction were observed at all simulated swirl angles. The CFD either predicted equivalent performance due to the over-prediction associated with diffusion equaling the under-prediction associated with vorticity or over-predicted performance.
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September 2015
Research-Article
Investigation of Tabs in Short Annular Diffusers With Swirling Flow
D. J. Cerantola,
D. J. Cerantola
Department of Mechanical and
Materials Engineering,
e-mail: david.cerantola@queensu.ca
Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: david.cerantola@queensu.ca
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A. M. Birk
A. M. Birk
Department of Mechanical and
Materials Engineering,
e-mail: birk@me.queensu.ca
Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: birk@me.queensu.ca
Search for other works by this author on:
D. J. Cerantola
Department of Mechanical and
Materials Engineering,
e-mail: david.cerantola@queensu.ca
Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: david.cerantola@queensu.ca
A. M. Birk
Department of Mechanical and
Materials Engineering,
e-mail: birk@me.queensu.ca
Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: birk@me.queensu.ca
Contributed by the Turbomachinery Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received November 26, 2014; final manuscript received January 24, 2015; published online February 18, 2015. Editor: David Wisler.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Sep 2015, 137(9): 092601 (8 pages)
Published Online: September 1, 2015
Article history
Received:
November 26, 2014
Revision Received:
January 24, 2015
Online:
February 18, 2015
Citation
Cerantola, D. J., and Birk, A. M. (September 1, 2015). "Investigation of Tabs in Short Annular Diffusers With Swirling Flow." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. September 2015; 137(9): 092601. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029695
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