This paper presents the simulation of the flow in a 1.5 stage low-speed axial turbine with shrouded rotor blades and focuses on the interaction of the labyrinth seal leakage flow with the main flow. The presented results were obtained using the Navier-Stokes code ITSM3D developed at University of Stuttgart. A comparison of the computational results with experimental data of this test case gained at Ruhr-Universita¨t Bochum verifies that the flow solver is capable of reproducing the leakage flow effects to a sufficient extent. The computational results are used to examine the influence of the leakage flow on the flow field of the turbine. By varying the clearance height of the labyrinth in the simulations, the impact of the re-entering leakage flow on the main flow is studied. As demonstrated in this paper, leakage flow not only introduces mixing losses but can also dominate the secondary flow and induce severe losses. In agreement with the experimental data the computational results show that at realistic clearance heights the leakage flow gives rise to negative incidence over a considerable part of the downstream stator which causes the flow to separate.

This paper examines the impact of labyrinth seal leakage flow over the rotor shroud on the loss generation in an axial turbine stage. Numerical studies have been carried out with an in-house solver using the Baldwin -Lomax turbulence model to identify the changes in secondary flow structures. The code has been validated for this application using test data from a low-speed axial turbine stage with a simple generic rotor shroud labyrinth seal. Numerical simulations are carried out with different clearance gaps (0, 1, and 3 mm) and without cavity wells. The simulations are used to distinguish the separate interactions of the main flow with the leakage flow and the cavity flow. The leakage flow causes a strong increase in the secondary flow kinetic energy in the downstream stator. Both the leakage flow and the cavity flow lead to an increase in the secondary kinetic energy in the rotor.

With the increase of computational power, more sophisticated computational methods can be used, larger systems simulated, and complex phenomena predicted more reliably. Nevertheless, up to now, when turbomachinery systems are numerically optimized, each of the components, i.e., the compressor, combustor, and turbine, is simulated separately from the other two. While this approach allows the use of highly dedicated simulation tools, it does not account for the interactions between the different components. With the purpose to meet the future requirements in terms of low emissions, high reliability and efficiency, a novel, highly efficient, fully-coupled, approach based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) has been developed, enabling a steady or time-accurate simulation of a full aero-engine within a single code. One of the advantages of a steady, fully coupled approach over a steady component-by-component approach, is that the boundary conditions at the interfaces do not need to be guessed. A fully coupled, time-accurate simulation has furthermore the advantage that the effect of the non-uniform temperature distribution at the outlet of the combustor is accounted for in the determination of the thermal field of the turbine. A Smart Interface methodology permits a direct coupling between the different engine components, compressor-combustor-turbine, and allows the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to vary between each component within the same code. This allows the user to switch off, for instance, the combustion model in the turbine and compressor blocks. For the simulation of the combustion process, the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) method is applied. While the approach is superior to classical tabulated chemistry approaches and reliably captures finite-rate effects, it is computationally inexpensive since it only requires the solution of a few extra scalars and the look-up of a combustion table. The model has been extended so that high-speed compressible flows can be simulated and the potential effects between the combustor and the adjacent blade rows can be accounted for. The Nonlinear Harmonic (NLH) method is used to model the unsteady interactions between the blade rows as well as the influence of the inhomogeneities at the combustor outlet on the downstream turbine blade rows. Compared to conventional time-accurate RANS simulations (URANS), this method is two to three orders of magnitude faster and makes time-accurate turbomachinery simulations affordable. With the aim of ensuring thermodynamic consistency between the different components of the engine, the same form of the energy equation is solved in all engine elements. Furthermore, the same thermodynamic coefficients, which are used to describe the reacting processes in the combustor, are used for a caloric description of the fluid in the compressor and turbine blocks. The thermodynamic data between the blocks is transferred using the OpenLabs™ module. The developed approach is described in detail and the potential of the novel full-engine methodology is exploited on the KJ66 micro-turbine gas engine case. The results of both the steady and the time-accurate, fully coupled approaches are analyzed and the interaction between the different components of the KJ66 engine discussed.

The development of new generations of aircraft engines with reduced environmental impact heavily relies on high-fidelity 3D numerical analysis of the main engine components, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and their interactions, including the transient and off-design behavior of the full engine. Unlike component-by-component analysis, which requires separate assumptions for the pressure and temperature boundary conditions for each component, a fully coupled approach requires only knowledge of the compressor inlet and turbine outlet flow conditions. In addition, the engine rotation speed can also be varied during the simulation to converge to the correct balance of power between compressor and turbine. This integrated approach provides a detailed description of the flow field inside the full engine at the desired operating point with one single CFD simulation. The full engine simulation methodology can be developed at several levels: (1) RANS simulations with mixing-plane interfaces between components; (2) advanced RANS treatment with inputs from the nonlinear harmonic (NLH) methodology to allow for tangential non-uniformity, such as hot streaks entering the turbine nozzle from the combustor; (3) inclusion of the unsteady rotor-stator interactions, via NLH, in compressor and turbine stages; (4) coupling with LES simulations in the combustor. This paper presents results from levels (1) and (2) of this methodology applied to a micro-turbine gas engine including the HP compressor, combustor, HP and LP turbines and the exhaust hood. The geometry has been obtained from the redesign of the KJ66 micro gas turbine engine using preliminary design tools. The injection and burning of fuel inside the combustion chamber are modeled with a simplified flamelet model. The paper presents the approach and results of the full engine simulation; as well as the initial steps towards level (3).

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