Comparison of Eddy Viscosity Models for High Turbulence Nozzle Guide Vane Flows

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the performance of eddy viscosity turbulence models for high-pressure nozzle guide vane (NGV) flows with engine-realistic turbulence. Using metrics such as integrated kinetic energy (KE) loss and mixing rate, we compare simulation results using turbulence models with high-fidelity experimental data from fully-cooled NGVs, operating at engine-matched conditions of Reynolds number and Mach. For the widely-used k–ω shear stress transport (SST) model, the aerodynamic and thermal wakes of the NGVs were undermixed, due to the artificial suppression of the incoming turbulence. We compare simulation results with those using other common turbulence models including the standard k–ω, baseline k–ω, Spalart–Allmaras, and baseline explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model. Alternative turbulence models formulations are explored, with an emphasis on modifications to the implementation of the shear stress limiter. We also investigate the sensitivity of models to the specified inlet turbulence intensity. We demonstrate that predictions of integrated KE loss, as well as the decay trends of the aerodynamic and thermal wakes are a closer match to experimental data for the baseline algebraic Reynolds stress model than for other turbulence models in more common use for NGV predictions.