Analysis of Flow through Vaneless Contra-Rotating Turbine of Jet Propulsion Engine

Abstract

As per the increasing demand of Jet propulsion Engine, it is required to improve the efficiency, reduction of weight and consideration of fuel consumption, which lead the researchers to arrive at an unconventional turbine known as vaneless contra rotating turbine (VCRT). The major advantage of this is in its compactness or in its ability to give high power/total weight. Research in this area is being pursued since many years. Scientists are putting their best to get the aim to its zenith. Such placement of flow path elements gives benefits, but needs special approach to organize flow inside the turbine. Modern aerodynamic designs, computational and optimization methodologies allow us to fulfill this task in the shortest period of time with the highest gain in turbine performance. The Aim of this topic is to understand the significance of blade design, geometries & domains and its effect in turbine efficiency & performance at various operating conditions. In this paper, three-dimensional multiblade row Navier-Stokes (3D RANS) simulations have been performed to investigate the flow characteristics of a VCRT. Bladegen modular are used to generate the Blades. TurboGrid modular is used for meshing. The turbine components are modeled for all the three spacing. In present work, 3D viscous flow simulation with SST k-? turbulence model is carried out in ANSYS CFX14.5. The flow in VCRT is very complex including several flow phenomena, such as turbulence, separation, swirling flow and unsteadiness flow. The variation of flow parameters from hub to tip of blades are presented in graphical form and average circumferential area (ACA) value of cascade parameters from inlet to outlet of the blades are computed at different operating regimes. The results of this analysis shows a good prediction of the flow behavior inside the blades and this lead to acceptable blade design, which can be used in VCRT.