Experimental and Computational Study of Oscillating Turbine Cascade and Influence of Part-Span Shrouds

This paper presents a combined experimental and computational study of unsteady flows in a linear turbine cascade oscillating in a three-dimensional bending/flapping mode. Detailed experimental data are obtained on a seven-bladed turbine cascade rig. The middle blade is driven to oscillate and oscillating cascade data are obtained using an influence coefficient method. The numerical simulations are performed by using a 3D nonlinear time-marching Navier–Stokes flow solver. Single-passage domain computations for arbitrary interblade phase angles are achieved by using the Fourier shape correction method. Both measurements and predictions demonstrate a fully 3D behavior of the unsteady flows. The influence of the aerodynamic blockage introduced by part-span shrouds on turbine flutter has been investigated by introducing flat plate shaped shrouds at 75% span. In contrast to practical applications, in the present test configuration, the mode of vibration of the blades remains unchanged by the introduction of the part-span shroud. This allows the influence of the aerodynamic blockage introduced by the part-span shroud to be assessed in isolation from the change in mode shape. A simple shroud model has been developed in the computational solver. The computed unsteady pressures around the shrouds are in good agreement with the experimental data, demonstrating the validity of the simple shroud model. Despite of notable variations in local unsteady pressures around the shrouds, the present results show that the blade aerodynamic damping is largely unaffected by the aerodynamic blockage introduced by part-span shrouds.