• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.813-821
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• 1997

Three-dimensional turbulent incompressible flow through the tip clearance of a linear turbine rotor cascade with high turning angle has been analyzed numerically. As a preliminary study to predict the tip clearance loss realistically, a generalized k-.epsilon. model derived by RNG (renormalized group) method is used for the modeling of Reynolds stresses to account for the strain rate of turbulent flow. The effects of the tip clearance flow on the passage vortex, the total pressure loss are considered qualitatively. The existences of vena contract and tip clearance vortex have been confirmed and it has been shown that as the size of the tip clearance increases, the accumulated flow through the tip clearance and the total pressure loss downstream of the cascade increase.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.743-750
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• 2008

Asymmetric tip clearance in an axial compressor induces pressure and velocity redistributions along the circumferential direction in an axial compressor. This paper presents the mechanism of the flow redistribution due to the asymmetric tip clearance with a simple numerical modeling. The flow field of a rotor of an axial compressor is predicted when an asymmetric tip clearance occurs along the circumferential direction. The modeling results are supported by CFD results not only to validate the present modeling but also to investigate more detailed flow fields. Asymmetric tip clearance makes local flow area and resultant axial velocity vary along the circumferential direction. This flow redistribution 'seed' results in a different flow patterns according to the flow coefficient. Flow field redistribution patterns are largely dependent on the local tip clearance performance at low flow coefficients. However, the contribution of the main flow region becomes dominant while the tip clearance effect becomes weak as the flow coefficient increases. The flow field redistribution pattern becomes noticeably strong if a blockage effect is involved when the flow coefficient increases. The relative flow angle at the small clearance region decreases which result in a negative incidence angle at the high flow coefficient. It causes a recirculation region at the blade pressure surface which results in the flow blockage. It promotes the strength of the flow field redistribution at the rotor outlet. These flow pattern changes have an effect on the blade loading perturbations. The integration of blade loading perturbation from control volume analysis of the circumferential momentum leads to well-known Alford's force. Alford's force is always negative when the flow blockage effects are excluded. However when the flow blockage effect is incorporated into the modeling, main flow effects on the flow redistribution is also reflected on the Alford's force at the high flow coefficient. Alford's force steeply increases as the flow coefficient increases, because of the tip leakage suppression and strong flow redistribution. The predicted results are well agreed to CFD results by Kang and Kang(2006).

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.979-989
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• 2004

Numerical simulations have been performed to investigate tip clearance effect on through-flow and performance of a centrifugal compressor which has the same configuration of impeller with six different tip clearances. Secondary flow and loss distribution have been surveyed to understand the flow mechanism due to the tip clearance. Tip leakage flow strongly interacts with mainstream flow and considerably changes the secondary flow and the loss distribution inside the impeller passage. A method has been described to quantitatively estimate the tip clearance effect on the performance drop and the efficiency drop. The tip clearance has caused specific work reduction and additional entropy generation. The former, which is called inviscid loss, is independent of any internal loss and the latter, which is called viscous loss, is dependent on every loss in the flow passage. Two components equally affected the performance drop as the tip clearances were small, while the efficiency drop was influenced by the viscous component alone. The additional entropy generation was modeled with all the kinetic energy of the tip leakage flow. Therefore, the present paper can provide how to quantitatively estimate the tip clearance effect on the performance and efficiency.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.46-53
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• 2008

Flow structures in an axial compressor with a non-uniform tip clearance were predicted by solving a simple prediction method. For more reliable prediction at the off-design condition, off-design flow characteristics such as loss and flow blockage were incorporated in the model. The predicted results showed that flow field near the design condition is largely dependent on the local tip clearance effect. However overall flow field characteristics are totally reversed at off-design condition, especially at the high flow coefficient. The tip clearance effect decreases, while the local loss and flow blockage make a complicated effect on the compressor flow field. The resultant fluid induced Alford's force has a negative value near the design condition and it reverses its sign as the flow coefficient increases and shows a very steep increase as the flow coefficient increases.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2009

The effect of inlet and outlet blade angles on a micro regenerative pump head was examined in experiments. The pump head was little increased by changing the blade angles compared with the original pump with the inlet and outlet blade angles of 0 degree. The effect of the axial clearance between the impeller and the casing on the pump head was also examined. The head was increased largely by decreasing the axial clearance. The computation of the internal flow was performed to clarify the cause of the increase of the pump head due to the decrease of the clearance. The local flow rate in the casing decreased as the leakage flow rate through the axial clearance decreased due to the decrease of the clearance. It was found that the larger head in the smaller clearance was just caused by the smaller local flow rate in the casing. In the case of the smaller clearance, the smaller local flow rate caused the smaller circumferential velocity near the front and rear sides of the impeller. This caused the increase of the angular momentum in the casing and the head.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.307-317
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• 2018

In this study, numerical investigations of the tip clearance flow characteristics of a pumpjet propulsor based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method have been presented. The Zwart-Gerber-Belamri (Z-G-B) cavitation model based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method is employed. The structured gird is applied. The formation and development of the tip clearance flows has been investigated and presented. The structure of the tip leakage vortex has been shown. The radial distributions of different velocity components with different Span along the axial direction have been carried out to present the influence of the tip clearance flow on the main flow. In addition, the influences of the tip clearance size on the pumpjet propulsor performance, including the impact on the velocity flow fields and the cavitation characteristic, have been presented.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.279-283
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• 2002

The effects of finite gap at the tip of turbomachinery blades have long been topics of both theoretical and experimental research because tip clearance degrades turbomachinery performance. This paper presents an analytical study of radial flow redistribution in a high speed compressor stage with axisymmetric tip clearance. The flow is assumed to be inviscid and compressible. The stage is modeled as an actuator disc and the analysis is carried out in the meridional plane. Upon going through the stage, the radially uniform upstream flow splits into the tip clearance and passage flows. The tip clearance flow is modeled as a jet driven by blade loading, or pressure difference between the pressure and suction sides. The model takes into consideration the detached shocks which occur in the rotor passage at the design point. This shock model is used to calculate the density ratio across the stage. Thus, the model is capable of predicting the kinematic effects of tip clearance in the high speed compressor flow field.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.12a
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• pp.240-247
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• 1998

Leakage vortices formed near blade tip causes an increase of total pressure loss near casing endwall region and as a result, the efficiency of rotor decreases. The reduction of rotor efficiency is related to the size of tip clearance. In this study, the three-dimensional flowfields in an axial flow rotor were calculated with varying tip clearance under various flow rates, and the numerical results were compared with experimental ones. The effects of tip clearance and attack angle on the leakage vortex and overall performance, and the less distributions were investigated through numerical calculations. In this study, tip leakage flow rate and total pressure loss by tip clearance were evaluated using numerical results and aprroximate equations were presented to evaluate the reduction of rotor efficiency by tip leakage flow.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1113-1120
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• 1999

Leakage vortices fonned near the blade tip cause an increase of total pressure loss near the casing endwall region and as a result, the efficiency of rotor decreases. The reduction of rotor efficiency is related to the size of tip clearance. In this study, the three-dimensional flow fields in an axial flow rotor were calculated with varying tip clearance under various flow rates, and the numerical results were compared with experimental ones. The effects of tip clearance and the of attack on the leakage vortex and overall performance, and the los9 distributions were investigated through numerical calculations. In this study, tip leakage flow rate and total pressure loss due to the tip clearance were evaluated using numerical results and approximate equations were presented to evaluate the reduction of rotor efficiency due to the tip leakage flow.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.606-616
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• 2003

A numerical analysis has been conducted in order to simulate the characteristics of complex flow through linear cascades of high performance turbine blade with/without tip clearance by using a pressure-correction based, generalized 3D incompressible Wavier-Stokes CFD code. The development and generation of horseshoe vortex, passage vortex, leakage vortex, tip vortex within tip clearance, etc. are clearly identified through the present simulation which uses the RNG k-$\varepsilon$ turbulent model with wall function method and a second-order linear upwind scheme for convective terms. The present simulation results are consistent with the generally known tendency that occurs in the blade passage and tip clearance. A 3D model for secondary and leakage flows through turbine cascades with/without tip clearance is also suggested from the present simulation results, including the effects of tip clearance height.