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The present study reports the numerical investigation of the compressor cascade. To minimize the separation phenomenon in the compressor cascade, a passive flow control device i.e. Micro Vortex Generator (MVG) is utilized. MVG is a very simple and lightweight attachment mounted infront of the leading edge of the cascade blade. Due to being passive in nature, it neither consumes power nor requires any external device to actuate. The numerical simulations were carried out on a highly loaded compressor cascade at an angle of incidence of −1° under subsonic conditions at Mach number 0.2. The profile of the compressor cascade blade was double circular arc (DCA), unsymmetrical and cambered at 40°. Two different types of micro vortex generators were mounted infront of the leading edge in the compressor cascade to control the secondary flows since secondary flows were responsible for various losses in cascade. To analyze the flow under incompressoible state of air (M = 0.2), Star CCM + software has been used. To simulate the flow under turbulent condition, k-ω SST turbulence model was used. A velocity profile of 25 mm boundary layer thickness was extracted and used as an input in the compressor cascade. Mounting of MVG on compressor cascade enhanced drag but also increased lift. Total pressure loss coefficient (TPLC) was calculated to compare the losses. The aerodynamic efficiency in terms of coefficient of lift and coefficient of drag has been used to study the effect of MVG over cascade. It is found that there is reduction in total pressure loss coefficient (TPLC) for trapezoidal and curved trapezoidal types of MVGs and the decrease in percentage are 2.17 and 8.86%, respectively. Alos, aerodynamic efficiency is increased by mounting trapezoidal and curved trapezoidal types of MVG and the increase in percentages are 2.03 and 3.10%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the numerical investigations to analyze the effect of the application of Gurney Flaps on various configurations in a Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) cascade in mitigating the laminar flow separation during low Reynolds number operations. T106 LPT blade of chord 60 mm has been selected for the present study. Gurney Flaps of flat type and quarter round type of a particular height of the chord length are selected. Flaps are provided near the blades' trailing edges for numerical analysis. The numerical computations are performed using STARCCM+ software, and the K-ω SST turbulence Model is used for turbulence closure. The studies are performed at various Reynolds numbers ranging from 37,500 to 138,750 to understand the application of various configurations of Gurney Flap vis a vis turbine blade without Gurney Flap. Performance parameters such as lift coefficient, drag coefficient, aerodynamic efficiency, and static pressure distributions over the blade surface are used to analyse the alterations in the performance of aerodynamic characteristics of the LPT Blade. All the Gurney Flap configurations improved the overall blade aerodynamics. Among these configurations, the flat Gurney Flap configuration is found to be superior as it improves the aerodynamic efficiency of the blade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two dimensional computations were conducted to investigate the performance of NACA 0010 cascades with Gurney Flaps. The cascades with three different stagger angles (βB) viz. 45°, 90° and 135° were studied for the aerodynamic performance characteristics of the blades with and without Gurney Flaps and the results were compared. The Gurney Flap's length is 2 % of the chord length and has a 45° inclination with respect to the chord line. A significant lift augmentation is observed in all the three blade angle configurations due to the Gurney Flap. In terms of aerodynamic efficiency, it was observed that the presence of Gurney Flap was detrimental when βB = 45°, while the same was highly advantageous when βB = 135°. The streamline visualizations indicated the existence of counter rotating vortex pairs behind the Gurney Flap and that their rate of decay with respect to the Angle of attack was affected by the stagger angle at which the blades were arranged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational investigations on the effect of Gurney flaps in a NACA 0010 cascade with a 90o blade angle were carried out using STARCCM+ code. The flaps were positioned at the trailing edge of the blades and were aligned at 45o and 90o to the blade chord. The variations in the lift, drag, aerodynamic efficiency and static pressure distributions were recorded on the blades and were compared with the baseline case. Significant increase in the lift coefficient was observed due to the Gurney flaps accompanied by a small drag penalty. This is achieved by increasing the effective camber of the blade, thereby increasing the pressure difference between the pressure and suction surfaces. The Gurney flaps increased the aerodynamic efficiency of the blade at lower angles of attack, whereas at higher angles a small drop in the value was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]