Active Boundary Layer Control on a Highly Loaded Turbine Exit Case Profile

• Main Authors: Julia Kurz, Martin Hoeger, Reinhard Niehuis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power
• Subjects: turbine exit case; active flow control; low Reynolds numbers
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2504-186X/3/1/8

A highly loaded turbine exit guide vane with active boundary layer control was investigated experimentally in the High Speed Cascade Wind Tunnel at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces, Munich. The experiments include profile Mach number distributions, wake traverse measurements as well as boundary layer investigations with a flattened Pitot probe. Active boundary layer control by fluidic oscillators was applied to achieve improved performance in the low Reynolds number regime. Low solidity, which can be applied to reduce the number of blades, increases the risk of flow separation resulting in increased total pressure losses. Active boundary layer control is supposed to overcome these negative effects. The experiments show that active boundary layer control by fluidic oscillators is an appropriate way to suppress massive open separation bubbles in the low Reynolds number regime.