Diffusion rate influences on inter-turbine diffusers

Abstract

Inter-turbine diffusers are becoming of increasing importance to the aero gas turbine designer to diffuse the flow between the HP (high-pressure) or IP (intermediate-pressure) turbine and the LP (low-pressure) turbine. Diffusing the flow upstream of the LP turbine and raising the mean passage radius increases stage efficiency. These inter-turbine diffusers, which have high curvature, S-shaped geometry and low-energy wakes created by the upstream turbine, together give rise to secondary flows, making the flow fully three-dimensional. Using both experimental measurements and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) predictions, this paper demonstrates how the secondary flow behaviour is controlled by both the duct diffusion rate and upstream wake intensity.

Keywords

inter-turbine diffusers turbines CFD secondary flow

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