Secondary Flow Loss Reduction Method by Use of 3D-Fence in a Gas Turbine Cascade

The aerodynamic loss accounted to the secondary flow, or secondary loss is one of the most prominent causes of the internal losses in turbine cascades. The secondary flow losses are mostly due to the interaction between horseshoe vortex and endwall crossflow. The authors have developed a so-called endwall fence experimentally to reduce the secondary loss in a gas turbine cascade. However, it is very difficult to handle many design parameters simultaneously in experiment. The objective of this research work is to optimize the shape of the 3D-fence with considering many design parameters and clarify the flow mechanism of loss reduction. In addition, one of the most important objectives of this paper is to show this optimization method is effective for the designer of the turbine. In this study, the optimization framework and CFD were applied to the endwall fence (3D-fence) and the effect of it on the crossflow was investigated. As a result, the optimized shape, installation position, and the setting angle of the 3D-fence to mitigate the interaction between the horseshoe vortex and endwall crossflow was specified. In order to validate the effectiveness of the optimization method, total pressure was measured and loss analysis was implemented and flow visualization using oil-film and smoke were implemented. Then, the good agreement can be seen qualitatively between the experimental results and CFD results. It is clarified the 3D-fence delays the confluence between suction side leg and pressure side leg of the horseshoe vortex. Based on both calculation and experiment, it is revealed that the 3D-fence has good effect to reduce the secondary flow loss.