Coupled fluid-thermal-solid simulation of axial through-flow rotating cavities

The rotating cavities of aero-engine compressors are the main part of secondary air flow system. It is known that there are typical multidisciplinary fluid-thermal-solid coupling characteristics in them. The high precision prediction of disc surface temperature is very important for structure designer to select materials, control blade clearances et al. The aim of this paper is to investigate the aerodynamic-thermal simulation model to obtain the method and tool for reliable temperature prediction. The paper firstly selected publicly available experimental data of two rotating cavity geometries with twin-discs to validate the precision of established fluid-thermal simulation model with the different grids, difference schemes and turbulence models. The results showed that the RNG-KE turbulence model with QUICK scheme has the better simulation precision for flow structure and Nusselt number distribution. Based on the above research, a fluid-thermal-solid coupling simulation of a twin-cavities model which is approaching to the real conditions of aero-engine has been carried out. The wall temperature distribution on inner surface has been obtained and its maximum error comparing with the experimental value is 8°C. Also the results further validated the reliabilities of the flow model, heat transfer model and fluid-thermal-solid coupling model. The paper also shows the flow field structure of rotating cavity for further understanding the internal flow characteristics.