Effect of periodic wakes and a contoured endwall on secondary flow in a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade at low Reynolds numbers

The use of a contoured endwall has the potential to suppress endwall secondary flow. Unsteady wakes affect not only the boundary layer characteristics of blade suction surface at blade midspan but also the endwall flow structures. The lack of understanding of the flow mechanism of the combined effects of periodic wakes and contoured endwall on secondary flow limits their roles. This paper presents a experimental and numerical investigation of the endwall secondary flow in a typical high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade. Wakes were produced by moving rods upstream of cascade, and the flow fields at the exit of cascade were measured using a seven-hole pressure probe. The study focused on the combined effect of the upstream wakes and the contoured endwall on the secondary flow as well as the underlying physical mechanisms. The influences of the Reynolds numbers and the contoured endwall on the performance of high-lift low-pressure turbine endwall regions were also discussed. At steady conditions without wakes, the total losses in the turbine cascade increased with decreasing Reynolds number; the most intense passage vortex, counter vortex and corner vortex were observed at a low Reynolds number of 25,000 (based on the axial chord and the inlet velocity). The contoured endwall decreased the cross-passage pressure gradient, and suppressed the passage vortex. Under unsteady conditions, the interaction between upstream wakes and the passage vortex results in reduction of the passage vortex. The combined effect of the contoured endwall and periodic wakes redistributed the endwall pressure and further decreased the cross-passage pressure gradient. Consequently, the intensities of the passage vortex and counter vortex decreased by 17% and 11% respectively, compared with the flat endwall cascade with wakes. Contoured endwall with wakes reduced secondary kinetic energy of cascade exit by 53.8% than the result of the flat endwall no wake. Which is beneficial to improve the aerodynamic performance of the high-lift low-pressure turbine.