Flow and heat transfer in an aero-engine compressor disk cavity with radial inflow has been studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), large eddy simulation (LES), and coupled fluid/solid modeling. Standalone CFD investigations were conducted using a set of popular turbulence models along with 0.2 deg axisymmetric and a 22.5 deg discrete sector CFD models. The overall agreement between the CFD predictions is good, and solutions are comparable to an established integral method solution in the major part of the cavity. The LES simulation demonstrates that flow unsteadiness in the cavity due to the unstable thermal stratification is largely suppressed by the radial inflow. Steady flow CFD modeling using the axisymmetric sector model and the Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model was coupled with a finite element (FE) thermal model of the rotating cavity. Good agreement was obtained between the coupled solution and rig test data in terms of metal temperature. Analysis confirms that using a small radial bleed flow in compressor cavities is effective in reducing thermal response times for the compressor disks and that this could be applied in management of compressor blade clearance.

Flow and heat transfer in axial compressor disk cavities involve strong interaction of axial throughflow at the disk bores with centrifugal buoyant flow in the cavities. This paper presents large eddy simulation (LES) of flow and heat transfer in rotating cavities with a heated shroud and a relatively weak axial cooling throughflow. The conditions considered for a single cavity configuration correspond to Rossby numbers $Ro=0.2$ and $0.3$⁠, rotational Reynolds numbers $ReΩ=3.2× 105$ and $7.7×105$⁠, and buoyancy parameters $βΔT=0.24$ and $0.26$⁠. Reasonable agreement of the results with shroud heat transfer measurements was confirmed for the $Ro=0.2$ condition for which test data were available. A dual cavity configuration for $Ro=0.3$ and $ReΩ=3.2× 105$ is also modeled. The simulations show that, at low Ro conditions, flow reversals occur along the length of the bore flow path, upstream and downstream of the rotating cavities. With the dual cavity strong, unsteady interactions between the flows in the two cavities occur. These flow interactions result in less stable flow structures, higher air temperatures within the cavities and lower shroud and disk heat transfer compared to the single cavity case. FFT analysis reveals a complex phase-locking mechanism between flows in the two cavities.

This paper describes a coupling framework for parallel execution of different solvers for multi-physics and multi-domain simulations with an arbitrary number of adjacent zones connected by different physical or overlapping interfaces. The coupling architecture is based on the execution of several instances of the same coupling code and relies on the use of smart edges (i.e., separate processes) dedicated to managing the exchange of information between two adjacent regions. The collection of solvers and coupling sessions forms a flexible and modular system, where the data exchange is handled by independent servers that are dedicated to a single interface connecting two solvers’ sessions. Accuracy and performance of the strategy is considered for turbomachinery applications involving Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) analysis and Sliding Plane (SP) interfaces.

This paper presents wall-modeled large-eddy simulations (WMLES) of a chute-type turbine rim seal. Configurations with an axisymmetric annulus flow and with nozzle guide vanes fitted (but without rotor blades) are considered. The passive scalar concentration solution and WMLES are validated against available data in the literature for uniform convection and a rotor–stator cavity flow. The WMLES approach is shown to be effective, giving significant improvements over an eddy viscosity turbulence model, in prediction of rim seal effectiveness compared to research rig measurements. WMLES requires considerably less computational time than wall-resolved LES, and has the potential for extension to engine conditions. All WMLES solutions show rotating inertial waves in the chute seal. Good agreement between WMLES and measurements for sealing effectiveness in the configuration without vanes is found. For cases with vanes fitted, the WMLES simulation shows less ingestion than the measurements, and possible reasons are discussed.