Flow control structures for turbomachines and methods of designing the same
First Claim
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1. A turbomachine, comprising:
- a downstream element having an inlet, a shroud side and a hub side;
an impeller comprising a hub and a plurality of blades and having an inlet, an exit, and an axis of rotation, each of said plurality of blades having a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending in a spanwise direction from said hub to a shroud side of said blade;
a shroud having a face confronting said shroud sides of said plurality of blades, said shroud and said hub defining an impeller passageway;
said impeller designed and configured to;
discharge a working fluid into said downstream element; and
generate a flow field in said working fluid at said exit including a weak side proximate one of said hub and said shroud and a strong side proximate the other one of said hub and said shroud, wherein a meridional component of an absolute velocity of the flow field is greater on the strong side than the weak side; and
at least one channel extending in a flow-wise direction along a portion of at least one of said shroud side and said hub side of said downstream element at a location downstream of said inlet of said downstream element, said at least one channel having a centerline that has a tangent line extending at an angle, α
, as measured in an absolute frame of reference from a meridional reference plane extending through said axis of rotation, said at least one channel selectively located adjacent the weak side of the flow field and being designed and configured to guide a portion of said weak side of said flow field in a direction that is substantially the same as α
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wherein said downstream element includes a row of blades having leading edges located proximate said inlet of said downstream element, wherein a portion of said at least one channel is located downstream of said leading edges of said row of blades of said downstream element;
wherein said at least one channel has a beginning location located upstream of said trailing edges of said impeller blades.
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Abstract
Flow control devices and structures designed and configured to improve the performance of a turbomachine. Exemplary flow control devices may include various flow guiding channels, ribs, diffuser passage-width reductions, and other treatments and may be located on one or both of a shroud and hub side of a machine to redirect, guide, or otherwise influence portions of a turbomachine flow field to thereby improve the performance of the machine.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A turbomachine, comprising:
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a downstream element having an inlet, a shroud side and a hub side; an impeller comprising a hub and a plurality of blades and having an inlet, an exit, and an axis of rotation, each of said plurality of blades having a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending in a spanwise direction from said hub to a shroud side of said blade; a shroud having a face confronting said shroud sides of said plurality of blades, said shroud and said hub defining an impeller passageway; said impeller designed and configured to; discharge a working fluid into said downstream element; and generate a flow field in said working fluid at said exit including a weak side proximate one of said hub and said shroud and a strong side proximate the other one of said hub and said shroud, wherein a meridional component of an absolute velocity of the flow field is greater on the strong side than the weak side; and at least one channel extending in a flow-wise direction along a portion of at least one of said shroud side and said hub side of said downstream element at a location downstream of said inlet of said downstream element, said at least one channel having a centerline that has a tangent line extending at an angle, α
, as measured in an absolute frame of reference from a meridional reference plane extending through said axis of rotation, said at least one channel selectively located adjacent the weak side of the flow field and being designed and configured to guide a portion of said weak side of said flow field in a direction that is substantially the same as α
;wherein said downstream element includes a row of blades having leading edges located proximate said inlet of said downstream element, wherein a portion of said at least one channel is located downstream of said leading edges of said row of blades of said downstream element; wherein said at least one channel has a beginning location located upstream of said trailing edges of said impeller blades. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A turbomachine, comprising:
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a downstream element having a plurality of blades having leading edges, a shroud side and a hub side; an impeller comprising a plurality of blades; and at least one stationary channel extending in a flow-wise direction and formed in at least one of said shroud side and said hub side of said downstream element, at least a portion of said at least one channel is located downstream of said leading edges of said plurality of blades of said downstream element; wherein said at least one channel has a beginning location located upstream of said trailing edges of said impeller blades. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A turbomachine, comprising:
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an impeller having a plurality of blades having trailing edges; a shroud having a face confronting said plurality of blades; a downstream element having an inlet;
wherein the downstream element is a diffuser; andat least one stationary channel extending in a flow-wise direction and formed in said shroud; wherein said at least one channel has a flow-wise curvature that is designed and configured to be substantially the same as a flow-wise angle profile of a flow field generated by the impeller over a flow-wise distance extending from a location upstream of the impeller blade trailing edge to a location downstream of the downstream element inlet; wherein said impeller has a meridional length (M) from an inlet to an exit of the impeller, wherein the location upstream of the impeller blade trailing edges is at least 10% M upstream of the trailing edges. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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Specification