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Three-dimensional flow structures and associated turbulence in the tip region of a waterjet pump rotor blade

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Abstract

Stereo particle image velocimetry measurements focus on the flow structure and turbulence within the tip leakage vortex (TLV) of an axial waterjet pump rotor. Unobstructed optical access to the sample area is achieved by matching the optical refractive index of the transparent pump with that of the fluid. Data obtained in closely spaced planes enable us to reconstruct the 3D TLV structure, including all components of the mean vorticity and strain-rate tensor along with the Reynolds stresses and associated turbulence production rates. The flow in the tip region is highly three-dimensional, and the characteristics of the TLV and leakage flow vary significantly along the blade tip chordwise direction. The TLV starts to roll up along the suction side tip corner of the blade, and it propagates within the passage toward the pressure side of the neighboring blade. A shear layer with increasing length connects the TLV to the blade tip and initially feeds vorticity into it. During initial rollup, the TLV involves entrainment of a few vortex filaments with predominantly circumferential vorticity from the blade tip. Being shed from the blade, these filaments also have high circumferential velocity and appear as swirling jets. The circumferential velocity in the TLV core is also substantially higher than that in the surrounding passage flow, but the velocity peak does not coincide with the point of maximum vorticity. When entrainment of filaments stops in the aft part of the passage, newly forming filaments wrap around the core in helical trajectories. In ensemble-averaged data, these filaments generate a vortical region that surrounds the TLV with vorticity that is perpendicular to that in the vortex core. Turbulence within the TLV is highly anisotropic and spatially non-uniform. Trends can be traced to high turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent shear stresses, e.g., in the shear layer containing the vortex filaments and the contraction region situated along the line where the leakage backflow meets the throughflow, causing separation of the boundary layer at the pump casing. Upon exposure to adverse pressure gradients in the aft part of the passage, at 0.65–0.7 chord fraction in the present conditions, the TLV bursts into a broad turbulent array of widely distributed vortex filaments.

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Abbreviations

c :

Tip chord

R :

Casing radius

s :

Chordwise coordinate

S ij :

Phase-averaged strain-rate tensor

u i :

Instantaneous velocity

U i :

Phase-averaged velocity

u i ′ = u i  − U i :

Velocity fluctuation

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy

z, r, θ :

Axial, radial, circumferential coordinate

σ = 2(p in.pump − p vapor)ρ −1 U −2TIP :

Cavitation parameter

ω i :

Instantaneous vorticity

\( \left\langle {} \right\rangle \) :

Phase (ensemble) average

z, r, θ :

Axial, radial, circumf. component

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Acknowledgments

This project is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under grant number N00014-09-1-0353. The program officer is Ki-Han Kim. Funding for the upgrades to test facility is provided by ONR DURIP grant No. N00014-06-1-0556. We would like to thank Yury Ronzhes and Stephen King for their contributions to the construction and maintenance of the facility, as well as to Dr. Francesco Soranna for his assistance in the facility construction and Yuan Lu, Kunlun Bai, and other colleagues for their help in the preparation of the experiments.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Huixuan Wu, David Tan, Rinaldo L. Miorini & Joseph Katz

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  1. Huixuan Wu
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Correspondence to Joseph Katz.

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Wu, H., Tan, D., Miorini, R.L. et al. Three-dimensional flow structures and associated turbulence in the tip region of a waterjet pump rotor blade. Exp Fluids 51, 1721–1737 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1189-9

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