On Flowfield Periodicity in the NASA Transonic Flutter Cascade

A combined experimental and numerical program was carried out to improve the flow uniformity and periodicity in the NASA transonic flutter cascade. The objectives of the program were to improve the periodicity of the cascade and to resolve discrepancies between measured and computed flow incidence angles and exit pressures. Previous experimental data and some of the discrepancies with computations are discussed. In the present work surface pressure taps, boundary layer probes, shadowgraphs, and pressure-sensitive paints were used to measure the effects of boundary layer bleed and tailboard settings on flowfield periodicity. These measurements are described in detail. Two numerical methods were used to analyze the cascade. A multibody panel code was used to analyze the entire cascade and a quasi-three-dimensional viscous code was used to analyze the isolated blades. The codes are described and the results are compared to the measurements. The measurements and computations both showed that the operation of the cascade was heavily dependent on the endwall configuration. The endwalls were redesigned to approximate the midpassage streamlines predicted using the viscous code, and the measurements were repeated. The results of the program were that: (1) Boundary layer bleed does not improve the cascade flow periodicity. (2) Tunnel endwalls must be shaped like predicted cascade streamlines. (3) The actual flow incidence must be measured for each cascade configuration rather than using the tunnel geometry. (4) The redesigned cascade exhibits excellent periodicity over six of the nine blades.