An aerodynamic analysis of a mixed flow turbine

The aerodynamic performance of a high-work Mixed Flow Turbine (MFT) is computed and compared with experimental data. A three dimensional (3-D) viscous analysis is applied to the single stage MFT geometry with a relatively long upstream transition duct. Predicted vane surface static pressures and circumferentially averaged spanwise quantities at stator and rotor exits agree favorably with data. Compared to the results of axisymmetric flow analysis from design intent, the 3-D computation agrees much better especially in the endwall regions where throughflow prediction fails to assess the loss mechanism properly. Potential sources of performance loss such as tip leakage and secondary flows are also properly captured by the analysis.