Effect of Wake Disturbance Frequency on the Secondary Flow Vortex Structure in a Turbine Blade Cascade

An experimental study of the effect of wake disturbance frequency on the secondary flow vortices in a two-dimensional linear cascade is presented. The flow Reynolds numbers, based on exit velocity and suction side surface length were 25,000, 50,000 and 85,000. Secondary flow was visualized by injecting smoke into the boundary layer and illuminating it with a laser light sheet located at the exit of the cascade. To simulate wakes from upstream blade rows, a set of spanwise cylinders were traversed across the front of the blade row. The flow visualization results with a single wake disturbance reveal that the recovery time of the secondary flow vortex structure decreases as the wake traverse velocity is increased. The results of flow visualization with multiple wakes showed that wake disturbance frequencies below the axial chord flow frequency allowed complete recovery of the secondary flow vortex structure before the next wake encounters the blade leading edge. Wake disturbance frequencies that exceeded the axial chord flow frequency resulted in no observable recovery of the secondary flow vortex structure. Axial chord flow frequency is defined as the axial velocity in the cascade divided by the axial chord length of the turbine blade. @S0098-2202~00!02203-3#