Measurement and Computation of Heat Transfer in High-Pressure Compressor Drum Geometries With Axial Throughflow

Abstract

This paper makes comparisons between CFD computations and experimental measurements of heat transfer for the axial throughflow of cooling air in a high-pressure compressor spool rig and a plane cavity rig. The heat transfer measurements are produced using fluxmeters and by the conduction solution method from surface temperature measurements. Numerical predictions are made by solving the Navier–Stokes equations in a full three-dimensional, time-dependent form using the finite-volume method. Convergence is accelerated using a multigrid algorithm and turbulence modeled using a simple mixing length formulation. Notwithstanding systematic differences between the measurements and the computations, the level of agreement can be regarded as promising in view of the acknowledged uncertainties in the experimental data, the limitations of the turbulence model and, perhaps more importantly, the modest grid densities used for the computations.