The Pulsating Flow Field in a Mixed Flow Turbocharger Turbine: An Experimental and Computational Study

Abstract

The turbine stage of an automotive pulse system turbocharger is subjected to an unsteady pulsating flow field due to the rapid opening and closing of the reciprocating engine exhaust valves. This leads to a complex and highly disturbed flow field within the delivery volute and turbine passages, which results in an unusual “hysteresis” type performance characteristic. The aim of this paper is to investigate the flow field within the turbine stage under these representative conditions, using a computational method validated against experimental data. This paper is separated into two sections. The first deals with the validation of the numerical code and modeling approach. A mesh dependency study is undertaken with cell discretization ranging 200,000, 850,000, and 1,750,000 cells, where the accuracy is assessed through comparison with experimental performance and flow field measurements. The second part presents an investigation of the flow field under pulse conditions. Time accurate spectra of turbine performance and flow properties at various locations in the turbine stage are presented, as well as contour plots of velocity within a turbine passage at two critical positions during the pulse period.