Rotating Flow and Heat Transfer in Cylindrical Cavities With Radial Inflow

Abstract

The design and optimization of an efficient internal air system of a gas turbine requires a thorough understanding of the flow and heat transfer in rotating disc cavities. The present study is devoted to the numerical modeling of flow and heat transfer in a cylindrical cavity with radial inflow and a comparison with the available experimental data. The simulations are carried out with axisymmetric and 3D sector models for various inlet swirl and rotational Reynolds numbers up to 1.2 أ— 106. The pressure coefficients and Nusselt numbers are compared with the available experimental data and integral method solutions. Two popular eddy viscosity models, the Spalart–Allmaras and the kة›, and a Reynolds stress model have been used. For cases with particularly strong vortex behavior the eddy viscosity models show some shortcomings, with the Spalart–Allmaras model giving slightly better results than the kة› model. Use of the Reynolds stress model improved the agreement with measurements for such cases. The integral method results are also found to agree well with the measurements.