Experimental Study on Diffusers for Mixed-Flow Machines

Abstract

As a result of examining a relationship between inlet and inside flow patterns in the pure conical mixed-flow diffuser, it was disclosed that a comparatively uniform flow in the diffuser would be obtained resulting in a good pressure recovery. Also to find out an optimum configuration that would enable a stable and effective flow, tests on some model diffusers were made and the following was found: the skewed flow in the pure conical diffuser was rectifiable by means of fitting some guide fences on the face of the diffuser inner wall; though a little twist was observed in the main flow between the inner and outer walls, a curved diffuser gave a slight improvement on the recovered pressure over the case of pure conical one.