Reynolds Stresses and Dissipation Mechanisms Downstream of a Turbine Cascade

Abstract

An experimental investigation was performed to measure Reynolds stresses in the turbulent flow downstream of a large-scale linear turbine cascade. A rotatable X-wire hot-wire probe that allows redundant data to be taken with solution for mean velocities and turbulence quantities by least-squares fitting procedures was developed. The rotatable X-wire was used to obtain the Reynolds stresses on a measurement plane located 10 percent of an axial chord downstream of the trailing edge. Here the turbulence kinetic energy exhibits a distribution resembling the contours of total pressure loss obtained previously, but is highest in the blade wake where losses are relatively low. The turbulent shear stresses obtained are consistent in sign and magnitude with the gradients of mean velocity. The measured Reynolds stresses are combined with measured distributions of velocity to show how and where losses are being produced. The mechanisms for the dissipation of mean kinetic energy in this swirling three-dimensional flow are revealed.