Turbulent Boundary Layers in Diffusers Exhibiting Partial Stall

Abstract

An investigation of turbulent boundary-layer separation in internal flow is presented, with experimental results for a variable angle, two-dimensional diffuser. A simple analytical model is adopted, which consists of wall boundary layers and a one-dimensional, inviscid core. By calculating the pressure simultaneously with the boundary-layer development, the approximate method is extended to include the separated region. With a limited amount of separated flow, the calculated pressure recovery agrees reasonably well with the experiments and gives a fair indication of maximum diffusion performance. The limitation of the model, as well as the possibility of singularities and downstream instability, are discussed in relation to the general problem of boundary-layer separation.