Prediction and control of corner separation for use in maximizing blade loading

Corner separation plays an important role in determining turbomachinery performance. This paper presents a model for describing the influences of SUC-EW dihedral angle on corner separation in turbomachinery, in which SUC-EW dihedral angle refers to the dihedral angle at the intersection line between blade SUCtion and End-Wall surfaces. Based on the physical intuition of that the three-dimensional (3D) corner boundary layer is the conflux of both blade and end wall boundary layers, an equivalent two-dimensional (2D) corner boundary layer is put forward to predict the behavior of corner boundary layer. In this procedure, the cross flow effect in corner boundary layer and the three-dimensionality of the nearby main flow are ignored. The influence of the SUC-EW dihedral angle is included by another assumption. That is, the aero blockage and momentum loss of both blade and end wall boundary layers are conserved during the procedure of superimposing the two (both blade and end wall) 2D boundary layers to form the equivalent corner one. Then the corner separation is judged by combining the behaviors of the three boundary layers, i.e. the blade, the end wall and the equivalent 2D corner boundary layers. The present model reveals the influence of the SUC-EW dihedral angle and its streamwise gradient on the corner separation. Carefully monitoring and controlling this dihedral angle and its streamwise gradient are important ways to alleviate or even eliminate the corner separation. Simple numerical investigations show that the model is qualitatively correct.