Stator/rotor interaction in a transonic turbine

This paper presents calculations of a stator/rotor interaction in a highly loaded transonic first turbine stage. Of particular interest is the propagation and reflection of shocks which originate at the trailing edge of the upstream stator. These produce a 40% variation in the lift on the rotor, which would cause structural vibrations and increased losses. Also, the unsteady shocks would cause temporary boundary-layer separation near the leading edge of the suction surface. The numerical procedure solves the inviscid unsteady Euler equations, including quasi-three-dimensional terms. The use of a conservative treatment guarantees the correct treatment of the moving shocks. A simple technique is used to couple the calculations on the stator and rotor grids. A key feature of the paper is the use of "time-incline d" computational planes to allow the analysis of cases in which the ratio of stator and rotor pitches is not equal to unity or the ratio of two small integers.