Investigation of a Tip Clearance Cascade in a Water Analogy Rig

The tip clearance flow region of high pressure axial turbine blades for small gas turbine engines has been investigated in a water flow cascade. The blade model features variable clearance and variable endwall speeds. The cascade is scaled for Reynolds number and sized to give velocities suitable for visualization. Pressure profiles were measured on one blade, and correlated with the visualization. Unloading is found to be a major feature of the pressure field at both tip and midspan, and is intimately connected with scraping effects and the behavior of the clearance vortex. Some initial hot film velocity measurements are also presented.Copyright © 1985 by ASME