Fluid Dynamics of a Pre-Swirl Rotor-Stator System

In a “direct-transfer” pre-swirl supply system, cooling air flows axially across the wheel-space from stationary pre-swirl nozzles to receiver holes located at a similar radius in the rotating turbine disc. This paper describes a combined computational and experimental study of the fluid dynamics of such a system. Measurements of total and static pressures have been made using a purpose-built rotor-stator rig, with 24 pre-swirl nozzles on the stator and 60 receiver holes in the rotor. The number of pre-swirl nozzles could be reduced, and it was possible to calculate C_D, the discharge coefficient of the receiver holes. Information on the flowfield was also obtained from three-dimensional, incompressible steady turbulent flow computations. The measurements showed that there was a significant loss of total pressure between the outlet from the pre-swirl nozzles and the rotating core of fluid in the wheel-space. This loss increased as the pre-swirl flow-rate and inlet swirl ratio increased, and as the number of nozzles decreased. C_D increased as the swirl ratio at the receiver hole radius approached unity; for the experiments, C_D varied in the range 0.2 to 0.45. Computed pressures and tangential velocities were in mainly good agreement with the measurements. The computations help to explain the reasons for the significant losses in total pressure and for the relatively low values of C_D in this pre-swirl system.