Mean Line Flow Model of Steady and Pulsating Flow of a Mixed-Flow Turbine Turbocharger

A one-dimensional investigation for a mixed-flow turbine turbocharger turbine is described in this paper. The main outcome of the research is to develop a validated procedure for turbine performance maps in both steady and pulsating flow. The approach is limited to a simple procedure that can be integrated in wave action codes and thus not requiring 2D or 3D calculations. The mass flow parameter map is used as an input for the investigation, thus requiring some knowledge of either from experiments or from mean line methods calculations. In this paper, the mass flow parameter is experimentally measured at the turbocharger facility in Imperial College. A realistic yet reduced-order model for turbine losses allows the prediction of the steady flow performance; the calibration of the model is performed at peak efficiency of the turbine for a given rotational speed. The loss model for steady flow is then extended for pulsating conditions and for presumed quasi-steady operation. Finally, the predicted turbine performance is compared with experimental data. The comparison between one-dimensional modeling and experimental data for steady flow condition has shown Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) range from 1.62% to 11.62%. Meanwhile, a good trend agreement has been achieved for pulsating flow condition.