The quantitative whole field flow visualization technique of PIV has over the last few years been successfully demonstrated for transonic flow applications. A series of such measurements has been made at DRA Pyestock. Several of the development stages critical to a full engine application of the work have now been achieved using the Isentropic Light Piston Cascade (ILPC) test facility operating with high inlet turbulence levels:
• A method of seeding the flow with 0.5μm diameter styrene particles has provided an even coverage of the flow field.
• A method of projecting a 1 mm thick high power Nd/YAG laser light sheet within the turbine stator cascade. This has enabled a complete instantaneous intra-blade velocity mapping of the flow field to be visualized, by a specially developed diffraction-limited optics arrangement.
• Software has been developed to automatically analyze the data. Due to the sparse nature of the data obtained, a spatial approach to the extraction of the velocity vector data was employed.
• Finally, a comparison of the experimental results with those obtained from a three-dimensional viscous flow program of Dawes; using the Baldwin-Lomax model for eddy viscosity and assuming fully turbulent flow.
The measurements provide an instantaneous quantitative whole field visualization of a high-speed unsteady region of flow in a highly three-dimensional nozzle guide vane; which has been successfully compared with a full viscous calculation. This work represents the first such measurements to be made in a full-size transonic annular cascade at engine representative conditions.
