This paper presents the results of an extensive set of measurements on a model of an exhaust diffuser for gas turbines. The diffuser is of the straight-wall annular-axial type, typically employed in small-to-medium size gas turbines. It features six high-solidity struts, which support, in the real machine, one of the shaft bearings and have piping for oil supply inside.
The 35%-scale model has been tested on a special test stand developed at the University of Perugia, using the suction side of a centrifugal-flow industrial fan of suitable capacity. Inlet speed is around 80 m/s, allowing satisfactory accuracy for flow measurements and the similarity in terms of Reynolds number.
The instrumentation, the movement of the measurement point and data acquisition system were designed for automatic running of the tests. Both pneumatic and hot-wire or hot-film probes can be used on the same facility. The same wind tunnel, previous a quick replacement of the model with a probe calibration test section, can be used for calibration of both pneumatic and hot-wire/hot-film probes. A three hole directional pneumatic probe was used for stationary flow measurements to determine the global performance parameters of the model and a split-film probe was used to determine the turbulence characteristics.
For four test sections, contour plots are produced of average velocity components, flow angle and turbulence quantities as three components of the Reynolds stress tensor.
