This paper presents a computational method for the calculation of unsteady three-dimensional viscous flow in turbo-machinery stages. The method is based on a Finite-Volume Navier-Stokes solver for structured grids in a multiblock topology. The meshes at the stator/rotor interface are overlapped by two grid cells. An implicit residual smoothing method applicable to global time-stepping is used to accelerate the solution process.
The problem of periodic boundary treatment for unequal pitches is handled using a method of time-inclined computational domains for three dimensions. The method applies a time transformation to the stator domain and to the rotor domain and uses different time-steps in the two domains.
The results of a numerical simulation of the flow in a transonic turbine stage with a pitch ratio of 1.364 are presented. The time-averaged solution is compared to experimental data and satisfactory agreement is stated. Complex 3D-unsteady flow phenomena (shock motion, vortex shedding) are observed. Unsteady blade pressure fluctuations at various positions in spanwise direction are shown and the fluctuations are found to vary considerably along span. Instantaneous distributions of static pressure, Mach number, and entropy are presented.
