Effect of Bolts on Flow and Heat Transfer in a Rotor–Stator Disk Cavity

Previous studies have indicated some differences between steady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions of flow in a rotor–stator disk cavity with rotating bolts compared to measurements. Recently, time-dependent CFD simulations have revealed the unsteadiness present in the flow and have given improved agreement with measurements. In this paper, unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) 360 deg model CFD calculations of a rotor–stator cavity with rotor bolts were performed in order to better understand the flow and heat transfer within a disk cavity previously studied experimentally by other workers. It is shown that the rotating bolts generate unsteadiness due to wake shedding which creates time-dependent flow patterns within the cavity. At low throughflow conditions, the unsteady flow significantly increases the average disk temperature. A systematic parametric study is presented giving insight into the influence of number of bolts, mass flow rate, cavity gap ratio, and the bolts-to-shroud gap ratio on the time-dependent flow within the cavity.