Compressible Direct Numerical Simulation of Low-Pressure Turbines—Part II: Effect of Inflow Disturbances

In the present paper, direct numerical simulation (DNS) studies of the compressible flow in the T106 linear cascade have been carried out. Various environmental variables, i.e., background turbulence level, frequency of incoming wakes, and Reynolds number, and a combination of these were considered for a total of 12 fully resolved simulations. The mechanisms dictating the observed flow phenomena, including the mixing and distortion of the incoming wakes, wake/boundary layer interaction, and boundary layer evolution impact on profile loss generation, are studied systematically. A detailed loss generation analysis allows the identification of each source of loss in boundary layers and flow core. Particular attention is devoted to the concerted impact of wakes distortion mechanics and the intermittent nature of the unsteady boundary layer. Further, the present study examines the validity of the Boussinesq eddy viscosity assumption, which invokes a linear stress–strain relationship in commonly used RANS models. The errors originating from this assumption are scrutinized with both time and phase-locked averaged flow fields to possibly identify shortcomings of traditional RANS models.