Modeling of wake-induced transition in linear low-pressure turbine cascades

An unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) strategy is applied to the problem of wake-induced transition at high freestream turbulence on the suction side of two blades representative of those used in low-pressure turbines. Experimentally, the blades are arranged in high-aspect-ratio linear cascades, with upstream circular bars generating passing wakes, and two-dimensional flow conditions are, thus, assumed. The strategy combines an explicit algebraic Reynolds-stress turbulence model with transition-specific modifications targeted at capturing the effects of high freestream turbulence and of pretransitional laminar fluctuations. Close attention is paid to numerical accuracy, and grids of up to 140,000 cells are used in combination with 800 time steps per pitchwise traverse to resolve small-scale features in the blade boundary layers that are associated with the unsteady interaction. The computational results demonstrate that the combined model returns a good representation of the response of the suction-side boundary layer to the passing wakes in both blades. Specifically, in the boundary layer of one of the two blades, the wakes are observed to cause a periodic upstream shift in the transition onset and, thus, correspondingly periodic attachment and calming. In the other, no separation occurs, and the wakes are shown to produce a significant periodic reduction in shape factor and increase in skin friction in the blade boundary layer, again as a consequence of the upstream shift in the transition location.