Experimental Investigation of Enclosed

Rotor-Stator Disk Flows

S. C. Cheah i Detailed hydrodynamic measurements were obtained in a rotating
H. lacovides water-flow rig for an enclosed rotor-stator system with a stationary outer
shroud. Three different measuring techniques--laser-Doppler anemome-
D. C. Jackson try, hot-film velocimetry, and the yaw-tube method--were employed. Mea-
H. Ji surements include the variation of the mean and some of the fluctuating
B. E. Launder velocity components across a rotor-stator cavity of aspect ratio 0.127.
Mechanical Engineering Department, Several radial locations were examined, and special efforts were made to
UMIST, Manchester, United Kingdom resolve the near-wall variation. The investigation covers a rotational
Reynolds number range, Re0, from 0.3 x 106 to 1.6 × 106. In the detailed
picture of the flow structure that emerges, at the higher rotational speeds
the Ekman-type boundary layer on the rotor is laminar over the inner half
of the cavity and turbulent at the outer radial locations. The stator
boundary layer, on the other hand, is turbulent over most of the cavity, and
the high near-wall turbulence levels extend further into the core. At lower
rotational speeds (Re 0 = 0.3 × 106), the rotor boundary layer is laminar
over almost the entire cavity but the stator layer remains turbulent. The
differing behavior on the rotor and stator surfaces is interpreted as a
consequence of convective motion that transports fluid radially outward on
the outer surface but radially inward on the stator. Although the present
results broadly support an earlier study in a narrower cavity covering a
smaller range of Reynolds number, significantly different interpretations
are drawn in some respects.

Keywords: rotor-stator system, laser-Doppler anemometry, hot-film

velocimetry, yaw-tube method, rotational Reynolds number, boundary
layer turbulence

INTRODUCTION
The cooling systems of modern gas turbines involve flow
through rotating disk cavities. Engine cavity configurations
may be of several different types involving either a coro-
tating disk system or a rotor-stator system. Our under-
standing of the behavior of such flows is based on studies
of simpler axisymmetric flows in cylindrical cavities. The
present study focuses on the detailed investigation of
turbulent flow in an idealized enclosed rotor-stator sys-
tem. The aim is to provide a detailed mapping of the
mean and turbulent flow fields over a range of rotational
speeds and to produce a searching set of test cases for the
assessment of turbulence models for rotating flow systems.
A detailed review of the earlier work in this field and an
extensive discussion of the flow development in enclosed
rotor-stator systems can be found in Owen and Rogers [1].
Earlier experimental studies such as those of Daily and
Nece [2] and Daily et al. [3] were understandably confined
to measurments of the mean velocity field. These showed
that fluid in the vicinity of the rotating surface was pumped
radially outward while, along the stator surface, there was
a return flow radially inward. This recirculating motion
arises from the fact that the radial pressure gradient is too
small to prevent fluid near the rotor surface from moving
radially outward and too large to prevent fluid close to the
stationary disk from moving inward. The radial motion
was confined to thin, near-wall Ekman-type boundary
layers, with the fluid in the core of the cavity having
negligible radial motion. When the boundary layers were
fully turbulent, the core fluid rotated with a uniform
angular velocity approximately 40% of that of the rotor.
Nearer the symmetry axis, however, the rotational speed
of the core fluid was found to be reduced due to the rotor
boundary layer not being fully turbulent.
Attempts to compute such flows have had only partial
success. The zonal turbulence modeling approach, em-
ployed by Iacovides and Theofanopoulos [4], demon-
strated the importance of the near-wall layer in modeling
such flows but also showed that the use of models adopt-
ing a prescribed length scale could not reproduce the
observed laminarization trends. The limitations of near-

Address correspondence to Dr. H. Iacovides, Mechanical Engineering Department, UMIST, P.O. Box 88, Manchester, M60 1QD, United
Kingdom
Experimental Thermaland Fluid Science 1994, 9!445-455
© 1994 by Elsevier Science Inc., 655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010 0894-1777/94/$7.00
445
446 S.C. Cheah et al.
wall models based on a fixed-length scale were also
demonstrated in a recent numerical study by Iacovides
and Chew [5] concerned with convective heat transfer in
rotating cavities. Morse [6], on the other hand, showed
that a commonly used version of the low Reynolds num-
ber k - e model led to the prediction of an unrealistically
large laminar region in some types of rotating cavity flow.
In a subsequent study, Morse [7] proposed an alternative
version of the low-Re k - e model that takes some account
of the anisotropy of near-wall turbulence. This model was
employed in the computation of a wide variety of rotating
cavity flows and was successful in reproducing the rotor-
stator data available at the time. In that scheme, however,
the damping function of the turbulent viscosity depended
on the near-wall distance. Moreover, as already noted in
[1], transition from laminar to turbulent flow was effected
by providing a weak "background" turbulent stress field
given by a mixing-length prescription. Both these practices
limit the range of flows to which this model can be
successfully applied. It may be inferred from these compu-
tational studies that the development of more realistic and
general turbulence models for rotating disk flows would
be assisted by further detailed measurements of the near-
wall distribution of the mean velocity and turbulence field
over a wider range of operating conditions.
The recent investigation of Itoh et al. [8] produced
valuable new information for a rotor-stator system of
aspect ratio 0.08. They obtained hot-wire measurements
of the mean velocity at a number of locations, mainly at a
rotational Reynolds number of 1 0 6 , and also turbulence
field data at one radial location toward the outside of the
cavity. Their measurements confirmed the mean velocity
trends observed in earlier studies. Furthermore, their data
suggested that the near-wall mean velocity distribution
along each side depended only on the local rotational
Reynolds number and that, when normalized with the
local wall friction velocity, the rotor-side turbulence levels
were lower than those along the stator side. The effect of
the rotational Reynolds number on the turbulence field
was not presented, however. The present study, which
examines a wider cavity, extends the experimental database
for rotor-stator systems and also provides a more exten-
sive exploration of the effects of rotational Reynolds
number on both the mean velocity and the turbulence
field than is currently available. The ability of a computa-
tional scheme to properly account for Reynolds number
variations is, of course, extremely important, as practical
rotor-stator cavities operate at much higher Reynolds
numbers than can readily be duplicated in laboratory
studies.
A rotor-stator system of aspect ratio 0.127 was exam-
ined. Data were collected by three types of instrumenta-
tion: a laser-Doppler anemometer, hot-film probes, and a
three-hole Pitot-yaw probe (i.e., a cobra probe). The use
of more than one type of instrumentation was necessary
because the optical fiber probe could not reach the inner
half of the cavity. A certain degree of redundancy was also
planned in the instrumentation in order to establish con-
fidence in the present measurements.
E X P E R I M E N T A L DETAILS
The Test Facility
The test rig consists essentially of a motor-driven turntable
mounted in a 1.22 m-diameter water tank. The arrange-
ment of the two disks (Fig. la) is such that the bottom
disk was fixed to the turntable and could be driven at any
desired speed in the range 30-250 rpm. The top disk is
stationary and is held in place by means of a framework
mounted across the top of the tank. Both the top and
bottom disks are made of perspex, and the flow in the
enclosed cavity between the disks is isolated from the flow
in the open tank by means of two cylindrical polycarbon-
ate shrouds (Fig. 1) that are fixed to the top stationary
disk. The outer shroud extends from the edge of the top
disk to the rotating disk with a very fine running clearance
of about 30 p.m between it and the rotating disk. The
same shroud extends vertically above the top to form an
annulus with the tank wall in which the free water surface
of the system is contained. This vertical extension allows
the upper surface of the top disk to remain dry, facilitat-
ing the access of mechanical probes through the top
stationary disk. The inner stationary shroud extends from
the top disk but stops 2 mm short of the bottom rotating
disk. The spacing between the two disks could be varied
but for the current tests was set at 37 mm, thus giving a
cavity aspect ratio (s/b) of 0.127.
LDA Measurements
All the LDA measurements were made using a TSI
fiber-optic probe of 25-mm diameter and 180-mm length,
having a focal length of 135 mm and giving a probe
volume of 0.1-mm diameter and 1.6-mm length in water.
The LDA system is a two-channel, four-beam system with
frequency shifting on both the blue and green channels.
The fringe spacing was 3.6 and 3.8 /xm for the blue and
green beams, respectively. The flow was seeded with corn-
flour particles. The particles' size was mainly between 15
and 25 /~m, and their relative density 1.3. A 4-W argon
ion laser was used to power the system, and two counter
processors (TSI 1980B) were used for signal validation,
with subsequent data processing being done through a
Zech data acquisition card on an Opus PC.
All LDA data reported were obtained with the fiber-
optic probe submerged in the water tank with the axis
inclined at a small angle to the plane in which the disk is
rotating (Fig. la). This probe orientation was adopted to
achieve the best spatial resolution in the velocity measure-
ments, particularly in the thin near-wall layers. To avoid
problems associated with the light passing through the two
outer curved shroud walls, rectangular optical access win-
dows (16 x 35 mm) were fitted in the inner shroud and an
8-cm section of the outer shroud was removed to allow the
beams to enter without distortion (Fig. lb). This arrange-
ment ensured an unchanged intersection angle of the
laser beams and eliminated any possibility of polarization.
When the probe axis was radially oriented, one obtained
the circumferential and axial velocity components. To
obtain the radial component, the probe was moved to a
new position inclined at 45 ° to the radial direction when
viewed from above the top stationary disk, as shown in
Fig. l c. It was for this reason that a minimum of two
traverses were necessary at each measuring station in
order to resolve the three components of velocity. In
practice, four traverses were required because one needed
to incline the axis of the probe to that of the disk plane by
3.5 ° to ensure that the laser beam adjacent to the disk
surface reached the measuring volume at the disk surface,
the half-angle of the probe being 2.9 ° in water. With this

m~v-;
IJ584
stator 1,,
~ ~ ' ~ / ,
37 l__.._
rotor~
b IIDIll thick ~
thick inner d m a u d
0.15ram thick optical
\
cut-out for laser access
Figure I. Experimental apparatus. (a) Disk and double-shroud arrangements; (b) arrangement for laser beam access to disk
cavity; (c) orientations of fiber-optic probe.
approach, it was possible to measure all three mean
velocity components, the circumferential and axial turbu-
lence intensities plus the Reynolds shear stress UoVz, which
in this flow is the most important of the three shear
stresses. Data reduction for an inclined probe orientation
and the assumptions employed are given in Appendix 1.
All turbulence measurements were taken with a sample
size of 2000 data points and a coincidence window of 20
/xs between the incoming data channels.
Artificial seeding of the water flow was found to be
essential to secure high-quality LDA signals. Dramatic
improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the
accuracy of measurement was achieved through the use of
artificial seeding as demonstrated in [9]. All LDA results
reported were obtained by the same flow seeding method.
For each test the rotational speed was kept uniform at
the level required for the desired disk Reynolds number.
However, long-term (random) drift in the power supply
voltage affected the rotational speed, which had to be
adjusted and controlled manually. The speed fluctuation
was generally kept within _+1.5%.
Since there was no flow through the cavity, the water
tended to heat up during the course of a run (each run
Enclosed Rotor-Stator Disk Flows 447
r/b=0.8 ] Fibre optic
' ~ LDA p r o b e
VI I
c I
Position A Position B
necessitated four traverses of the fiber-optic probe), thus
leading to a weak drift in Reynolds number. To counteract
this change, small amounts of cold water were introduced
as the test proceeded. In this way the fluid temperature,
monitored by a thermocouple at the center of the upper
disk, could be maintained to a steady level within 0.5°(2 for
most tests and within I°C at the highest Reynolds number.
Cobra-Probe and Hot-Film Measurements
Other measurements obtained in the disk cavity included
both cobra-probe and hot-film measurements, which were
taken with the probes inserted through the top stationary
disk. The access was by means of removable plugs ma-
chined so that the bottom surfaces of the plugs were
smooth and presented no discontinuity at the disk surface
as the plugs were rotated about their axis. The rotation of
the plug at the measuring location was necessary in the
case of the cobra-probe measurements, so that the flow
direction angle ~b and Pitot head could be measured when
the probe was correctly aligned with the flow direction.
Due to blockage of the openings of the yawmeter by tiny
air bubbles (coming out of solution) and minute dirt
448 S.C. Cheah et al.
particles in the flow, the smallest yawmeter that could
satisfactorily be employed had a bore of 0.7 mm and an
outer diameter of 1.3 mm. Figure 2 shows a schematic of
the yawmeter in the removable plug.
Two calibrated SE laboratory (SEl150/D4964 250 mm
WG) differential pressure transducers measured both the
pressure difference between the two outer tubes of the
cobra probe and also the difference between the pitot
tube pressure and the static pressure at the stator disk at
the same radius. The latter was interpreted as the dy-
namic pressure.
The rather short focal length of the fiber-optic probe
prevented LDA measurements from being taken at radii
less than 60% of the disk cavity radius. Cobra-probe
measurements taken at radial locations (r/b) of 0.4, 0.59,
and 0.8 thus provided complementary experimental data
for the mean flow in the cavity.
Some measurements of the tangential mean and turbu-
lent velocities were also taken by using a conical hot-film
probe (Dantec type 55R42) of 60° cone angle, measuring
on a diameter of 0.6 mm and an active length of 0.1 mm.
The probe was connected to a standard TSI constant
temperature anemometer (IFA100) interfaced to an Opus
PC via a 12-bit ADC. For these measurements the calibra-
tion of the probe was carried out in situ in the core flow of
the disk cavity over an appropriate range of Reynolds
numbers within which the tangential mean velocity was
known to be directly proportional to the local disk speed.
Due to progressive wear of the film sensor, hot-film mea-
surements were largely confined to r/b = 0.8 and used
mainly for flows at the two highest Reynolds numbers.
Although the physical size of the probe made it unsuitable
for obtaining data in the vicinity of the disk surfaces, the
hot-film data have provided a useful check of the mean
and turbulence data measured with LDA and also with
the cobra probe in the core flow.
--,.._
~- \--
Figure 2. Cobra-probe layout. All dimensions in millimeters.
Experimental Uncertainties
Experimental uncertainties due to systematic and random
errors for the three velocity measurement techniques are
quantified as follows.
For all measurements the distance from the wall was
measured by a dial gauge to an accuracy of 0.01 mm. As
the LDA technique was used for detailed measurements
in the near-wall boundary layer, there was a potential
systematic error associated with the probe volume posi-
tioning. Although it was possible to measure the probe
volume position from the surface of the stationary disk to
an accuracy of _+0.1 mm, the surface flatness of the
bottom rotating disk has tolerances of up to 0.3 ram,
leading to an experimental uncertainty of the probe vol-
ume location (relative to the mean surface level of the
rotating disk) of +0.2 mm. These uncertainties corre-
spond to +_0.27% and +0.54% of the disk gap for the
stator side and rotor side, respectively. Spurious turbulent
velocity data obtained very close to the rotating disk
surfaces (for z/s < 0.006) were thus excluded.
The principle uncertainties of the LDA technique due
to velocity gradient broadening and velocity bias have
been discussed in the standard literature (e.g., [10, 11]).
The first error was negligible, simply because the probe
dimension in the direction of the velocity gradient was
small. Single velocity component measurements, corrected
for velocity bias by residence (arrival) time weighting,
showed no significant difference between uncorrected and
corrected data. Therefore, only ensemble averaging was
performed for the two-component velocity measurements
reported in the present study.
The most significant systematic error pertinent to the
near-wall measurements was attributed to the inclined
probe orientation adopted in the present experiments. As
shown in Appendix 1, one could readily identify the sys-
Detail of Probe Head
1.3
13.7
I
3.6 -j
 Enclosed Rotor-Stator Disk Flows 449

tematic errors in the turbulence intensity and the shear
stress roy z.
Other random errors affecting the precision of the
measurements were the statistical uncertainty of ensemble
averaging of a finite sample size (2000 data points) and the
rotor speed variation mentioned in the previous section.
On the basis of repeatability, the first error was found to
be less than + 1% of the measured value. The second
error of + 2.5% of the disk rotational speed was common
to all three measurement techniques.
Hence, the overall estimated errors for the nondimen-
sionalized mean velocities, turbulence quantities, and the
circumferential frictional coefficient (given in Appendix 2)
for the LDA measurements are
Vo/rl'~ = Vz/rl'~ = V~/rO = _+3%;
Vo/rl~ = 3%;
UOVz/rZ~Q 2 ~" + 6 - 8 % ;
and
C o = +_3% (stator side);
The uncertainty of the cobra-probe measurements was
mainly due to random errors of the pressure transducer
system as well as the associated yaw angle measurement
of the probe. Uncertainty estimates of the maximum ex-
perimental errors for the yawmeter measurements are
Vo/rfl < -+ 7%
The experimental uncertainties due to errors in the hot-
film probe calibration and the temperature drift during
measurements were
Vo/rl] = Vo/rl~ = + 5 % .
RESULTS
We begin by examining the general character of the mean
velocity field. Figure 31 presents the measured mean ve-
locity distribution at three radial locations ( r / b = 0.4,
0.62, and 0.8) for a rotational Reynolds number (f~b2/v)
of 1.6 × 10 6. Three sets of mean velocity measurements
obtained with different instrumentation are available for
the outermost location ( r / b = 0.8). The fact that all three
sets are virtually identical confirms the validity of the
experimental procedures and increases confidence in the
accuracy of the measurements. These data confirm the
vz/r£~ = _+3-5%; existence of Ekman-type boundary layers (one along each
disk), and from Fig. 3a it is apparent that outside these
thin regions the fluid has no radial motion. The tangential
velocity (Fig. 3b) likewise appears to remain uniform in
the core region and to change rapidly across the thin
C o = + 7% (rotor side). near-wall regions. At the two outer radial locations ( r / b
= 0.8 and 0.62), the swirl ratio of the core fluid (l/o/Or) is
either at or above 0.4. At the inner monitoring location,
where the value of the local rotational Reynolds number
( r Z ~ / t ,) falls to 2.6 x 105, the swirl ratio of the core fluid
is reduced to around 0.35. This trend was also observed in
earlier studies. In common with [8], the present measure-
and V~/r~ < _+2%.
tit should be noted that in Figs. 3, 4, 7, and 8 there is a scale
change between the core and the near-wall regions.

a Rotor Stator Rotor Stator

0.2 ~ , I I , 1.0 I I 6 I ;
m --- r/b= O. 8 (Cobra probe)
* r/b= O. 80 (LDA)
+ r/b= 0.80 (Hot-Film)
0.8

v --- r/b= 0.62 (LDA)

0.6
'~ m - - - r/b= O. 40 (Cobra probe)

0.0 ~':'" ~ N

-0.~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
0 0.2] ~

® r/b= 0.40
0 0 @ ~
__ e ~ ~- -'~" e ~D"~m - ° - ~ ° ~ 0 . ~ % -_
o 0 t, ..... ...... , -
---I--~--~--®- ..... .....

-0. 1 I i i i i
0 0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.0 0. I 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0
z / s Z / S
Figure 3. Mean velocity profiles at Re 0 = 1.6 X 106.(a) Radial;(b) circumferential.
450 S.C. Cheah ct al.

ments show that the reduction in the core fluid swirl ratio
is accompanied by a marked reduction in the thickness of
the boundary layer on the rotor side. In previous studies it
was argued that this effect is caused by the boundary layer
on the rotor side remaining laminar at higher local
Reynolds numbers than on the stator side.
Itoh et al. in their recent study [8], concluded that the
mean velocity distribution within the near-wall region of
each disk was determined by the local rotational Reynolds
number alone. The plots of Fig. 4, which present the
measured mean velocity distribution for a rotational
Reynolds number of 0.3 × 10 6, provide only partial sup-
port for the above conclusion. At the lower rotational
speed, Re 0 = 0.3 × 106, the local rotational Reynolds
number at the outer location (r/b = 0.8) is similar to that
of the inner position (r/b = 0.4) for the higher rotational
speed case of Re 0 = 1.6 × 10 6. Figure 4 indicates that the
rotor radial and circumferential boundary layers at r/b =
0.8 are now considerably thinner than the corresponding
boundary layers of Fig. 3 at the higher rotational Reynolds
number, suggesting that the boundary layer at this loca-
tion is now either laminar or transitional. The stator
boundary layer at r/b = 0.8, on the other hand, appears
to have remained turbulent. Thus, while the mean velocity
profiles at the two different locations do exhibit similari-
ties when he local rotational Reynolds numbers are nearly
the same, a comparison of the relevant profiles in Figs. 3
and 4 indicates that they are far from identical. A greater
degree of similarity would have been expected if the local
Reynolds number were the only determining factor. The
results of the present study, obtained over a range of
rotational Reynolds numbers, indicate that although the
mean velocity distribution is indeed primarily determined
by the local Reynolds number, the overall cavity Reynolds
number and, probably, the cavity aspect ratio must also bc
taken into account. This is not a surprising finding when
the recirculating nature of rotor-stator flows is recognized.
The different conclusion reached by Itoh ct al. [8] may be
due to the fact that their measurements were obtained in
a considerably longer cavity of aspect ratio 0.08.
Figure 4 also suggests that at this lower rotational speed
the rotor Ekman-type boundary layer remains laminar
over almost the entire length of the cavity, while the stator
boundary layer remains turbulent throughout. Such a flow
regime may be expected to pose a severe challenge to the
predictive abilities of turbulence models.
Figure 5 presents the tangential velocity profiles across
the outermost monitoring location, plotted in wall coordi-
nates. The wall shear stress along the rotor and stator
surfaces was estimated in the manner described in Ap-
pendix 2. These plots confirm that as the rotational
Reynolds number is reduced the rotor boundary layer
becomes laminar whereas the corresponding boundary
layers along the stator remain turbulent. The most no-
table change in the character of the rotor boundary layer
occurs when the local Reynolds number is reduced from
3.7 × 105 to 1.9 x 105 (Fig. 5a).
The estimated variation of the tangential skin friction
coefficient at r/b = 0.8, based on the difference in local
tangential velocity between the disk surface and the core,
is displayed in Fig. 6a. The values obtained on the stator
surface are in close agreement with those of [8], especially
at high rotational Reynolds numbers. For the highest
rotational Reynolds numbers examined, the circumferen-

a
Rotor Stator b Rotor Stator
0.2 1.0 1 ! i i
D r/b= 0. B0 (Cobra probe)
A r/b= O. 80 (LDA)

0.8
0.1 o r/b: 0.59 (Cobra probe)
v r/b: 0.62 (LDA)
A~
IDA
0.6 ~
r/b= 0.80 ' • - - - r/b= 0.40 (Cobra probe)
O& A_ ~&~&~-A..A_ -&~.#d$_A_ _ t
0.0 0 ~ VA

O r / b : 0.59
-0.~) 19 (D6~lD .......... 0 0.2 ~
. . . . cr b - g - - d 6 -o-e -o- 6 e r ~ e

0
r/b= O. 40

- - - ~ I m ~ - -~ --@ @ e - @ ® ~ e ~ e ~ -~- . . . . . . o

-0. 1 i ~ i i l
0 , . 0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0
Z / S z / s
Figure 4. Mean velocity profiles at Re 0 = 0.3 X 10 6. (a) Radial; (b) circumferential.
 Enclosed Rotor-Stator Disk Flows 4 5 1
÷
b Vo
I I I I I
261 25
V o = 5 . 6 2 1o

20

D OorjO 0 ~0 0
15

10

/
106 ~ o

- 1.o5,1o ° o. 2,1o'
0 0.37xI0 ~ x 0.19xI06
I I I Illlll I 1 I tlllll i I I I I |lit I I I I I
0 I I I Illlll I l I IIIIII I I I I11111 I I I I II1~
0
10 100 IOO0 100O0 1 10 100 1000 10000
Z* Z*
Figure 5. Near-wall distribution of the circumferential velocity at r/b = 0.8. (a) rotor side; (b) stator side.

tial skin friction has similar values on both sides of the exerted on the fluid by the rotating and stationary parts of
cavity. As the rotational speed is reduced, the rotor sur- the cavity must be equal.
face skin friction becomes substantially lower than that at Turning now to the measurement of turbulence quanti-
the stator, reflecting the fact that over a progressively ties, Fig. 7 presents profiles of the tangential component
larger proportion of the disk the rotor boundary layer is in of the normal stress at r/b = 0.8, obtained through L D A
a laminar or transitional state. Figure 6b presents the and also by using hot-film velocimetry. Both techniques
same information as Fig. 6a, but the friction factor on result in the same measured distribution, enhancing con-
both disks is now based on the local speed of the rotor. In fidence in the quality of the data. A more detailed picture
the outer region of the cavity the absolute skin friction of the turbulence field in the outer region of the rotor-sta-
value along the rotor is considerably higher than that on tor system is presented in Fig. 8. Measured profiles of the
the stator. The reason the rotor values are higher even rms tangential and axial velocities v0 and v z and the shear
when both disks are fully turbulent, is that the outer stress component v0vz are plotted at radial locations r/b
shroud in this case is stationary and the total torques = 0.8 and 0.62 for rotational Reynolds numbers ranging

L I , i ,

Ce
10 -2 x o

-- x X o
A A A o
&

Rotor o- Stator
x Stmor [8]
R%
10 -s
2xl 0s 2 x 10 6

b 10-2
c;
& A &
] 0 -3 o o o

Figure 6. Reynolds number dependence of the circumfer-

ential skin friction coefficient at r / b = 0.8. (a) Co based on
10 -4
R% the difference between the local wall velocity and the local
core velocity. (b) C~ based on (rO) 2. ( zx) Rotor; (O) stator;
2x10 s 2xlO 6 ( ) rotor [8]; ( × ) stator [8].
452 S.C. Cheah et al.

Rotor Stator both sides. The physically appropriate velocity scales in

i
this flow are the differences between O r and the local
0.12 Re o : ~ . 1 6 4 ~ O? '
tangential velocity at the cavity core ( O r - V0,CORE) for
r/b : 0.80
the rotor layer and V0,CORE for the stator boundary layer.
. . . . LDA
~.~ O. 08 These normalizing scales are, however, messy to use and
a .... H o t - F I lm introduce further uncertainties in comparisons between

0.04
\ J
0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8
Z / S larly evident in the axial component of the velocity fluc-
Figure 7. Comparison between L D A and hot-film measure-
ments of the circumferential velocity fluctuations at r / b = 0.8
and Re q = 1.6 x 106.
from 0.3 x 10 6 to 1.6 x 10 6. As may be expected from the
m e a n velocity field, turbulence intensities are low in the
core region of the cavity and the turbulent shear stress
UoV~ is practically zero. A t the higher rotational Reynolds
number, all the measured components of the turbulent
stress tensor rise significantly within the boundary layers.
The maximum near-wall turbulence levels are higher along
the rotor surface. The reason the turbulence levels along
the rotor side a p p e a r to be higher than those on the stator
side is that O r was used as the normalizing velocity on
numerical predictions and experimental measurements.
The turbulence levels along the rotor side also decrease
more rapidly with distance from the wall. Even when
turbulent, the rotor boundary layer is thus different in
character from that of the stator. A t the lower rotational
speed, the rotor-side turbulence levels are substantially
0.9 1.0 reduced. This reduction of near-wall turbulence is particu-
tuation and in the shear stress v0u ~. Indeed at the inner
radial location, r/b = 0.62, the shear stress and the axial
normal stress become essentially zero across the rotor
boundary layer at Re 0 = 0.3 × 106. These turbulence
measurements provide the clearest evidence of low
Reynolds number effects on the structure of the Ekman-
type boundary layers in a rotor-stator system. The stator
boundary layer at r/b = 0.62 remains turbulent even at
the lower rotational speed of Re 0 = 0.3 × 10% The fact
that the flow along the rotor starts out laminar suggests
that as flow along the stator approaches the cavity center,
or as the fluid moves across to the rotor side, laminariza-
tion takes place.
The different character of the rotor and stator bound-
ary layers at low rotational speeds becomes more appar-

Rotor Stator Rotor Stator

0.12 0.12 ~/b = '0.62'
t ~/b = '0.80' '
A .... Re o : 0 . 1 6 4 E O? a .... Re o = 0 . 1 6 4 E 0?
x .... Re O = 0 . 2 9 8 E 06 x .... Re o = 0 . 2 9 8 E 06
O. 08 0.08
~,. >

O. 04

O. O0
&AA&AAAAA~-
O. 04

0.00
J
0.12 0.12
t~

O. 08 O. 08
>

O. 04 O. 04

xxxXxxxXX &
~ ~AAAAM, a ~
0.00 e~ O. O0

O. 0 0 0 8 ~-~ 0 . 0 0 0 8 -.A

I::oooo X

J::oooo X

x ~ >
0.0000 0.0000

0.0 0. I 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0
Z/S z/s

Figure 8. L D A profiles of turbulent stresses. (a) r/b = 0.8; (b) r/b = 0.62.
 Enclosed Rotor-Stator Disk Flows 453

ent in Fig. 9, which focuses on the near-wall distribution
of the turbulent stresses at r / b = 0.8. Itoh et al. [8]
argued that the presence of turbulent flow along the
stator surface at Reynolds numbers for which the rotor
flow is laminar can be attributed to an instability associ-
ated with the fact that the flow on the rotor side was
"accelerating" while that on the stator side was "decel-
erating." However, it is well known that, in considering
transition and laminarization, the shear stress gradient
normal to the wall is a more pertinent quantity than
acceleration (in whatever frame of reference it may be
defined), and in this case the shear stress on both surfaces
falls with distance from the wall. Moreover, the argument
of Itoh et al. [8] ignores the presence of circumferential
motion and its effects on the structure of the boundary
layers. A more plausible reason for the fluid near the
stator wall being turbulent when fluid at the same radius
close to the rotor is laminar or transitional is simply
upstream history. On the rotor side, fluid is arriving at the
position in question from smaller radii; on the stator side,
from larger radii. Indeed, outward flowing fluid on the
rotor impinges on the stationary circular shroud and is
turned before returning along the stator disk. It seems
likely that a flow that has remained laminar (or there-
abouts) on the rotor will undergo transition during turning
as the concave curvature of the shroud will tend to desta-
bilize the near-wall flow.
Finally, another interesting observation relates to the
variation of the turbulent shear stress, novz, near the
stator surface. In the outer part of the stator layer, the
turbulent shear stress profile shows a reversal in sign. This
corresponds with the overshoots present in the mean
velocity profiles and suggests that, in this instance, the
assumption of gradient transport is reasonable.
PRACTICAL USEFULNESS
This investigation was undertaken with gas turbine appli-
cations very much in mind. It is one of the few studies so
far that have generated detailed measurements of the
mean and turbulence fields for rotating turbomachinery
flows in general and in particular for turbine disk cavities.
Although the geometries examined are too idealized for
the resulting data to be of direct use to the engine
designer, the information generated can serve two very
useful purposes. The measurements presented here can
help the engineer develop a clearer understanding of how
rotation affects the mean and turbulence flow fields within
turbine disk cavities and also how rotation can affect
transition from a laminar to a turbulent flow regime.
Moreover, these results provide a detailed set of valida-
tion data through which computational procedures that
are currently used by engine designers can be assessed
and improved.

a Rotor-side b Stator-side
I I I
0.12 r/G -- 0. B0 0.12
~e * .... R% = O. 164E 07 &,,l
• .... Re o = O. 113E 07
0.08 <e n
~qb I~
.... Ree = O. -
5BIE 06
O. OB
i~l~Dx . . . . R e e = O. 2 9 B E 06
O. O~ O. 04

• ** x x , I I g I |
O. O0 O. O0 I I I

0.04 O. 04

O. 02 0. 02
xxXXx X X

¢q O. O0 F
I • ~
°4 I O. O0 I I t

O. 0008 ~,~O. O00B

I?oooo °
o.ooo4

0.0000 -- I - - - - ~ . . . . . O. 0000 1---~-~- ~r'" - ....... ~ ......

I I I

0.0 0.1 0.2 O.B 0.9 1.0

z/s z/s
Figure 9. Near-wall distribution of the turbulent stresses, obtained using laser-Doppler anemometry. R e r = (zx) 1.05 x 106;
(O) 0.72 × 106; (I-q) 0.37 x 106; ( x ) 0.19 x 106.
454 S.C. Cheah et al.

CONCLUSIONS v0 circumferential mean velocity, m / s

The present study has produced detailed mappings of the V0, CORE circumferential velocity of the core fluid, m / s
mean and turbulent flow fields inside axisymmetric rotor- Vo, ref for rotor ( = f~r - V0,CORE) and for stator
stator cavities, without throughflow, for rotational (= V0,CORE), m / s
Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.3 × 10 6 to 1.6 × 10 6. V0+ normalized circumferential velocity
Three different measuring techniques were employed and ( = Vo/if%o/P), dimensionless
have been shown to produce compatible mean flow and v, radial velocity fluctuation (rms), m / s
turbulence data. Measurements of wall shear stress were v z axial velocity fluctuation (rms), m / s
also obtained. v0 circumferential velocity fluctuation (rms), m / s
At the higher rotational speeds investigated, the mean
z axial coordinate, mm
flow measurements have been found to be in agreement
with those of Itoh et al. [8] for similar rotational Reynolds z+ normalized axial distance [ = zv~o/(p/u)],
numbers but for a different aspect-ratio cavity. The rotor dimensionless
boundary layer near the cavity center is found to be Greek Symbols
laminar, but as the radial distance from the center of
O~ angle between the probe and the radial direction, rad
rotation increases, the rotor Ekman-type boundary layer
p kinematic viscosity, m 2 / s
becomes turbulent. The stator boundary layer, on the
other hand, is shown to be turbulent at all Reynolds p fluid density, k g / m 3
numbers considered. Turbulence measurements indicate To circumferential wall shear stress, Pa
that even when the rotor boundary layer becomes turbu- 0 circumferential angle, deg
lent it is still different in character from that of the stator. rotor angular velocity, r a d / s
These differences in the rotor and stator boundary layers
are attributed to the effects of radial convective transport A P P E N D I X 1. D A T A R E D U C T I O N D U E TO
of turbulence. At the lowest rotational speed, Re 0 = 0.3 AN I N C L I N E D L D A P R O B E
× 10 6, it is found that the rotor layer remains laminar for
almost the entire cavity radius, whereas along the stator Referring to Fig. lc, the two-component L D A measure-
side the flow remains turbulent for at least the outer 60% ments with the probe positioned at A and B are denoted
of the cavity. The velocity distribution across the cavity is below by subscripts A1, A2 and B1, B2 for channels 1 and
found to be influenced mainly by the local rotational 2, respectively. For the probe oriented radially to the disk
Reynolds number. In contrast to the findings of Itoh et al. cavity (position A) and with its probe axis parallel to the
[8], however, the present results indicate that the flow field disk surface ( a = 0°), channels 1 and 2 measure the
is also affected by the outer radius Reynolds number and tangential and axial velocity components, respectively. For
the radial location, providing further support for the argu- the case of the probe aligned at a small angle ( a = + 3.5 °)
ment that the state of the rotor and stator boundary layers to the bottom, rotating disk surface, and two consecutive
is influenced by convective transport in the radial direc- measurements being taken at positions A and B (4' = 45°),
tion. data reduction of the three mean velocity components, the
tangential and axial turbulent intensities, and the turbu-
The research has been supported by the SERC through grant lent shear stress component v0vZ are given by the follow-
GR/F89039. Outstanding technical assistance has been provided by ing expressions.
J. Hosker and D. Cooper. Authors' names appear alphabetically.
Mean Velocity
Vo = VA, (1)
NOMENCLATURE
b outer radius of the cavity, mm V~ - + V, tan a (2)
COS ol
C M local moment coefficient, dimensionless
CMr Mr/O.5pl)2r 5, dimensionless v0 c o s ,~ - vs,
Vr = = VA, -- ~ V B , (3)
C o local circumferential friction factor sin 4~
(= To/O.SpVoZref), dimensionless
C~ local circumferential friction factor Turbulence Intensities
(= po/ O.5pr2 [12), dimensionless ,! t
k fluid swirl ratio (= VO,CORE/rO) , dimensionless Lo = VAj (4)
M r circumferential moment at radial location, 1/2
dimensionless ( [ v~2 ]2 t,-~ tan 2 a } (5)
Re 0 rotational Reynolds number (= l)b2/u), Uz' = -COS
- 20L + 2u:crtan a -
dimensionless
Rer local rotational Reynolds number (= [lr2/u), Turbulent Shear Stress
dimensionless
r local cavity radius, mm UAIUA2
s distance between disks, mm L'oV~ t'ov, tan a (6)
COS o~
Vr radial mean velocity, m / s It is noted that only quantities denoted by Eqs. (1)-(4)
Vz axial mean velocity, m / s have been obtained from the full form of the equations as

shown. Data reduction of the axial rms value (5) has been
performed by simply neglecting the second and third
terms on the right-hand side. The errors are estimated to
be about 3% and 1%, respectively. Likewise, data of the
turbulent shear stress have been reduced by omitting the
contribution due the second term; the overall uncertainty
is about 6%.
APPENDIX 2. DETERMINATION
OF CIRCUMFERENTIAL
FRICTIONAL COEFFICIENT
The coefficient of the tangential wall shear stress on the
rotor side has been determined from the frictional mo-
ment method (due to a plane rotating disk surface) as
suggested by Itoh et al. [8]. The value of C o ( =
ro/O.5pVo2,ref) was evaluated for r / b = 0.8 using the fol-
lowing equations.
C o = Re r (3CMr/3 R e r ) / [ 2 7 r / ( 1 - K ) 2]
where K = l/0,ref/rl).
An empirical expression of CMr was used that is based
on the previous work of Yamada and Itoh [10], which has
the form
CMr = T ( s / r ) m ( R e r )n
where 3' = 0.05, m = 1/14, and n = - 1 / 5 .
Since the rotor-stator flows to which Itoh et al. [8]
applied this method are similar in character to the flows
examined in this investigation, it seemed appropriate to
evaluate C o using the same correlations.
The above empirical expression is pertinent to flow
regime IV [12] and is valid only for s / r > 0.016 and
Re r > 7 × 105.
For the stator side, the wall shear stress ~'q_.__wasdeter-
mined by evaluating the friction velocity (~/zo/p) using
the best fit of the data to the "log-law" equation
~ + = 2.441n (z ÷) + 5.0
Enclosed Rotor-Stator Disk Flows 455
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(9) Received March 5, 1993; revised May 6, 1994