Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

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Computers and Fluids

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compfluid

Effect of periodic wakes and a contoured endwall on secondary flow

in a high-lift low-pressure turbine cascade at low Reynolds numbers
Xiao Qu a,b, Yanfeng Zhang a,b,∗, Xingen Lu a,b, Zhijun Lei a,b, Junqiang Zhu a,b
a
Key Laboratory of Light-Duty Gas-Turbine, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
b
University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of a contoured endwall has the potential to suppress endwall secondary flow. Unsteady wakes
Received 4 October 2018 affect not only the boundary layer characteristics of blade suction surface at blade midspan but also the
Revised 13 May 2019
endwall flow structures. The lack of understanding of the flow mechanism of the combined effects of
Accepted 20 May 2019
periodic wakes and contoured endwall on secondary flow limits their roles. This paper presents a ex-
Available online 3 June 2019
perimental and numerical investigation of the endwall secondary flow in a typical high-lift low-pressure
Keywords: turbine cascade. Wakes were produced by moving rods upstream of cascade, and the flow fields at the
Low-pressure turbine exit of cascade were measured using a seven-hole pressure probe. The study focused on the combined
Low Reynolds number effect of the upstream wakes and the contoured endwall on the secondary flow as well as the under-
Periodic wake lying physical mechanisms. The influences of the Reynolds numbers and the contoured endwall on the
Secondary flow performance of high-lift low-pressure turbine endwall regions were also discussed. At steady conditions
Contoured endwall
without wakes, the total losses in the turbine cascade increased with decreasing Reynolds number; the
most intense passage vortex, counter vortex and corner vortex were observed at a low Reynolds num-
ber of 25,0 0 0 (based on the axial chord and the inlet velocity). The contoured endwall decreased the
cross-passage pressure gradient, and suppressed the passage vortex. Under unsteady conditions, the in-
teraction between upstream wakes and the passage vortex results in reduction of the passage vortex. The
combined effect of the contoured endwall and periodic wakes redistributed the endwall pressure and
further decreased the cross-passage pressure gradient. Consequently, the intensities of the passage vortex
and counter vortex decreased by 17% and 11% respectively, compared with the flat endwall cascade with
wakes. Contoured endwall with wakes reduced secondary kinetic energy of cascade exit by 53.8% than
the result of the flat endwall no wake. Which is beneficial to improve the aerodynamic performance of
the high-lift low-pressure turbine.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Hourmouziadis showed a map of the Reynolds numbers at dif-

Low-pressure turbines (LPTs) are major components of modern
turbofan engines [1]. The efficiency of an LPT strongly influences
the overall performance of a modern engine. The LPT generates
up to 80% of the total engine thrust and contributes approximately
one-third of the engine gross weight [2]. Reducing the LPT blades
number through increased aerodynamic load is an effective way
to reduce weight and improve turbine performance [3,4]. However,
high-lift blades increase the risk of boundary layer separation on
the blade suction surface and the strength of endwall secondary
flows [5,6]. Currently, endwall secondary losses account for about
30% of the total aerodynamic losses in a turbine blade row [7].
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhangyf@iet.cn (Y. Zhang).
ferent components of a medium-sized engine (PW2037), and re-
ported that Reynolds number of the LPT was lower than other
components, with a value of approximately 10 0,0 0 0 [8]. During a
high-altitude cruise, the Reynolds number of the LPT will be fur-
ther reduced. At such low Reynolds numbers, the boundary layers
of the high-lift LPT’s blade are largely laminar, and the separation
bubbles on blade suction side may show no reattachment, which
also affected significantly the development of secondary flow. Wei
et al. [9] found that there were significant interactions between the
endwall secondary flow and the suction surface separation bub-
ble in a highly loaded LPT through an oil flow visualization ex-
periment. Additionally, Brachmanski et al. [10] showed that the
secondary flow influenced the radial pressure gradient and had
the potential to significantly reduce the length of the separation
bubble or even force the flow to reattach on the suction side.
Therefore, evolution mechanism of endwall secondary flow is rela-
tively complicated at low Reynolds number.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compfluid.2019.05.016
0045-7930/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

non-axisymmetric endwall using the high pressure turbine of the

Nomenclature Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engine and increased the stage efficiency of
the turbine by 0.4%. An unsteady numerical analysis of a generic
α1 Design inlet flow angle non-axisymmetric turbine endwall in a 1½ stage turbine was re-
α2 Design outlet flow angle ported [24]; the investigations focused on the unsteady effects of
θ Outlet deviation angle the contoured endwall on the tip flow, and interaction mechanisms
y Pitchwise coordinate between the unsteady wakes and secondary flow vortices were not
h Spanwise coordinate reported in detail.
t Time Previous investigations have shown that both the contoured
τ Wake passing period endwall and unsteady wakes have the potential to suppress the de-
Bx Axial chord velopment of endwall secondary flow. The detailed physics of the
Re Reynolds number unsteady wakes and the secondary flow of high-lift LPTs with a
Ps,i Inlet pressure contoured endwall are not yet well-understood, especially under
Ps,i Inlet total pressure the low Reynolds numbers. The present study focuses on the cou-
P0, e Exit total pressure pled effect of the contoured endwall and unsteady wakes on the
Y Total pressure loss coefficient endwall secondary flow in high-lift LPT cascades at low Reynolds
Ytot Total losses number. The interaction mechanisms of periodic wakes and the
LPT Low-pressure turbine contoured endwall on the endwall vortex structures are discussed
SST Shear stress transport in detail.
CFD Computational fluid dynamics
SV Streamwise vorticity 2. Experimental and numerical approaches
DSV Dimensionless streamwise vorticity
2.1. Test rig and instrumentation

The experiment was conducted in a wind tunnel of low-speed

The real turbomachinery flow is inherently unsteady, and the linear turbine cascade, which consisted of five parts: the centrifu-
unsteady characteristics of wakes is considered as one of the most gal fan, divergent section, settling chamber, contraction section and
important unsteady mechanisms in LPTs [11]. Hodson and Dawes test section. A three-hole pressure probe was installed at the in-
[12] researched the interaction of wake-boundary layer in LPTs let of the cascade to acquire the total pressure, velocity and in-
and found that the upstream wakes can reduce the profile losses let boundary layer distribution. The pressure distribution of the
through suppressing the boundary layer separation of blade sur- cascade was measured by the static pressure tap around the air-
face; this result changed the traditional view that unsteady wakes foil. The seven-hole probe was installed at the traverse mechanism
increase profile losses by increasing the turbulence level. Volino driven by a stepping motor and was controlled by LabVIEW data
[13] found that upstream wakes can suppress significantly blade acquisition procedures. The flow field at 40% of axial chord down-
surface separation bubble in high-lift LPT, especially under the stream of cascade was inferred by the area traversed by the seven-
low Reynolds number. The velocity deficit and high turbulence in- hole probe. Fig. 1 shows a schematic of the linear cascade test
tensity characteristics of upstream wakes also affect the develop- section. The upstream top flap and bottom flap are controlled to
ment of the endwall secondary vortex structure. Schneider et al. set the inlet flow uniformity, and the downstream tailboards are
[14] studied the endwall secondary flow of a two-stage LPT at low adjusted to ensure periodicity of outlet flow. The background free
Reynolds number conditions and found that the secondary flow stream turbulence intensity (FSTI) of the wind tunnel is about 0.4%.
field inside the rotor passage was strongly influenced by unsteady The FSTI of experimental measurement is raised to approximately
interactions with the flow structures of the guide vane and that 2.2% by placing turbulence grid upstream of wind tunnel. The
the secondary flow structures of the rotor passage differed con- upstream wakes were produced by wake generator equipment
siderably from the classical secondary flow field known from LPT moving cylindrical bars upstream of cascade. The geometric and
cascades. Ciorciari et al. [15] also reached similar conclusions in a aerodynamic parameters of the cascade were indicated in Table 1.
study of a typical high-lift LPT cascade and showed that the major
reduction of the secondary vortex strength was caused by the high
passing frequencies of the wakes. Satta et al. [16] and Lei et al.
[17] showed that upstream periodic wakes can suppress the de-
velopment of secondary flow. Christopher et al. [18] summarized
four phenomena through which passing wakes influenced the sec-
ondary flow vortex structure: dynamic changes in the inlet flow
angle, the “negative jet” of the wakes, higher turbulence levels in
the wakes, and wake disturbance frequency. The local turbulence
level and the velocity deficit in the wakes combine to destroy the
endwall secondary vortex structure.
Developments in manufacturing technology have helped to im-
prove the intricacies of turbine geometry, thereby providing some
measures of endwall flow control. The use of a contoured endwall
is an effective technique for reducing the secondary flow loss in
turbomachinery [19,20]. The use of a contoured endwall to reduce
endwall secondary losses was first proposed in the 1970s [21,22].
Hartland et al. [23] designed a non-axisymmetric turbine endwall
and provided experimental validation of the linear cascade; the
experimental results showed that the non-axisymmetric endwall
reduced secondary losses by 30%. Brennan et al. [20] designed a Fig. 1. Schematic of the linear cascade test section.
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14 3

Table 1
Main geometric and aerodynamic parameters of
high-lift LPT cascade.

Chord, C [mm] 83.28

Axial Chord, Bx [mm] 75.4
Pitch, s [mm] 66.8
Span, H [mm] 200
Design inlet flow angle, α 1 [deg] 35
Design outlet flow angle, α 2 [deg] 60
Inlet FSTI 2.2%
Bar diameter [mm] 1.8
Bar-cascade axial gap [mm] 0.6Bx
Zweifel 1.1

2.2. Numerical method

The flows were simulated using a standard numerical solver

ANSYS CFX 13.0. The software core was to solve the Reynolds av-
eraged Navier–Stokes equations, and a two-equation shear stress
transport (SST) turbulence model coupled with "Gamma-Theta"
transition model were adopted. The SST turbulence model used k-
ω model at walls and k-ε model away from walls by using blend-
ing function to ensure a smooth transition between the two mod-
els, so SST turbulence model had good simulation accuracy for sep- Fig. 3. Positions of the analysis planes.
aration flow because of high curvature surface and high reverse
pressure. The spatial discretization of the equations uses second
boundary condition. The periodic boundary conditions are enforced
order central difference scheme and the temporal discretization
at both pitchwise and spanwise directions. A no-slip boundary is
uses second order backward Euler scheme. In this transition model,
employed at blade surface and hub endwall. The half-span cascade
two additional transport equations are solved and a strain-rate
computational domain is considered in all cases to increase the
Reynolds number is used to trigger transition [25], which had a
calculation speed, so free-slip boundary is employed at midspan.
good ability to predict laminar-to-turbulent transitional flows over
In unsteady calculation, number of timesteps for per run is 60 and
the blade suction surface [26]. The computational accuracy is sec-
the passing frequency of moving bars is about 1.5, the detailed cal-
ond order, full structured mesh and multi-grid method are used for
culation process of wakes passing frequency is reported in [28].
accelerating convergence. As shown in Fig. 2, unsteady wakes were
The analysis planes in the paper were shown in Fig. 3.
simulated by moving cylindrical bars because cylindrical bar and
blade have similar wake structures [27]. The H-O-H mesh topol-
ogy was used in the cascade domain, whereas the O-mesh topol- 2.3. Data processing
ogy was used in the bar domain. A grid of 45×121×37 points for
the moving bar and 45 × 419 × 105 points for the cascade do- The static pressure coefficient, defined as:
main have been employed in the unsteady computational domain Po, i − P s, loc
in the pitchwise, streamwise and spanwise directions, respectively. Cp = (1)
Po, i − P s, i
For steady condition without moving bars, the cascade domain has
The total pressure loss coefficient, defined as:
the same mesh as condition of unsteady calculation. A maximum
nondimensional wall distance y+ < 1 at the first node from the Po, i − Po, e
Y = (2)
solid walls (blade and hub endwall) was achieved to meet the re- Po, i − P s, i
quirement of SST turbulence model.
The streamwise vorticity (SV), defined as:
Besides inlet freestream turbulence, total temperature and
spanwise velocity distribution are specified as inflow boundary wx u + wy v + wz w
SV = √ (3)
conditions and the outlet static pressure is specified as outflow u2 + v2 + w2

Fig. 2. Computational mesh.

4 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

For comparison of streamwise vorticity at different inlet where Po, i and Ps, i are inlet total pressure and static pressure, re-
Reynolds numbers, Dimensionless streamwise vorticity (DSV) was spectively. Ps, loc and PO,e are blade surface static pressure and exit
widely adopted, defined as: total pressure.μ, ν , w are velocity components in axial, pitchwise
and spanwise directions, respectively. wx , wy , wz are vorticity com-
SV × Bx
DSV = √ (4) ponents in axial, pitchwise and spanwise directions, respectively. α
u + v2 + w2
2
is the mass-averaged exit flow angle in a plane. Uin,st is the velocity
The secondary kinetic energy (SKE) is an important parameter at inlet midspan.
to indicate secondary losses strength. It can be considered as the
source of secondary losses in cascades passage [29]. SKE is defined
3. Results and discussion
as
1  2  3.1. Effects of Reynolds number
SKE = ρ vSEC + w2SEC (5)
2
vSEC = −u sin α + v cos α (6) During a high-altitude cruise, the Reynolds number of the LPT
is the lowest among the aero-engine components. The effects of
wSEC = w (7) Reynolds number on the high-lift LPT cascade were studied under
The non-dimensional secondary kinetic energy is defined as: without incoming wake through experiment and numerical sim-
ulation. Fig. 4 shows the flood contour plots of the streamwise
v2SEC + w2SEC vorticity coefficient (DSV) superimposed with the line contour of
CSKE = 2
(8)
Uin,st the total pressure loss coefficient (Y) at the cascade exit (Plane 8).

Fig. 4. Nephogram of the streamwise vorticity coefficient superimposed with the line contour of the total pressure loss coefficient (Plane 8).
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14 5

Fig. 5. Total pressure loss coefficient (Y) distribution at the cascade exit (Plane 8, Midspan).

The corner vortex, counter vortex and passage vortex are obvious
at the exit of cascade. The passage vortex has positive vorticity,
whereas the corner vortex (Vc) and counter vortex (Cv) have neg-
ative vorticity based on the right-hand rule. The computational re-
sults agree well with the experimental data; almost all of the crit-
ical flow characteristics of the LPT cascade are achieved, includ-
ing the size and position of counter vortex and passage vortex.
However, there were some differences in the local flow field and
peak value of the passage vortex and counter vortex. The intensi-
ties of the predicted vortex cores were higher than those of the
experimental results. Both the experimental and computational re-
sults indicated that the magnitudes of the corner vortex, counter
vortex and passage vortex at low Reynolds number (Re = 25,0 0 0)
were higher than the results obtained at a high Reynolds number
of 10 0,0 0 0, indicating serious secondary losses. Fig. 5 shows total
pressure loss coefficient (Y) distribution at plane 8. The wakes re-
gion downstream of blade are formed through intersection of blade
pressure surface and suction surface boundary layer at blade trail-
ing edge. The separation on blade pressure side is relatively rare
for low pressure turbine, so width of wakes usually indicates the
separation bubble size of blade suction surface. It can be seen from
Fig. 5 that the large separation bubbles on the blade suction side
result in the width and depth of wakes region increasing at low
Reynolds number of 25,0 0 0.
Fig. 6 shows the evolution of losses, including the profile and
secondary losses, at the cascade exit of the high-lift LPT with in-
creasing Reynolds number. Fig. 6(a) indicates that the total losses
in the turbine cascade decrease with increasing Reynolds num-
ber. To evaluate the loss mechanism under different Reynolds
numbers quantitatively, the computational results for the pitchwise
mass-averaged total pressure coefficient (Plane 8) are presented
in Fig. 6(b). There are mainly two loss peaks at each Reynolds
number (Re = 25,0 0 0, 50,0 0 0 and 10 0,0 0 0), which correspond to
the regions of the passage vortex and counter vortex core, re-
spectively. The total pressure loss produced by the passage vor-
tex is higher than that produced by the counter vortex at a low
Reynolds number of 25,0 0 0. As the Reynolds number increases,
the peak loss produced by the counter vortex core is gradually

Fig. 6. Comparison of the total pressure loss coefficient at different Reynolds numbers (Plane 8).
6 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 7. Streamlines and total pressure-loss coefficient in the cascade passage.

higher than the data of passage vortex core. Additionally, the re- 3.2. Effects of the contoured endwall on secondary flow
sults of Fig. 6(b) and experimental results (Fig. 4(c)) all show that
the strong loss regions near the endwall enlarge at high Reynolds According to the above analysis, at low Reynolds number, the
number of 10 0,0 0 0, compared to the condition of low Reynolds passage vortex and counter vortex are stronger, and flow losses in-
number of 25,0 0 0, marked as “A” in the figure. crease in the LPT cascade. The contoured endwall was proposed
The evolution of the endwall flow field in the cascade passage to reduce secondary losses. Thus, the contoured endwall was de-
at different Reynolds numbers is shown in Fig. 7. The positions of signed and optimized on the basis of the flow field characteristics
the analysis planes are marked in the figure. As shown in the fig- under low Reynolds number (Re = 25,0 0 0). Fig. 8 shows the opti-
ure, the vortex magnitudes of the passage vortex and counter vor-
tex are much stronger at low Reynolds number (Re = 25,0 0 0), pri-
marily because of the effects of the large separation bubbles of the
blade suction surface, low momentum fluid roll-up into the pas-
sage vortex, and enhanced passage vortex. As the Reynolds number
increases, the size of the separation bubble decreases significantly,
while the intensities of the passage vortex and counter vortex de-
crease gradually. However, the endwall boundary layer is thick at
high Reynolds numbers (Re = 80,0 0 0 and Re = 10 0,0 0 0), which
enlarges the high total pressure-loss regions near the endwall. Fig. 8. Optimization process of contoured endwall.
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14 7

Fig. 9. Optimized contoured endwal.

Fig. 10. Dimensionless streamwise vorticity at the exit of the cascade (CFD).

mization process of contoured endwall. Parametric geometry mod-   

eling was conducted in software NUMECA FINE/Turbo AutoBladeTM ,
mesh generation was done in NUMECA AutoGridTM V5, the estab-
lishment of DataBase was in NUMECA FINETM /Turbo Design3D. Op-
timization was using multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II)
based on artificial neural network to obtain optimal value of ob-
jective function. The minimum total pressure loss at cascade exit
was chosen as the optimization objective in present study. Spe-
cific design process was reported in [30]. Parametric endwall de-
sign was conducted by trigonometric function method. Pitchwise
lines and axial lines of contoured endwall were controlled through
trigonometric function Zi (y) and A(x), respectively. The peak value
of Zi (y) was near blade pressure side, and the lowest value was
near suction side. The smooth connection between contoured end-
wall and flat endwall upstream and downstream of blade was con-
troled through cubic cosine function A(x).
 απ  calculation.
Zi (y ) = −A(x ) sin (y − c )
d−c
π b+a
A(x ) = C cos 3
x− (11)
b−a 2
where d-c is pitch, b-a is axial chord, C is amplitude at peak value
position.
The height of the contoured endwall reflects the radial changes
of the hubs compared with the flat endwall after forming the con-
cave and convex regions of the contoured endwall, as shown in
Fig. 9. To redistribute the near-endwall static pressure to prevent
the development of endwall secondary flow, concave regions are
formed near the blade suction side (SS), and convex regions are
formed near the blade pressure side. The maximum height dif-
ference of the contoured endwall is approximately 5 mm. The fol-
lowing contents will present effects of the contoured endwall on
secondary flow under without wakes condition through numerical
(10) Fig. 10 presents the effects of the contoured endwall on stream-
wise vorticity coefficient in the high-lift LPT cascade (Re = 25,0 0 0).
8 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 11. Endwall pressures distribution (5% Span).

Fig. 12. Streamlines and streamwise vorticity coefficient (Plane 2).

Compared to the cascade of the flat endwall, Fig. 10(b) indicates
that the contoured endwall contributes to suppress the develop-
ment of secondary flow. The counter vortex and the passage vortex
core strength are decreased by 16.7% and 30%, respectively.
Fig. 11 shows the endwall static pressure at 5% blade span un-
der a low Reynolds number of 25,0 0 0. Compared with the results
for the flat endwall, the pressure gradient near the blade suc-
tion side decreases with the contoured endwall, indicating that
the force driving low-energy fluid inside the endwall boundary
layer from the blade pressure side to the suction side is decreased.
Thus, less low-momentum fluid is moved into the passage vortex,
thereby helping to reduce both the passage vortex strength and
endwall secondary losses.
The development of the pressure side leg of the horseshoe vor-
tex (Vph ) and the suction side leg of the horseshoe vortex (Vsh ) af-
fects the passage vortex strength and the counter vortex strength,
respectively. Fig. 12 shows the near-endwall three-dimensional
streamlines in the cascade passage superimposed with the stream-
wise vorticity coefficient on plane 2. Compared with the flat end-
wall, the region of Vph and Vsh flowing is convex and concave, re-
spectively in contoured endwall passage. The development of Vph
is suppressed and the strength of Vsh increases. Furthermore, Vph
has mainly positive vorticity, whereas the vorticity of Vsh is nega-
tive. Vph and Vsh intersect near the blade suction surface, and the
positive and negative vorticity within Vph and Vsh is mixed and
counteracted, which helps to suppress endwall secondary flow.
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14
Fig. 13. Comparison of the pitchwise mass-averaged outlet deviation angle (CFD).
Fig. 14. Comparison of the pitchwise averaged total pressure-loss coefficient at the
cascade exit (experiment).
Fig. 15. The total pressure-loss coefficient distributions of the flat endwall cascade (experiment).
9
The outlet flow angle downstream of the blade has an impor-
tant effects on the efficiency of the turbine stage because of in-
fluencing the inlet condition of the next stage blade row. There-
fore, the outlet flow angle is an important parameter to measure
the quality of the flow field. Fig. 13 shows the distributions of the
pitchwise mass-averaged outlet deviation angle (Plane 8). The end-
wall secondary flow causes overturning (θ is negative) and under-
turning (θ is positive) downstream flow fields of the cascade. Com-
pared with the results for the flat endwall, the overturning and un-
derturning of the flow fluid are reduced under the conditions with
a contoured endwall, indicating that the strength of secondary ve-
locities is decreased. Additionally, the contoured endwall has little
effect on the flow field near midspan.
3.3. Effects of periodic wakes on the endwall secondary flow
The upstream wakes are considered one of the most important
unsteady mechanisms in LPTs. The effects of periodic wakes on the
endwall secondary flow in flat endwall cascades were determined
by experimental investigation at a low Reynolds number of 25,0 0 0,
as shown in Figs. 14 and 15. Wakes were produced by moving
rods upstream of the cascade, and the total pressure loss coeffi-
cient was measured by a seven-hole pressure probe at 40% of the
axial chord (Cx) downstream of the cascade. The periodic wakes af-
fected not only the LPT blades surface boundary layer characteris-
tics and the corresponding profile losses but also the endwall sec-
ondary flow losses. Periodic wakes can significantly suppress the
separation bubble at the suction side of the blade and decrease the
profile losses by approximately 50%. Additionally, upstream wakes
can decrease the passage vortex strength of cascade exit as well as
the secondary losses, and the peak value of secondary losses de-
creases by approximately 10%.
3.4. Effects of periodic wakes and the contoured endwall on the
endwall secondary flow
Because the contoured endwall and periodic wakes can each re-
duce the endwall secondary losses at low Reynolds number, the
combined effects of the contoured endwall and periodic wakes on
secondary flow were studied by numerical calculation to further
reduce endwall secondary losses. Under unsteady condition with
10 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 16. Dimensionless streamwise vorticity at the exit of the cascade under wake passing (CFD).

Table 2
The comparison of passage vortex and counter vortex core strength under
different conditions.

Passage vortex Counter vortex

Flat endwall without wake 7 −6

Contoured endwall without wake 4.9 −5
Flat endwall with wake 3.5 −1.8
Contoured endwall with wake 2.9 −1.6

incoming wakes, Fig. 16 analyzes the dimensionless streamwise

vorticity at 40% of the axial chord (Cx) downstream of the cascade
(Re = 25,0 0 0). Table 2 shows the comparison of passage vortex and
counter vortex core strength under different conditions. Compared
to the cascade of the flat endwall without wake (Fig. 10(a)), incom-
ing wakes reduce significantly the size and strength of the passage
vortex and counter vortex. The secondary vortices are further sup-
pressed under the condition of contoured endwall with periodic
wakes.
For indicating quantitatively the changes of secondary flow un-
der different conditions, Fig. 17 shows the non-dimensional sec-
ondary kinetic energy (CSKE ) at 40% of the axial chord downstream
of the cascade. It can be seen that incoming wakes can suppress
endwall secondary flow compared to the steady condition without
wake. The mass-averaged secondary kinetic energy on Plane 8 is
lowest under contoured endwall with wakes. Compared to the con-
dition of the flat endwall no wake, contoured endwall with wakes
decreases secondary kinetic energy by 53.8%, which indicates the
secondary flow is weakened.
Fig. 18 shows the time-averaged data for the total pressure-
loss coefficient in the cascade passage under the unsteady con-
dition. The pressure side leg of the horseshoe vortex strength
(Vph ) and the suction side leg of the horseshoe vortex (Vsh ) in-
teract at the suction side of the blade and formed the passage
vortex. The contoured endwall with periodic wakes can further
suppress the strength of the pressure side leg of the horseshoe
vortex; As a result, the passage vortex strength decreases. Fig. 19
shows the pressure distribution near the endwall under the un-
steady condition with wakes. Fig. 19(a) shows a decrease in the
pressure gradient compared to the flat endwall cascade without
Fig. 17. The mass-averaged CSKE distribution at cascade exit. (Plane 8).
wakes (Fig. 11(a)), indicating that periodic wakes can improve the
endwall pressure distribution and contribute to decrease the end-
wall secondary flow. The results for the contoured endwall cascade
with wakes shown in Fig. 19(b) reveal a more uniform pressure
gradient compared with the flat endwall with wakes, and the size
of the secondary vortices further decreases. The above results show
that the combined effect of the contoured endwall and periodic
wakes on secondary flow is satisfactory.
Fig. 20 presents the instantaneous results for the turbulence
kinetic energy at blade midspan and the total pressure loss co-
efficient within cascade passage under unsteady condition with
wakes (Re = 25,0 0 0); the streamline distributions are also shown.
At t/τ = 1/4, the passing wakes have the potential to lead the end-
wall boundary layer to roll-up into the main flow passage and in-
teract with upstream wakes, and the secondary velocity strength
is decreased, as marked in the figure. At t/τ = 4/4, the upstream
wake is transported onto the blade suction side and interacts with
the passage vortex, resulting in a decrease in the secondary losses.
At t/τ = 3/4, the upstream wakes begin to contact the separation
bubble of blade suction side, the negative vorticity of the wakes
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14 11

Fig. 18. The time-averaged results of total pressure-loss coefficient in cascade passage.

Fig. 19. Flood contour of the endwall pressure distribution under the unsteady condition with wakes (5% span).

interacts with the positive vorticity of the passage vortex, and the
strength of passage vortex is reduced, as shown in Fig. 20(c). At
t/τ = 4/4, the transport of the upstream wake suppresses the de-
velopment of the endwall secondary velocities and the separa-
tion bubble significantly. As periodic wakes have high turbulence
levels and unsteady three-dimensional characteristics, the high-
loss region of secondary flow is enlarged, and mixing losses in-
crease when periodic wakes leave the blade passage, as marked in
Fig. 20(b).
The total pressure loss coefficient contours on Plane 5 under
three kinds of conditions are compared in Fig. 21. For the steady
conditions without wakes, the contoured endwall can decrease the
passage vortex and the counter vortex strength, and the size of the
secondary vortex is also reduced compared with the flat endwall
without wake. Under unsteady conditions with wakes, the nega-
tive vorticity of the wakes and the positive vorticity of the passage
vortex interact with and decrease each other, thereby further re-
ducing the passage vortex.
12 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 20. Turbulence kinetic energy contours at midspan, streamline distributions, and total pressure loss coefficient in the cascade passage.
 X. Qu, Y. Zhang and X. Lu et al. / Computers and Fluids 190 (2019) 1–14
Fig. 21. Total pressure loss coefficient contours on Plane 5.
4. Conclusions
This paper presented the effects of Reynolds number, the con-
toured endwall and periodic wakes on secondary flow and loss
mechanisms in a high-lift LPT cascade. A detailed discussion was
focused on the coupled effect of the contoured endwall and un-
steady wakes on the endwall secondary flow. The following con-
clusions were drawn.
1. As the Reynolds number increases, the total losses in the tur-
bine cascade decrease because of the smaller size of the sep-
aration bubbles. The strength of the secondary velocities was
higher at low Reynolds numbers than at high Reynolds num-
bers. The contoured endwall can reduce the cross-passage pres-
sure gradient of the cascade, the overturning and underturning
at the exit of the turbine cascade; the total pressure loss pro-
duced by the passage vortex and counter vortex decrease by
5% and 24%, respectively, compared with the results for the flat
endwall without wakes.
2. The contoured endwall with upstream wakes re-distributes the
endwall pressure, decreases the cross-passage pressure gradient
and suppresses the development of the suction side leg of the
horseshoe vortex; in addition, the negative vorticity of unsteady
wakes mitigates the positive vorticity of the passage vortex and
further reduces the cascade exit’s passage vortex strength. All
of these phenomena promote the suppression of endwall sec-
ondary flow.
3. Compared with the flat endwall cascade without wakes, peri-
odic wakes reduce the strength of the passage vortex core and
the counter vortex core by 50% and 70%, respectively; the ex-
perimental results also show that peak value of the secondary
losses decreases approximately 10%, and the profile losses de-
crease by approximately 50%. The contoured endwall with pe-
riodic wakes decreases the strength of the passage vortex core
and the counter vortex core by 59% and 73% respectively, and
secondary kinetic energy decreases by 53.8% at the exit of cas-
cade. The aerodynamic performance of the high-lift LPT is im-
proved in a corresponding manner.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for the work presented is provided by
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project no:
51876202, 51836008), whose support is greatly appreciated.
13
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