A HIGH-SPEED DISK ROTOR RIG DESIGN FOR TIP AEROTHERMAL RESEARCH

The relative casing motion can greatly vary the Over-TipLeakage (OTL) flow structure and thermal performance. The existing tip experimental research facilities include stationary linear cascade, cascade rigs with low speed moving belt, or highspeed rotor rigs are either not capable of reproducing the high relative casing Mach number, or extremely expensive and still difficult for optical measurement. This paper presents a highspeed disk rotor design which can simulate the high casing relative speed. The unique feature of this rig design concept is that it enables full optical access of the tip surface under the engine-representative OTL flow condition. In this paper, the feasibility of the design concept is demonstrated and assessed by RANS CFD simulation, both in component level and whole rig system level. The design idea demonstrated in this paper can be useful for a wide range of tip leakage flow studies.