529

Transonic turbine vane tests in a new

miniature cascade facility
T Povey1 , M L G Oldfield1 *, and F Haselbach2
1
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
2
Rolls Royce plc, Derby, UK

The manuscript was received on 18 September 2007 and was accepted after revision for publication on 20 March 2008.
DOI: 10.1243/09576509JPE534

Abstract: A new two-dimensional mini-cascade blow-down tunnel, with eight vane passages
of only 20 mm true chord, 15 mm pitch, and 40 mm span, has been developed for testing gas
turbine nozzle guide vane profiles at transonic exit Mach numbers (M ) and realistic Reynolds
numbers (Re) with a quick turnaround and high accuracy. The small size of the cascade has
many advantages. Vane profiles can be tested at adjustable engine representative Re at room
temperature with exit static pressures above atmospheric and Re and M can be independently
varied. The mass flow is small and the long run times (>3 min) allow downstream traversing with a
three-hole miniature probe. The inaccuracies inherent in the traditional method of mounting the
vanes/blades on pegs in the Schlieren windows have been eliminated by accurately computer
numerical control (CNC) machining the whole cascade of vanes integral with the tunnel side
walls, with re-usable, plug-in Schlieren windows. Cascades of new test vane profiles are quickly
machined and tested, with a fast turn-around for comparative studies.
A new Schlieren photography lens arrangement is demonstrated, which captures numerous
flow visualization images per run directly into a digital SLR camera.
Lower-than-atmospheric exhaust pressures were achieved by using a long exhaust designed
to maximize exit flow dynamic pressure recovery using the self-ejector pumping effect. Exhaust
pressures as low as 0.7 bar were achieved using the self-pumping exhaust, allowing M up to
1.6 with 3 bar inlet pressure and an exhaust at atmospheric pressure. An analytical model is
developed for the mildly supersonic exit flow condition and validated against experimental data.
Excellent agreement is achieved.
Results presented for a typical transonic cascade show that the tunnel performs well in the
subsonic and low supersonic region, but, as the exit M increases, shock-wave reflections from
the free jet boundary, seen on the Schlieren, cause non-periodicity. Deep in the cascade, the flow
is still periodic and can be used for investigations of loss and shock boundary-layer interaction.
Interestingly, if the downstream pressure is reduced further to give even higher (but unrealistic)
M , the cascade becomes axially supersonic and excellent periodicity is restored.
Schlieren results are compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the
tunnel flow, and the loss measurements are validated against measurements conducted using a
large-scale cascade at Göttingen.

Keywords: gas turbine, blow-down, cascade, tunnel, nozzle guide vane, transonic, Mach,
Reynolds, Schlieren, pressure traverse

∗ Corresponding author: Department of Engineering Science,

University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK.
email: martin.oldfield@eng.ox.ac.uk

JPE534 © IMechE 2008 Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
530 T Povey, M L G Oldfield, and F Haselbach
1 INTRODUCTION
In recent years turbine testing has moved from simple
two-dimensional cascades to three-dimensional
annular cascades and then to rotating stages in an
attempt to more accurately represent the aerodynam-
ics and heat transfer through the gas turbine engine.
The rotating experiments have led to numerous devel-
opments in the understanding of unsteady processes
in the turbine in particular, but also the effect on
downstream vane rows in multi-stage configurations
[1], and on the heat transfer and aerodynamics with
engine realistic inlet temperature profiles [2]. Clearly
this is a significant field, and the available literature is
extensive.
There have been novel developments in the field of
three-dimensional sector cascades for aeromechan-
ical testing [3] and heat transfer investigations with
engine components [4].
The trend in all these experiments is towards
increasingly complex and expensive facilities in both
time and resources. They take years to construct and
commission and are expensive to run, requiring a ded-
icated team, and, in rotating experiments, stringent
safety measures.
A consequence of the expense of replacing a ring
of vanes/blades is that rotating facilities often run the
same vane/blade profiles for years, while the turbine
designer would wish to test many different vane/blade
profiles to check the design software. Flow visualiza-
tion is difficult in three-dimensional turbine facilities
and instrumentation coverage often falls below that
desired.
Consequently, it is timely to re-examine the rel-
atively simple two-dimensional linear cascade, and
to examine how it might be improved in the light
of recently available technology. Hirsch [5] presents
an excellent (if now slightly historic) review of the
great variety of tunnels, which have been devel-
oped. Gostelow [6] is a good cascade reference. More
recently, a high-speed linear blow-down cascade was
developed at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada),
which is operable in the range M < 1.5 [7]. The cascade
has been used, for example, to look at the off-design
incidence on transonic turbine performance, for 0.5 <
M < 1.2 in the Re range 4 × 105 < Re < 1 × 106 [8].
Large-scale low speed cascades such as that used by
Byerley et al. [9] are relatively inexpensive, but are gen-
erally restricted to low Reynolds numbers and Mach
Numbers and have limited relevance to transonic first
stage turbines. The Durham University cascade [10]
is another example of a cascade in this general class,
and has been used variously to investigate the effect of
skewed inlet flow, upstream slot injection, and, more
recently, non-axisymmetric endwall profiling on the
cascade losses.
Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
Traditionally, to allow Schlieren or shadowgraph
flow visualization [11], vanes were mounted by pegs
inserted into holes laboriously machined into expen-
sive, optically flat Schlieren windows [12] and this
process limited the accuracy of the vane alignment
with unwanted variations in the passage throats.
Restrictions on machining accuracy and the
unavailability of subminiature instrumentation pushed
up the size of cascade vanes to be much larger than
the engine [13]. This had two negative consequences:
the cascade tunnels became large ([14] used 300 mm
true chord vanes) and required large mass flows (for a
given Re and geometry, the mass flow is proportional
to the vane size) and engine representative Re required
subatmospheric exhaust pressures. In addition, large,
expensive Schlieren mirrors were required to visualize
more than one passage.
For simplicity, cascade tunnels were sometimes
constructed with atmospheric inlet pressures (e.g. at
Göttingen: [15, 16]), which required subatmospheric
exit pressures (pumps or large vacuum chamber), but
many operate in blow-down mode, with a pressurized
inlet exhausting to atmospheric exit pressures. In both
cases, Re cannot be varied independently from the exit
M , and the range of conditions, which can be studied,
is limited.
The mini-cascade described below overcomes these
limitations by the choice of small scale, and hence,
for realistic Re, above atmospheric inlet and exit pres-
sures, together with the utilization of an integrated
design where vanes are machined integrally with the
sidewall using highly accurate computer numerical
control (CNC) machining. A wide range of Re–M con-
ditions are possible and digital Schlieren techniques
allow excellent flow visualization of several vane pas-
sages. The new two-dimensional cascade is optimized
for quick, inexpensive comparative tests of different
vane profiles, and is complementary to fully annular
facilities.
2 OPERATING CONDITIONS
The range of cascade operating conditions were
chosen to be representative of modern turbine vanes
operating in smaller engines, and the scale of the vanes
chosen so that at the target Re the cascade exit pressure
was close to atmospheric, to simplify the exhaust sys-
tem. The working gas was air (γ = 1.4, R = 287 J/kg K).
Details are summarized in Table 1. To achieve approx-
imately two-dimensional flow conditions, the span
(40 mm) was chosen to give a large value of s/ct = 2,
and so that s was large in comparison to the boundary
layer thickness, so that only a small fraction of the span
was influence by boundary layer flow and secondary
flow: this allows good Schlieren, approaching the truly
JPE534 © IMechE 2008
 Transonic turbine vane tests 531

Table 1 Mini-cascade operating pressure are presented in Fig. 1. Over the range of M of
conditions interest, M = 1.0 to 1.6, for a cascade with constant
inlet pressure, the maximum Re is greater than the
Parameter Value
minimum Re by only 6 per cent. That is, Re varies
p0 3 × 105 Pa slowly with M . The corresponding change for a cas-
T0 293 K cade with constant exit pressure is approximately 100
ct 20 mm
s 40 mm per cent and is clearly unacceptable. It should be noted
p1 0.7 × 105 Pa that for vane surfaces upstream of the sonic throat in
M1 0 to 1.6 M1 > 1.0 flows, the flow is independent of p1 and so
Rect (M1 = 1) 0.87 × x106
the constant p0 condition is the appropriate one.
Higher Re can be achieved by increasing p0 . The
tunnel was designed for pressures up to 10 bar:
two-dimensional flow case. On the basis of early cas-
Re ∼ 2.9 × 106 . Lower Re can be achieved by lowering
cade experience Sieverding [17] suggested that the
p0 , but will result in a reduction of the upper M limit
approximately two-dimensional flow condition would
(currently 1.6).
be achieved at high outlet to inlet velocity ratio for
s/ct > 1.6; more recent experiments by Jouini et al.
[8] confirmed that this was correct at the design value 3 MINI-CASCADE STRUCTURE
of incidence, although for high (∼14.5◦ ) values of off-
design incidence s/ct ≈ 1.6 was not acceptable. In the A cross-section through the miniature cascade is
current cascade, s/ct = 2 would appear to be a satisfac- shown in Fig. 2 and an external view is given in Fig. 3.
tory compromise between achieving two-dimensional An eight-passage cascade was chosen to ensure suffi-
flow, and long run times. cient downstream periodicity. A free-jet exit, exiting
The exit duct was designed to act as a self-pumping into a larger cross-section exit duct (approximately
ejector pump to lower the exit pressure to 0.7 bar four times cascade total throat area) was chosen for
giving p1 /p0 = 0.7/3 = 0.23, extending the potential ease of use. The alternative of using tailboards would
isentropic M range to M1 = 1.6. Lower M , down to ∼0
are obtained by placing a choke valve downstream of
the cascade exit to raise the exit pressure p1 .
The decision to keep the inlet pressure p0 constant
while varying the outlet static pressure p1 to vary the
M , rather than the simpler option of keeping p1 at
atmospheric and varying p0 is based on the desirabil-
ity of keeping the Re based on true chord and exit
conditions nearly constant as M1 varies.
The variations of Re with exit M for cascades with (a)
constant exit static pressure and (b) constant inlet total

Fig. 2 Schematic of the miniature cascade

Fig. 1 Variation of Re (based on true chord) with exit M Fig. 3 Photograph of the HWSS miniature cascade
for cascades with: (a) constant exit static pressure showing the Schlieren windows and the probe
and (b) constant inlet total pressure traverse drive (cover off)

JPE534 © IMechE 2008 Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
532 T Povey, M L G Oldfield, and F Haselbach

allowed long running time (greater than 3 min) with

the present mini-cascade. Downstream, the mini-
cascade exhausts into a self-pumping tube, and then
into a large silencer.

4 VALIDATION OF A SIMPLE SELF-EJECTOR

Fig. 4 Photograph of arrangement for holding vanes PUMPING MODEL FOR A TRANSONIC LINEAR
(prototype) CASCADE

Lower-than-atmospheric exhaust pressures were

have required careful adjustment for each supersonic achieved by using a long exhaust tube (Fig. 5) designed
exit M as the exit flow angle changed. to maximise exit flow dynamic pressure recovery;
The basic structure is accurately CNC machined using the self-ejector pumping effect. An adjustable
from Aluminium alloy with top and bottom, cascade throat is placed downstream of the exit tube to enable
width members and bolted side plates. The cascade the setting the cascade downstream pressure and
vanes are integrally machined into aluminium alloy, hence the isentropic exit M . Consider the control
plug-in sidewalls as shown in Fig. 4. Alternate vanes volume shown in Fig. 5.
are machined into each sidewall and dowels align the Consider the equations for conservation of mass
vane tips with the opposite sidewall. As the vane pro- flowrate, axial momentum and energy (assume adi-
files are CNC milled at the same time as the sidewalls, abatic flow in the exhaust) between the cascade exit
high-dimensional accuracy (better than ±20 μm) is plane, 1, and the exhaust (to atmosphere) plane,
ensured. The vane profiles have been easily changed 2. Consider the equation for conservation of mass
by machining the profiles into new sidewalls, which flowrate
then simply plug in to the cascade body.
The Schlieren windows, seen in Fig. 3, plug into the ṁ1 = ṁ2 or ρ ∗ v ∗ A∗ = ρ1 v1 A1 = ρ2 v2 A2 (1)
sidewalls. The aperture is large enough for the regions where A∗ is the choked throat area, A1 the fully
of interest to be visualized: the flow on the rear suction expanded jet area at the cascade exit plane, and A2
surface and the downstream shock structure. As there the mixing duct area at the far (mixed out) plane. The
are no vane fastenings in the window area, the view corresponding velocities, densities, and pressures are
is unobstructed and the same windows were used for given by v, ρ, and p in each case.
different vane profiles. In order to avoid the expense Consider the momentum equation
of manufacturing optically flat, Schlieren quality glass
windows, the windows were cut from a sheet of ordi- 1
(p1 − p2 )A2 = ṁ(v2 − v1 cos θ1 ) + CL ρ1 v12 A1 (2)
nary float glass. The glass was examined optically by 2
placing it in the Schlieren system (see below) and That is
optically flat areas were identified as suitable for the   
windows. CL
(p1 − p2 )A2 = ṁ v2 − v1 cos θ1 − (3)
A stepper-motor driven downstream traverse mount 2
is also shown in Fig. 3: the subminiature probe is
Here CL is a mixing loss coefficient for the duct. The
described later. The traverse is computer controlled
profile loss through the cascade is modelled by setting
and drives the probe tip in a path parallel to, and
downstream of the cascade of vanes. p01 = p0 (1 − CPL ) (4)
The cascade is supplied by the regulated air sup-
ply previously used by the Oxford blowdown tunnel where p01 is the mass mean total pressure at the cas-
[18, 19]: 30 m3 capacity at 28 bar (≈1000 kg). This cade exit plane, p0 the total pressure at the cascade

Fig. 5 Schematic of self-pumping exhaust tube

Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy JPE534 © IMechE 2008
 Transonic turbine vane tests
inlet plane, and CPL the profile loss coefficient, which
is typically between 3 and 6 per cent. For choked flow,
this provides a satisfactory approximation.
In a very simple model of the cascade flow, the exit
angle with respect flow angle at M = 1 can be taken as
the angle, θ1 , given by Prandtl–Meyer function
 

γ +1 −1 γ −1
θ1 = tan (M12 − 1) − tan−1 M12 − 1
γ −1 γ +1
(5)
In adiabatic flow, the energy equation reduces to
ṁcp T01 = ṁcp T02 or T01 = T02 (6)
The equations can be solved for given input vari-
ables M1 , A∗ /A2 , CL , and CPL to give output variables
M2 , p02 /p01 , p1 /p01 , and p2 /p01 . The isentropic Mach
number M1is can also be calculated from p1 /p0 for
comparison with experimental values.
In the present case, A∗ /A2 = 0.25. The value of CPL
can be determined experimentally, and a value of
0.05 was used for the model. The value of CL was
chosen to give the best match with the experimental
data. For CL = 0.52, a comparison of the self-pumping
model and experimental data from the mini-cascade
is presented in Fig. 6.
For both the experimental data and the model, the
abscissa in Fig. 6 is the isentropic M (that is refer-
enced to the cascade inlet total pressure, p0 ). The
experimentally measured pressures at the cascade exit
plane, p1 , and at the mixed out plane, p2 , are shown
for a sample of 50 runs with isentropic exit M in the
range 1.0 < M1is < 1.6, and compared with the model.
The agreement between model and experiment is
excellent.
Fig. 6 Simulation versus experiment of exhaust tube
acting as self-ejector with an area ratio of
At /A2 = 0.25
JPE534 © IMechE 2008
533
Fig. 7 Non-dimensional static pressure recovery as a
function of cascade exit M : experiment, model,
and modified Baines et al. [18] model
For completeness the predicted far plane total pres-
sure, p02 , and Mach number, M2 , are also presented.
The same data are presented in terms of non-
dimensional static pressure recovery (p2 − p1 )/p0 in
Fig. 7. The largest discrepancy between the model and
the experimental data is 2.3 per cent of the static pres-
sure recovery or 0.20 per cent of total pressure. Both
the experiment and model show that in a self-pumping
exhaust of this type, operating at mild-supersonic con-
ditions (1.0 < M1is < 1.6), the expected static pressure
recovery is typically (p2 − p1 )/p0 = 0.1.
In the case of the current experiment, the cas-
cade inlet pressure is p0 = 3.0 bar. Pressure recovery
corresponding to (p2 − p1 )/p0 = 0.1 equates to a pres-
sure rise of 0.3 bar due to mixing, allowing cascade
exit pressures as low as 0.7 bar with atmospheric
exhaust pressures. Thus cascade pressure ratios of
p0 /p1 = 3.0/0.7 = 4.3, corresponding to an isentropic
exit Mach number of 1.6, are possible, allowing a wide
range of M1 to be investigated.
It is worth noting that the loss term, CL ρ1 v12 A1 /2,
which appears in equation (2) is based on the
upstream dynamic head. This differs from the Baines
et al. [18] formulation based on the downstream
dynamic head, CL ρ2 v22 A2 /2, but provides a better
match with the experimental data. If equation (2) is
modified to include the term CL ρ2 v22 A2 /2, a value of
CL = 1.9 yields the dotted curve shown in Fig. 7.
5 DIGITAL SCHLIEREN FLOW VISUALIZATION
A new digital Schlieren system was developed to
record images directly into a digital SLR camera in
daylight conditions. The system comprised two front-
silvered concave mirrors with a focal length of 2.4 m,
Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
534 T Povey, M L G Oldfield, and F Haselbach

Fig. 8 Schematic of digital Schlieren system

a 6.3 Megapixel SLR camera, and a 450 mm telephoto

lens. Using a halogen light source (a car head lamp
bulb) images can be recorded at 1/4000 s at f/5.6. This
is approximately 100 times faster than the exposure
time required for correct exposure in typical indoor
ambient light conditions, and there is therefore no
need to black-out the tunnel area, as required with
conventional Schlieren systems.
A non-standard Schlieren set-up allows the camera
to focus on a virtual image near infinity by placing the
second concave mirror closer than the focal length of
the mirror from the cascade working section. This is
illustrated in Fig. 8.
The arrangement is a modification of a stan- Fig. 9 The three-hole probe with sensing holes parallel
dard Toepler Schlieren system [11], which uses two to the stem. In use the stem was horizontal and
parabolic mirrors in a folded Z-shape. A light source the line of holes parallel to the vane wakes
is placed at the focal point of the first mirror and
focussed using the second mirror onto either a knife-
edge or a three colour filter. In the conventional
arrangement, a minimum distance of f must be
allowed between the working section and the second
concave mirror in the path in order to form a real
image of the model. In the modified arrangement that Fig. 10 Photograph of three-hole probe tip and stem
was used here, the distance between the second mir-
ror and the working section was less than f , so that a
virtual image of the working section was formed some and yaw directions) five-hole probes are the norm [20],
distance (∼25 m) behind the second mirror. Using a although four-hole probes [21, 22] are now almost
standard SLR camera and telephoto lens (450 mm) the as common; the main advantage of the latter is the
virtual image is easily focussed onto the film plane, smaller size, which is advantageous in transonic flows
without the need for additional lenses. So, high quality because the probe presents lower blockage.
Schlieren images can be captured directly to computer Because of the small size of the cascade, an
without the need for wet processing of plate film. Using unusually small probe capable of high-resolution
the system, Schlieren images were captured over a measurements was required. A three-hole probe was
wide range of exit M as shown later in Figs. 13 and 14. manufactured and calibrated, with the holes aligned
with the stem, so as to be parallel to the vane wakes.
The probe tip was constructed from three stainless
6 MINIATURE DOWNSTREAM TRAVERSE PROBE steel tubes of 0.7 mm outer diameter and 0.4 mm inner
GEOMETRY diameter, giving an overall tip width of 0.7 mm in the
traverse direction. Insensitivity to Re, required because
Traverse measurements of p0 , p, and yaw angle were of the difference between the calibration facility and
conducted downstream of the cascade using a novel the tunnel, was achieved by machining the tubes to
three-hole probe designed for high-resolution two- have sharp edges. The face angle was 60◦ . To minimize
dimensional measurements. the blockage presented to the flow in the downstream
The use of multi-hole probes in Turbomachinery duct, a 140 mm long sting 5 mm in diameter with a
measurements to conduct area surveys in regions of knife-edge stem was used. A drawing of the probe,
highly three-dimensional flow of total and static pres- stem and sting is presented in Fig. 9. A photograph
sure and flow angle is widespread. Symmetric (in pitch of the tip section is given in Fig. 10.

Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy JPE534 © IMechE 2008
 Transonic turbine vane tests
7 PROBE CALIBRATION AND DATA REDUCTION
The probe was calibrated in a transonic tunnel at
Oxford University, over the range −22◦  β  22◦ and
0.2  M  1.7. The tunnel is a partial-closed-loop
ejector pump driven tunnel with a working section
76 mm in width. The height of the working section at
the calibration plane varies between ≈70 and 230 mm.
In the range 0.2  M  1.25, a two-dimensional
perforated nozzle was used [23]. Laval nozzles at M =
1.30, M = 1.35, M = 1.45, M = 1.55, and M = 1.7 were
also used. Schlieren photographs were taken for most
runs to demonstrate that the tunnel flow upstream of
the probe was free from shocks. The probe was moved
in 0.5◦ increments in the range −5◦  β  5◦ and in
1.0◦ increments outside this range. The total pressure
of the tunnel (approximately atmospheric) was mea-
sured with a pitot-pressure probe upstream of the inlet
contraction. Static pressure measurements were taken
on the tunnel sidewalls at the axial position of the
probe tip, 10 mm upstream and downstream of this
location, and on the tunnel liners at tip location. The
probe mount was such that the centre of rotation was
the tip position.
The yaw, total pressure, and Mach coefficients (Cβ ,
CT , and CM ) were defined as follows (probe ports are
shown in Fig. 9)
p A − pC
Cβ = (7)
pB − 0.5(pA + pC )
p0 − pB
CT = where pavg = 0.5(pA + pC ) (8)
pB − pavg
 
1/2 The root mean square difference between the data over

2 pavg 1−γ /γ
CM = −1 (9)
γ −1 pB
The calibration matrices Cβ = f1 (M , β) and CM =
f2 (M , β) are shown in Fig. 11. The calibration maps
were smooth with good form, being reasonably sym-
metric in β. The application matrices β = f3 (Cβ , CM )
Fig. 11 Probe calibration application matrices for yaw
angle and M
JPE534 © IMechE 2008
535
Fig. 12 Probe calibration and application matrices for
total pressure
and M = f4 (Cβ , CM ), which are defined at small regular
intervals of Cβ and CM , are shown in Fig. 11. Using the
application matrices, a simple lookup of the closest
values of Cβ and CM , followed by linear interpolation
in each, is all that is required to compute β and M .
This computationally efficient technique is described
by Main et al. [22].
The calibration matrix CT = f1 (M , β) is shown in
Fig. 12. For small β and for M < 1, CT ≈ 0 as
expected. For high β or in supersonic flow CT = 0. The
application matrix CT = f5 (Cβ , CM ) used to reconstruct
the local value of p0 is also shown.
By substituting the calibration data back into the
application matrix and computing p0 , β, and M at
each point, the probe uncertainty can be evaluated.
whole field is approximately: p0 , 0.41 per cent; β, 0.19◦ ;
and M , 0.014. The probe performed well.
8 TYPICAL CASCADE SCHLIEREN RESULTS
Typical Schlieren photographs are shown in Fig. 13,
below, at a range of isentropic M from 0.943 to 1.31. At
Mis = 0.943 (run 4011) the passage is just choked, and
the flow across the whole cascade shows good peri-
odicity. At Mis = 1.10 (run 4003), the passage shock is
visibly strengthened, and a moderately reflected shock
is formed; the flow is aperiodic in the rightmost three
passages. At Mis = 1.20 (run 4016) two reflected shock
are formed because of a separation bubble on the
suction surface of the neighbouring vane; the flow is
markedly aperiodic in the rightmost three passages,
but still very periodic in the leftmost four passages. At
Mis = 1.31 (run 4007) the under-expanded flow at the
vane exit is clearly marked by the rotation of the wake
towards the axial direction.
If the downstream static pressure is further lowered,
the exit flow becomes supersonic in the axial direc-
tion, as well as in the flow direction (Fig. 14). In this
Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
536 T Povey, M L G Oldfield, and F Haselbach

Fig. 13 Schlieren photographs of the flow in a cascade

at four different M

Fig. 14 An example of axially supersonic flow

Fig. 16 Total pressure traverse measurements in the
range 0.63 < M < 1.38
flow regime, the flow is restored to excellent periodic-
ity and is, of course, independent of the downstream
conditions. Note also the boundary-layer separation Traverse measurements of total pressure down-
in the leftmost passage. stream of a typical cascade are shown in Fig. 16, in the
range 0.630 < Mis < 1.38. The results demonstrate the
good periodicity in the leftmost four passages over
9 COMPARISON OF SCHLIEREN RESULTS WITH
the whole M range. The rotation of the wake towards
FLUENT CFD
the axial direction (rightwards) is also clearly visi-
ble. The strong pressure-side trailing edge (TE) shock,
A typical Schlieren photograph at Mis = 1.21 is com- which occurs – at the traverse location – approximately
pared with a Fluent computational fluid dynamics equidistant between the wakes, demonstrates the high
(CFD) prediction at very similar M in Fig. 15. The resolution of the probe measurements.
Fluent prediction (uppermost frame) is coloured in
contours of M . The simulation accurately predicts the
L running R running trailing edge shocks. Likewise the
10 COMPARISON WITH LARGE-SCALE CASCADE
aperiodicity arising from shock reflections from the
free shear layer (R of figure) are well predicted. Shock
As validation of the techniques used, measurements
boundary layer interaction is less well predicted: the
conducted in the mini-cascade are compared with
two reflected shocks formed by a boundary layer sepa-
measurements conducted in the DLR Göttingen cas-
ration bubble and reattachment on the suction surface
cade in the 1970s, for the same vane profile, over a
of the third free vane from the R in the experiment is
range of M . The operating conditions of the Göttingen
not predicted by CFD.

Table 2 DLR Göttingen cascade

operating conditions

Parameter Value

p0 1 × 105 Pa
T0 293 K
ct 60 mm
p1 0.285 × 105 Pa
Fig. 15 Comparison of Schlieren photograph with Flu- M1 0 to 1.47
Rect (M1 = 1) 0.87 × x106
ent CFD

Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy JPE534 © IMechE 2008
 Transonic turbine vane tests
Fig. 17 Comparison of total pressure loss in the
mini-cascade and the DLR Göttingen cascade
over a range of M
cascade are given in Table 2 below. The working gas
was air.
The cascade efficiency expressed in terms of the row
loss, ξ , as a percentage, is presented in Fig. 17 for the
mini-cascade and for the Göttingen cascade over the
range 0.6 < M < 1.2. ξ is defined as follows
w2 1 − (p1 /p01 )γ −1/γ
ξ = 1 − 21 = 1 −
w1is 1 − (p1 /p0 )γ −1/γ
Comparison of the two loss curves shows them to be
very similar both in magnitude and form over a wide
range of M . The experimental results are subject to an
RMS error of p0 0.41 per cent. This translates into an
RMS error in ξ of 0.43 per cent. The scale of the cas-
cades differed by a factor of 3, but they were operated
at approximately the same Reynolds number over the
range of the experiments. The comparison provides
confidence in measurements from the mini-cascade.
Downstream total pressure, Mach number, and yaw
angle are shown over the same range 0.6 < M < 1.2
in Fig. 18, below, for four sample runs. It is seen that
the passage-to-passage repeatability of the angle dis-
tribution is good, as would be expected at relatively low
Mach number. As the exit Mach number is increased,
the total pressure loss is increased, as expected, and
the flow is turned slightly towards the axial direction,
as it expands to mild supersonic flow downstream of
the turbine. The turning that is measured between
M2 = 0.7 and M2 = 1.15 is ≈0.5◦ in the mid passage.
JPE534 © IMechE 2008
537
Fig. 18 Total pressure, Mach number, and angle for four
runs
Even at M2 = 1.15, slight aperiodicity is noted in the
angle distribution towards the R of the cascade (pas-
sages 6 and 7). This is explained in terms of reflections
from the free shear layer.
11 COSTS
Although it is difficult to obtain costs of new linear cas-
cade tunnels from elsewhere, the large linear cascade
tunnel built in Oxford in 1977–80 [18, 24] cost £74.8k
at 1978 prices, equivalent to £342k at 2008 prices to
design, build, and test. This cost seems reasonable in
the experience of the authors based on recent devel-
opments to other facilities. The mini-cascade tunnel
described in this paper cost a mere £18k to design,
build, and test three vane cascades, a mere 5 per cent
of the large tunnel cost. To replace a set of cascade
blades costs less than £1k at commercial rates. The
mini-cascade mass flow of rate of ≈1.0 kg/s is far lower
than the 30–50 kg/s of the large tunnel. This can lower
running costs further by using a smaller storage tank,
or allow much longer running times from the same
reservoir, as was done in this case.
Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy
538 T Povey, M L G Oldfield, and F Haselbach
12 CONCLUSIONS
The mini-cascade tunnel makes possible the inexpen-
sive testing of multiple gas turbine nozzle guide vane
profiles at exit M ranging from low subsonic to highly
supersonic and realistic Re with a quick turnaround
and high accuracy. This is made possible by the mod-
ular tunnel design, which allows vanes to be quickly
changed. Dimensional accuracy at such a small scale
is assured by CNC machining the vane profiles inte-
grally with the sidewalls. The small scale of the tunnel
gives operating pressures above atmospheric and con-
stant Re can be maintained with changing exit M
with a constant upstream 3 bar pressure supply. This
is in contrast to cascade tunnels with atmospheric
exit pressures for which the Re changes greatly with
changing exit M .
A new self-pumping ejector effect mixing theory
applicable to supersonic flow was developed and val-
idated and has been applied to lower the cascade exit
pressure to 0.7 bar and extend the exit M to 1.6, using
3 bar inlet pressure and atmospheric exhaust.
A new digital Schlieren arrangement has been
demonstrated which uses a smaller number of opti-
cal components than normal, and captures images
directly to a standard digital SLR camera. This enabled
quick multi-shot flow visualization of the turbine
vane exit flows, enhancing the understanding of the
complex flow structures.
A subminiature three-hole, computer controlled,
aerodynamic probe has been calibrated over a large
range of transonic M and has captured the complex
pressure fields downstream of the cascade.
Schlieren and loss measurements have been com-
pared with CFD simulations, and to experimental
results from larger tunnels, the latter serving as val-
idation of the novel techniques developed for the
miniature cascade.
The combination of the innovative mini-cascade
and associated instrumentation represents a change
from the highly complex and expensive turbine wind
tunnels of recent years to a simpler, cheaper, and
highly productive research tool utilizing modern tech-
nology to develop modern transonic turbine vane
profiles.
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Superscripts
APPENDIX ∗ conditions at throat

Notation Subscripts
a speed of sound 0 total (stagnation)
A area (m2 ) 1 cascade downstream near plane
ct tangential or true chord 2 cascade downstream far plane

JPE534 © IMechE 2008 Proc. IMechE Vol. 222 Part A: J. Power and Energy