Application of shear-sensitive liquid crystal coating to visualization of transition and reattachment in compressor cascade

The present paper aims at introducing Shear-Sensitive Liquid Crystal Coating (SSLCC) technology into compressor cascade measurement for the first time and serves as a basis for better understanding of the influence from the boundary layers. Optical path layout, which is the most significant difficulty in internal flow field measurement, will be solved in this paper by self-designed image acquisition device. Massive experiments with different Mach number and incidence are conducted at a continuous subsonic cascade wind tunnel to capture the boundary layer phenomenon. Image processing methods, such as Three-Dimensional (3-D) reconstruction and Hue conversion, are used to improve the accuracy for transition position detection. The analysis of the color-images indicates that complex flow phenomena including transition, flow separation, and reattachment are captured successfully, and the effect of Mach number and incidence on the boundary layer flow is also discussed. The results show that: the Mach number has a significant effect on transition position; the incidence has little effect on transition position, but it has a great impact on the transition distance and leading-edge separation; influenced by the end-walls, the reattachment occurs in advance under positive angle of attack conditions.