Research on the Influence of Inflow Conditions on the Aerodynamic Performance of a Tandem Cascade

We perform a thorough numerical analysis of the impact of inflow conditions on the aerodynamic performance of a tandem cascade. In particular, we investigate the effects of the incidence angle and the inlet boundary layer (IBL) thickness on the three-dimensional flow field structure and aerodynamic performance. Our results show that the gap flow strength of the tandem cascade decreases with the increase of incidence angle, and it can effectively reduce the mixing of the wakes of the forward blade (FB) and rear blade (RB). In turn, this prevents the passage vortex (PV) in the RB passage from developing along the circumferential direction. The occurrence of IBL does not modify the effects of the incidence angle on the tandem cascade, however, it reduces the load of the RB and the gap flow strength near the endwall. Under all incidence angles, IBL increases the total pressure loss of the tandem cascade, and decreases the static pressure rise (except for an incidence angle equal to -6°). The maximum loss increment is at 2° incidence angle, and the maximum static pressure rise decrement is at 6° incidence angle (Thick-IBL condition) or 7° incidence angle (Thin-IBL condition). Furthermore, we found that the presence of IBL changes the minimum loss condition from 0° (design condition) to -2° incidence angle. Our results thus indicate that in the practical engineering application of the tandem cascade, the reality that IBL degrades the tandem cascade performance in the full incidence angle range should be considered.