Experimental and numerical investigation of loss in turbine cascade with low Reynolds number

Low Reynolds number of turbine at high-altitude results in the notable drop of efficiency of turbine. The objectives of the present work was to reveal the aerodynamic performance of low-pressure turbine blades at low Reynolds number. The airfoil being studied is the mid-span section of the low-pressure turbine rotor blade of a turbofan. The Reynolds number, based on the cascade outlet velocity and blade chord, was varied from 10000 to 180000. A finite volume scheme for solving Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations is used. The experiment was conducted on the low-speed linear cascade tunnel. Both the predicted and experimental results indicate increased cascade losses as the Reynolds number is reduced to the values associated with aircraft cruise conditions. Overall, the predicted aerodynamic and performance results exhibit fair agreement with experimental data.