Open Access

ARTICLE

Analysis of Flow Structure in Microturbine Operating at Low Reynolds Number

Mohamed Omri^1,*, Yusuf Al-Turki², Ahmed A. Alghamdi¹, Amrid Amnache³, Luc G. Fréchette³

1 King Abdulaziz University, Deanship of Scientific Research, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2 King Abdulaziz University, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
3 Université de Sherbrooke, Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT), Sherbrooke, Canada

* Corresponding Author: Mohamed Omri. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Role of Computer in Modelling & Solving Real-World Problems)

Computers, Materials & Continua 2022, 71(1), 961-977. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2022.021406

Received 02 July 2021; Accepted 03 September 2021; Issue published 03 November 2021

Abstract

In this paper, three-dimensional flows in laminar subsonic cascades at relatively low Reynolds numbers (Re < 2500) are presented, based on numerical calculations. The stator and rotor blade designs are those for a MEMS-based Rankine microturbine power-plant-on-a-chip with 109-micron chord blades. Blade passage calculations in 3D were done for different Reynolds numbers, tip clearances (from 0 to 20%) and incidences (0° to 15°) to determine the impact of aerodynamic conditions on the flow patterns. These conditions are applied to a blade passage for a stationary outer casing. The 3D blade passage without tip clearance indicates the presence of two large symmetric vortices due to the interaction between hub/casing boundary layers and the blade. Opening the tip clearance introduces the tip vortex, which tends to become dominant above a tip clearance of 10%. In addition to providing a description and understanding of the 3D flow in a MEMS microturbine, these results suggest the importance of considering 3D flows in the design of microturbomachinery, even though the geometry is dominantly 2D.

---

Keywords

---