Flow Characteristics and Mass Flow Distribution Mechanism Within Multi-Inlet and Multi-Outlet Corotating Disc Cavities

Clarence Jia Cheng Chai, Xueying Li () and Jing Ren
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Clarence Jia Cheng Chai: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Xueying Li: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jing Ren: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: This study reveals the governing mechanism of mass flow distribution within a multi-inlet, multi-outlet corotating disc cavity, providing critical insights for designing advanced gas turbine secondary air systems. An experimentally verified numerical investigation is conducted across a range of rotational Reynolds numbers R e ϕ = 5 × 10 6 ~ 2 × 10 7 and axial Reynolds numbers R e z = 2 × 10 5 ~ 5 × 10 5 , corresponding to Rossby numbers R o from 0.01 to 0.10. Results highlight that R o governs the internal flow and outlet mass flow distribution through two distinct regimes. In the rotation-dominated regime at low R o , the radial outlet mass flow ratio M R decreases sharply, and a stable, dual-zone vortical structure forms. As R o increases, growing inflow inertia disrupts this structure, causing vortices to merge, which enhances swirl uniformity and slows the rate of M R decrease. This transition dictates outlet performance: the radial outlet discharge steadily improves with R o , while the axial outlet performance increases abruptly around R o = 0.02 before saturating.

Keywords: gas turbine; secondary air system; rotating cavity; computational fluid dynamics; Rossby number (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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