Numerical Study on Pressure Drop and Temperature Rise of an Axial Throughflow Passing Through Rotating Cavity

To demonstrate the effects of rotational Reynolds number (Reω) on the pressure drop and temperature rise of an axial throughflow passing through rotating cavity, a series of numerical simulations were performed under a fixed axial throughflow Reynolds number Rex=1.0×105, rotational Reynolds number between 0 and 5.31×106 in adiabatic thermal boundary condition. The detailed flow fields, the adiabatic temperature rise on rotating disks, as well as the pressure drop and temperature rise of an axial throughflow were analyzed. The results show that the rotational Reynolds number affects the flow fields significantly, both inside the rotating cavity and inside the axial throughflow path. Although the disk is thermally adiabatic, the centrifugal-buoyancy force caused by temperature rise is not to be ignored due to the viscous dissipation effect, which affects the flow instable and temperature distribution. As the rotational Reynolds number increases, the absolute temperature rise with respect to the axial throughflow inlet increased rapidly. When the rotational Reynolds number is less than 2.5×106, the relevant temperature-rise coefficient of axial throughflow is generally less than 0.01. When the rotational Reynolds number is greater than 4.5×106, the relevant temperature-rise coefficient of axial throughflow reaches up to 0.04. © 2021, Editorial Department of Journal of Propulsion Technology. All right reserved.