Detached eddy simulation for the compressor stator of high-pressure cascade with massive separation

The potential of predicting separations in turbomachinery of detached eddy simulation (DES) was researched by applying it to simulate high Reynolds-number complex flows of compressor stator with massive separations near endwalls. DES and SA simulation were carried out with 2.8 million grids approximately. For SA model, only steady results were obtained. For DES, unsteady property was not obvious in the middle-span little-separation region. Comparison showed that DES and SA had little difference when separations were little. However, DES captured obvious unsteady phenomena and pressure fluctuation in massive-separation regions near endwalls. Calculations showed that dynamic shedding vortices from the suction surface led to faster rate of wakes mixture but separations from endwalls could strengthen wakes. DES also gave better description of vortices structures than SA. Therefore, DES is better than SA for simulating massive separations of high-Reynolds number flows in turbomachinery. The results also give further understanding of development of corner vortices and wakes.