A Numerical Study of the Effect of Particle Size on Particle Deposition on Turbine Vanes and Blades

Abstract

Particle deposition could decrease the aerodynamic performance and cooling efficiency of turbine vanes and blades. The particle motion in the flow and its temperature are two important factors affecting its deposition. The size of the particle influences both its motion and temperature. In this study, the motion of particles with the sizes from 1 to 20 μm in the first stage of a turbine are firstly numerically simulated with the steady method, then the particle deposition on the vanes and blades are numerically simulated with the unsteady method based on the critical viscosity model. It is discovered that the particle deposition on vanes mainly formed near the leading and trailing edge on the pressure surface, and the deposition area expands slowly to the whole pressure surface with the particle size increasing. For the particle deposition on blades, the deposition area moves from the entire pressure surface toward the tip with the particle size increasing due to the effect of rotation. For vanes, the particle capture efficiency increases with the particle size increasing since Stokes number and temperature of the particle both increase with its size. For blades, the particle capture efficiency increases firstly and then decreases with the particle size increasing.