Comparison of internal flow field between experiment and computation in a radial turbine impeller

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental and numerical research on internal flow of a radial turbine impeller. The detailed flow patterns within the impeller were measured by LDV anemometer, and CFD code "BTOB3D", which had been widely used in engineering, was used for flow simulation. The comparison of flow field was carefully and strictly conducted between computation and experiment. The results confirm that CFD computation can reach excellent qualitative agreement to experimental data, and most of flow characteristics can be captured by computation. The quantitative accuracy is also fine in large flow regions, however in some chord positions large error can be found for individual flow parameters. Finally, based on experimental data and computed results, the effects of incidence angle and flow distribution at impeller inlet are discussed.