Session: 34-20 Solver methods 4

Paper Number: 121758

121758 - Accurate Modeling of the Flow Structures in the Gap Between Corotating Disks of a Tesla Turbine 

Momentum diffusion and kinetic energy transfer in turbomachinery have always been significant issues. These phenomena have a considerable effect on the performance of the bladeless Tesla turbine. Analyzing the flow inside the gap between the co-rotating disks of the Tesla turbine poses a challenge due to numerous factors, including sub-millimeter length scale, variation of flow cross-section, interactions of body forces arising from the rotation with the turbulence, interactions between the turbine’s inlet nozzles and rotor, and moving walls. The majority of the numerical research devoted to this problem diverges from the experimental data due to the inability to correctly predict phenomena in the boundary layer. This research aims to study the flow in the domain that consists of one inlet nozzle and a part of one gap between the disks to reveal the complexity of the flow structures and their impact on the Tesla turbine performance. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with the Smagorinsky sub-grid scale model and k-ω SST turbulence model were employed to simulate the flow. The research compares the flow structure, velocity profiles, and other effective parameters on the system's performance. The meshing strategy is described as well since the LES requirements make this method expensive and time-consuming. The overall benefits of this method are also discussed in this study.

Presenting Author: Mohammadsadegh Pahlavanzadeh Silesian University of Technology

Presenting Author Biography: I am a Ph.D. student at the Silesian University of Technology. My research interest is computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and I focus on various CFD models, including URANS, LES, and hybrid models, aimed at enhancing momentum exchange in the flow between the rotating disks of a Tesla turbine.

Authors:

Mohammadsadegh Pahlavanzadeh Silesian University of Technology
Krzysztof Rusin Silesian University of Technology
Włodzimierz Wróblewski Silesian University of Technology