Experimental and Numerical Study of Honeycomb Tip on Suppressing Tip Leakage Flow in Turbine Cascade

In this paper, the effect of a novel honeycomb tip on suppressing tip leakage flow in turbine cascade has been experimentally and numerically studied. Compared to the flat tip cascade with 1%H blade height, the relative leakage flow in honeycomb tip cascade reduces from 3.05% to 2.73%, and the loss also decreases by 8.24%. For honeycomb tip, a number of small vortices are rolled up in the regular hexagonal honeycomb cavities to dissipate the kinetic energy of the clearance flow, and the fluid flowing into and out the cavities create aerodynamic interceptions to the upper clearance flow. As a result, the flow resistance in the clearance increased and the velocity of leakage flow reduced. As the gap height increases, the tip leakage flow and loss changes proportionally, but the growth rate in the honeycomb tip cascade is smaller. Considering its wear resistance of the honeycomb seal, a smaller gap height is allowed in the cascade with honeycomb tip, and that means honeycomb tip has better effect on suppressing leakage flow. Part honeycomb tip structure also retains the effect of suppressing leakage flow. It shows that locally convex honeycomb tip has better suppressing leakage flow effect than the whole honeycomb tip, but locally concave honeycomb tip is slightly less effective.