Performance Assessment of Reynolds Stress and Eddy Viscosity Models on a Transitional DCA Compressor Blade

In the current work a detailed investigation and a performance assessment of two eddy viscosity and two Reynolds stress turbulence models for modelling the transitional flow on a double circular arc (DCA) compressor blade is presented. The investigation is focused on the comparison of the obtained computational results with available experimental data for a specific DCA compressor blade cascade which can be found in the European Research Community on Flow, Turbulence and Combustion (ERCOFTAC) experimental database. The examined flow field is very challenging for the performance assessment of the turbulence models. The blade inlet angle departs +5 degrees from the compressor blade design conditions resulting in a complex flow field having large regions of boundary layer transition both on the suction and pressure sides of the blade with the presence of an unsteady wake. The presented results include velocity and turbulence intensity distributions along the pressure, the suction sides, and the wake region of the blade. From the comparison with the available experimental data, it is evident that in order to accurately compute such complex velocity and turbulence fields that are met in aero engine components (compressors and turbines), it is obligatory to use more advanced turbulence models with the Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes Equations (URANS) adoption, or other simulation and hybrid methodologies which require unsteady calculations.