Development of Choked Flow in Variable Nozzle Radial Turbines

Abstract

In commonly applied one-dimensional choking models for radial turbines, choked flow is assumed to appear in the geometrical throat of each stator and rotor. Coupled and complex three-dimensional effects are not considered. In order to analyze the internal aerodynamic in a radial turbine at off design conditions and before carrying out experimental tests, which in the case of automotive turbocharger are limited by their compact size, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations stand out as a useful tool. This paper presents the study of a variable geometry turbine (VGT) of a commercial turbocharger at off design conditions reaching choked flow, analyzing the presence of this limiting conditions in the stator and rotor under different operation points and VGT positions. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and unsteady RANS simulation have been performed to obtain the flow structures in stator and rotor. The results reveal that the choked effective area mostly depends on the stator vane position and pressure ratio. For the closed VGT position a standing shock wave appears on the stator suction side and expands through the vaneless space. For the opened VGT position the flow is choked at the rotor outlet. However, the evolution of the choked area highly depends on the rotational speed and the secondary flow. A strong interaction with the tip leakage vortex has been identified.