Turbomachinery

Turbomachinery is the class of fluid machines that compressors and turbines. These are used in aircraft engines and in industrial gas turbines for propulsion and power.

The aerodynamic design of the engine blades and ancillary flow passages is paramount to the economical, reliable, and environmentally clean operation of the machine. While current designs have achieved component isentropic efficiencies of 85% for axial compressors and 93% for axial turbines, modern experimental techniques, complemented by numerical modelling, can lead to further valuable improvements in design and operation.

Transition

• Turbomachinery aerodynamics with special emphasis on the modelling of unsteady shear layers. Experimental work has focussed on boundary layer transition.
• Experimental study into the physics of laminar separation bubbles and transition to turbulence in boundary layers under an adverse pressure gradient. 

Turbine Aerodynamics

• The aerodynamic instability of turbomachinery blading flows. A specific interest trailing edge wake flows is leading to the further development of time accurate numerical models jointly addressing the unsteady aerodynamics and noise. 
• Energy separation and base pressure distribution of cylinders and turbine blade wakes. 
• Direct coupling of a Turboshaft to a High Speed AC Drive. 

Compressor Aerodynamics

• Experimental study into the physics of laminar separation bubbles and transition to turbulence in boundary layers under an adverse pressure gradient.