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Numerical study of a two-stage turbine characteristic under pulsating flow conditions

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Abstract

With developments of turbo-compounding and two-stage turbocharging technologies, two-stage turbine is increasingly applied in automotive engines. This paper numerically investigates the characteristic of a two-stage turbine on a turbo-compound engine under pulsating flow conditions. The behaviors of turbine stages with the swallowing capacity ratio (SR) equals to 2.0, under low, mid and high load conditions were studied. Results show that the Low pressure turbine (LPT) is more sensitive to the pulsating flow, especially at low load conditions, compared with High pressure turbine (HPT). It is caused by the dramatic change of velocity ratio in LPT. Results also show that the load split between HPT and LPT under pulsating flow conditions deviates from that at quasi-steady conditions, indicating the different behaviors of the two-stage turbine under pulsating conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Rongchao Zhao, Weilin Zhuge & Yangjun Zhang

  2. Imperial College London, London, UK

    Rongchao Zhao, Mingyang Yang & Ricardo Martinez-Botas

Authors
  1. Rongchao Zhao
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  2. Weilin Zhuge
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  3. Yangjun Zhang
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  4. Mingyang Yang
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  5. Ricardo Martinez-Botas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yangjun Zhang.

Additional information

Recommended by Guest Editor Hyung Hee Cho and Yulin Wu

Rongchao Zhao obtained his B.E. from South China University of Technology in 2010. He is currently a Ph.D. student for Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. His research interests include turbocharging and waste heat recovery for automotive engines.

Yangjun Zhang obtained his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Propulsion at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1989, 1992 and 1995. Since 2003, he has been a professor in the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University. His research mainly focuses on engine flow control, turbocharging and waste heat recovery.

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Zhao, R., Zhuge, W., Zhang, Y. et al. Numerical study of a two-stage turbine characteristic under pulsating flow conditions. J Mech Sci Technol 30, 557–565 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0109-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0109-6

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