Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Droplet Characterization In The Wake Of Steam Turbine Cascades, Adam Charles Plondke

Masters Theses

In low-pressure steam turbines, water droplet formation on the surfaces of stationary stator blades can lead to erosion on downstream turbine blades and other equipment. One property that affects the size of the droplets that are formed is the adhesive forces between the water and the surface of the stator blade. The adhesive forces hold the droplets to the surface where they may combine, forming increasingly larger droplets. Eventually, the aerodynamic forces will tear the droplets off the surface, carrying them downstream.

To study the effect of stator surface properties on the droplet size distribution, four cascades of stator blades …