The CFD Analysis of Subsonic Flow Around Struts of Airfoil and Cylindrical Shape Attached to a Conical Diffuser at Exhaust of a Gas Turbine Engine

After burners are employed in an aero engine of a fighter aircrafts, to achieve maximum thrust during takeoff, climb and during some special combat maneuvers. Since the fuel consumption is high during the afterburning operation it is employed only when necessary. The diffuser duct is the first component of the afterburner system, situated immediately next to the exit of the low-pressure turbine. The struts are the supporting structures, which connect the parts of diffuser duct. These struts will guide the flow in the diffuser duct. The presence of the struts will cause some pressure losses. The flow is decelerated in the diffuser duct. The Mach number also reduces along the length of the diffuser. The design of the diffuser duct should be made so that the recirculation should be minimum at the exit of the diffuser and the thermodynamics properties at the exit should meet the requirement for the proper mixing of the fuel and air with the hot gases passing through the diffuser & hence ensures complete combustion in the upstream zones of the diffuser. The flow inside an afterburner is highly complex due to the presence of the diffuser, flame stabilizer, variable area nozzle and the interaction between core and bypass flow through anti-screech holes. Therefore the performance of afterburner depends to a great extent on the internal aerodynamics. Experimental analysis of such flow is a difficult task. Cost