Effects of Rotating Inlet Distortion on Multistage Compressor Stability

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Longley ◽  
H. -W. Shin ◽  
R. E. Plumley ◽  
P. D. Silkowski ◽  
I. J. Day ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Stability Margin ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Single Peak ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Inlet Distortion ◽  
Multistage Compressor ◽  
Two Peaks

In multispool engines, rotating stall in an upstream compressor will impose a rotating distortion on the downstream compressor, thereby affecting its stability margin. In this paper experiments are described in which this effect was simulated by a rotating screen upstream of several multistage low-speed compressors. The measurements are complemented by, and compared with, a theoretical model of multistage compressor response to speed and direction of rotation of an inlet distortion. For corotating distortions (i.e., distortions rotating in the same direction as rotor rotation), experiments show that the compressors exhibited significant loss in stability margin and that they could be divided into two groups according to their response. The first group exhibited a single peak in stall margin degradation when the distortion speed corresponded to roughly 50 percent of rotor speed. The second group showed two peaks in stall margin degradation corresponding to distortion speeds of approximately 25–35 percent and 70–75 percent of rotor speed. These new results demonstrate that multistage compressors can have more than a single resonant response. Detailed measurements suggest that the two types of behavior are linked to differences between the stall inception processes observed for the two groups of compressors and that a direct connection thus exists between the observed forced response and the unsteady flow phenomena at stall onset. For counterrotational distortions, all the compressors tested showed minimal loss of stability margin. The results imply that counterrotation of the fan and core compressor, or LP and HP compressors, could be a worthwhile design choice. Calculations based on the two-dimensional theoretical model show excellent agreement for the compressors, which had a single peak for stall margin degradation. We take this first-of-a-kind comparison as showing that the model, though simplified, captures the essential fluid dynamic features of the phenomena. Agreement is not good for compressors that had two peaks in the curve of stall margin shift versus distortion rotation speed. The discrepancy is attributed to the three-dimensional and short length scale nature of the stall inception process in these machines; this includes phenomena that have not yet been addressed in any model.

Effects of Rotating Inlet Distortion on Multisage Compressor Stability

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Longley ◽  
H.-W. Shin ◽  
R. E. Plumley ◽  
P. D. Silkowski ◽  
I. J. Day ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Stability Margin ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Single Peak ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Inlet Distortion ◽  
Two Peaks

In multi-spool engines, rotating stall in an upstream compressor will impose a rotating distortion on the downstream compressor, thereby affecting its stability margin. In this paper experiments are described in which this effect was simulated by a rotating screen upstream of several multistage low-speed compressors. The measurements are complemented by, and compared with, a theoretical model of multistage compressor response to speed and direction of rotation of an inlet distortion. For co-rotating distortions (i.e., distortions rotating in the same direction as rotor rotation), experiments show that the compressors exhibited significant loss in stability margin and that they could be divided into two groups according to their response. The first group exhibited a single peak in stall margin degradation when the distortion speed corresponded to roughly 50% of rotor speed. The second group showed two peaks in stall margin degradation corresponding to distortion speeds of approximately 25–35% and 70–75% of rotor speed. These new results demonstrate that multistage compressors can have more than a single resonant response. Detailed measurements suggest that the two types of behavior are linked to differences between the stall inception processes observed for the two groups of compressors and that a direct connection thus exists between the observed forced response and the unsteady flow phenomena at stall onset. For counter-rotational distortions, all the compressors tested showed minimal loss of stability margin. The results imply that counter-rotation of the fan and core compressor, or LP and HP compressors, could be a worthwhile design choice. Calculations based on the two-dimensional theoretical model show excellent agreement for the compressors which had a single peak for stall margin degradation. We take this first-of-a-kind comparison as showing that the model, though simplified, captures the essential fluid dynamic features of the phenomena. Agreement is not good for compressors which had two peaks in the curve of stall margin shift versus distortion rotation speed. The discrepancy is attributed to the three-dimensional and short length scale nature of the stall inception process in these machines; this includes phenomena that have not yet been addressed in any model.

Influence of Compressor Deterioration on Engine Dynamic Behavior and Transient Stall-Margin

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
J. B. Gertz ◽  
O. P. Sharma ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Shaft Speed ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Commercial Aircraft ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Engine Dynamic ◽  
System Mode ◽  
Flow Blockage

This paper presents an experimental and analytical investigation of compressor stability assessment during engine transient operation. A 2-dimensional, linear, compressible, state-space analysis of stall-inception (Feulner et al. (1996)) was modified to account for engine transients and deterioration, with the latter modeled as increased tip-clearance and flow blockage. Experiments were performed on large commercial aircraft engines in both undeteriorated and deteriorated states. Unsteady measurements of pressure in these test engines during rapid accelerations revealed the growth of pre-stall disturbances, which rotate at rotor speed and at approximately half rotor speed. These disturbances are stronger in deteriorated engines. The model showed that the signal at shaft speed was the first compressible system mode, whose frequency is near shaft speed, excited by geometric nonuniformities. The computed behavior of this mode during throttle transients closely matched engine data. The signal increased in strength as stall was approached and as the engine deteriorated. This work firmly establishes the connection between observed signals in the these engines and first principles stability models.

1997 Best Paper Award—Controls and Diagnostics Committee: Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall and Surge in a Transonic Single-Stage Axial Compressor

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
L. G. Fre´chette ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
E. M. Greitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Single Stage ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Spatial Harmonics

Rotating stall and surge have been stabilized in a transonic single-stage axial compressor using active feedback control. The control strategy is to sense upstream wall static pressure patterns and feed back the signal to an annular array of twelve separately modulated air injectors. At tip relative Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.5 the control achieved 11 and 3.5 percent reductions in stalling mass flow, respectively, with injection adding 3.6 percent of the design compressor mass flow. The aerodynamic effects of the injection have also been examined. At a tip Mach number, Mtip, of 1.0, the stall inception dynamics and effective active control strategies are similar to results for low-speed axial compressors. The range extension was achieved by individually damping the first and second spatial harmonics of the prestall perturbations using constant gain feedback. At a Mtip of 1.5 (design rotor speed), the prestall dynamics are different than at the lower speed. Both one-dimensional (surge) and two-dimensional (rotating stall) perturbations needed to be stabilized to increase the compressor operating range. At design speed, the instability was initiated by approximately ten rotor revolutions of rotating stall followed by classic surge cycles. In accord with the results from a compressible stall inception analysis, the zeroth, first, and second spatial harmonics each include more than one lightly damped mode, which can grow into the large amplitude instability. Forced response testing identified several modes traveling up to 150 percent of rotor speed for the first three spatial harmonics; simple constant gain control cannot damp all of these modes and thus cannot stabilize the compressor at this speed. A dynamic, model-based robust controller was therefore used to stabilize the multiple modes that comprise the first three harmonic perturbations in this transonic region of operation.

An Experimental Investigation Into the Impacts of Varying the Circumferential Extent of Tip-Low Total Pressure Distortion on Fan Stability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Allen ◽  
Alejandro Castillo Pardo ◽  
Cesare A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Stability Margin ◽  
Jet Engines ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Circumferential Extent ◽  
Low Distortion ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Future jet engines with shorter and thinner intakes present a greater risk of intake separation. This leads to a complex tip-low total pressure distortion pattern of varying circumferential extent. In this paper, an experimental study has been completed to determine the impact of such distortion patterns on the operating range and stalling behaviour of a low-speed fan rig. Unsteady casing static pressure measurements have been made during stall events in 11 circumferential extents of tip-low distortion. The performance has been measured and detailed area traverses have been performed at rotor inlet and outlet in 3 of these cases — clean, axisymmetric tip-low and half-annulus tip-low distortion. Axisymmetric tip-low distortion is found to reduce stall margin by 8%. It does not change the stalling mechanism compared to clean inflow. In both cases, high incidence at the tip combined with growth of the casing boundary layer drive instability. In contrast, half-annulus tip-low distortion is found to reduce stall margin by only 4% through a different mechanism. The distortion causes disturbances in the measured casing pressure signals to grow circumferentially in regions of high incidence. Stall occurs when these disturbances do not decay fully in the undistorted region. As the extent of the distorted sector is increased, the stability margin is found to reduce continuously. However, the maximum disturbance size before stall inception is found to occur at intermediate values of distorted sector extent. This corresponds to distortion patterns that provide sufficient circumferential length of undistorted region for disturbances to decay fully before they return to the distorted sector. It is found that as the extent of the tip-low distortion sector is increased, the circumferential size of the stall cell that develops is reduced. However, its speed is found to remain approximately constant at 50% of the rotor blade speed.

Investigation on stall inception of axial compressor under inlet rotating distortion

2015 ◽  
Vol 231 (10) ◽  
pp. 1859-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingming Zhang ◽  
Anping Hou
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Flow Coefficient ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Inlet Distortion ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Inflow Conditions

This paper applies a numerical approach to improve the understanding of reaction to various inflow conditions for the compressor system and the mechanism of stall inception under rotating inflow distortions. Full annulus, unsteady, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics has been used to simulate an axial low-speed compressor operating under rotating distorted inflow conditions. The development of the flow through the rotor is then explained in terms of the redistribution of the flow field and the process of stall inception. The results suggest that the increased flow incidence close to the tip region under co-rotating inflow distortion plays an important role on the stall inception process. The presence of a strong modal wave is observed under co-rotating inflow distortions. This leads to a significant impact on the loss of stall margin, as compared with other distorted inflow conditions. There is a significant peak in the flow coefficient at stall for co-rotating inlet distortion. It can be interpreted as a resonant behavior of the compressor under a strong interaction between the flow field and inlet distortion. It indicates that the stall inception is triggered by the perturbation of the rotating distorted inflow through the long length scale disturbances.

Influence of Compressor Deterioration on Engine Dynamic Behavior and Transient Stall-Margin

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
J. B. Gertz ◽  
O. P. Sharma ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Shaft Speed ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Commercial Aircraft ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Engine Dynamic ◽  
System Mode ◽  
Flow Blockage

This paper presents an experimental and analytical investigation of compressor stability assessment during engine transient operation. A two-dimensional, linear, compressible, state-space analysis of stall-inception (Feulner et al., 1996, ASME J. Turbomach., 118, pp. 1–10) was modified to account for engine transients and deterioration, with the latter modeled as increased tip-clearance and flow blockage. Experiments were performed on large commercial aircraft engines in both undeteriorated and deteriorated states. Unsteady measurements of pressure in these test engines during rapid accelerations revealed the growth of pre-stall disturbances, which rotate at rotor speed and at approximately half rotor speed. These disturbances are stronger in deteriorated engines. The model showed that the signal at shaft speed was the first compressible system mode, whose frequency is near shaft speed, excited by geometric nonuniformities. The computed behavior of this mode during throttle transients closely matched engine data. The signal increased in strength as stall was approached and as the engine deteriorated. This work firmly establishes the connection between observed signals in the these engines and first principles stability models. [S0889-504X(00)01603-2]

scholarly journals Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall and Surge in a Transonic Single Stage Axial Compressor

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
L. G. Fréchette ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
E. M. Greitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Single Stage ◽  
Rotor Speed ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Spatial Harmonics

Rotating stall and surge have been stabilized in a transonic single-stage axial compressor using active feedback control. The control strategy is to sense upstream wall static pressure patterns and feed back the signal to an annular array of twelve separately modulated air injectors. At tip relative Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.5 the control achieved a 11% and 3.5% reduction in stalling mass flow respectively, with injection adding 3.6% of the design compressor mass flow. The aerodynamic effects of the injection have also been examined. At a tip Mach number, Mtip, of 1.0, the stall inception dynamics and effective active control strategies are similar to results for low-speed axial compressors. The range extension was achieved by individually damping the first and second spatial harmonics of the pre-stall perturbations using constant gain feedback. At a Mtip of 1.5 (design rotor speed), the pre-stall dynamics are different than at the lower speed. Both one-dimensional (surge) and two-dimensional (rotating stall) perturbations needed to be stabilized to increase the compressor operating range. At design speed, the instability was initiated by approximately 10 rotor revolutions of rotating stall followed by classic surge cycles. In accord with the results from a compressible stall inception analysis, the zeroth, first, and second spatial harmonics each include more than one lightly damped mode which can grow into the large amplitude instability. Forced response testing identified several modes traveling up to 150% of rotor speed for the first three spatial harmonics; simple constant gain control cannot damp all of these modes and thus cannot stabilize the compressor at this speed. A dynamic, model-based robust controller was therefore used to stabilize the multiple modes which comprise the first three harmonic perturbations in this transonic region of operation.

scholarly journals Axial Flow Compressor Stability Enhancement: Circumferential T-Shape Grooves Performance Investigation

Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Marco Porro ◽  
Richard Jefferson-Loveday ◽  
Ernesto Benini
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Breakdown ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Treatment Technique ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Stall Margin Improvement

This work focuses its attention on possibilities to enhance the stability of an axial compressor using a casing treatment technique. Circumferential grooves machined into the case are considered and their performances evaluated using three-dimensional steady state computational simulations. The effects of rectangular and new T-shape grooves on NASA Rotor 37 performances are investigated, resolving in detail the flow field near the blade tip in order to understand the stall inception delay mechanism produced by the casing treatment. First, a validation of the computational model was carried out analysing a smooth wall case without grooves. The comparisons of the total pressure ratio, total temperature ratio and adiabatic efficiency profiles with experimental data highlighted the accuracy and validity of the model. Then, the results for a rectangular groove chosen as the baseline case demonstrated that the groove interacts with the tip leakage flow, weakening the vortex breakdown and reducing the separation at the blade suction side. These effects delay stall inception, improving compressor stability. New T-shape grooves were designed keeping the volume as a constant parameter and their performances were evaluated in terms of stall margin improvement and efficiency variation. All the configurations showed a common efficiency loss near the peak condition and some of them revealed a stall margin improvement with respect to the baseline. Due to their reduced depth, these new configurations are interesting because they enable the use of a thinner light-weight compressor case as is desirable in aerospace applications.

Blade Forcing Function and Aerodynamic Work Measurements in a High Speed Centrifugal Compressor With Inlet Distortion

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Kammerer ◽  
Reza S. Abhari
Keyword(s):  
Failure Modes ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Blade Surface ◽  
Centrifugal Compressors ◽  
Flow Distortion ◽  
Unsteady Pressure ◽  
Inlet Distortion ◽  
Forcing Function ◽  
Work Distribution

Centrifugal compressors operating at varying rotational speeds, such as in helicopters or turbochargers, can experience forced response failure modes. The response of the compressors can be triggered by aerodynamic flow non-uniformities, such as with diffuser-impeller interaction or with inlet distortions. The work presented here addresses experimental investigations of forced response in centrifugal compressors with inlet distortions. This research is part of an ongoing effort to develop related experimental techniques and to provide data for validation of computational tools. In this work measurements of blade surface pressure and aerodynamic work distribution were addressed. A series of pressure sensors were designed and installed on rotating impeller blades and simultaneous measurements with blade-mounted strain gauges were performed under engine representative conditions. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first publication which presents comprehensive experimental unsteady pressure measurements during forced response for highspeed radial compressors. Experimental data were obtained for both resonance and off-resonance conditions with uniquely tailored inlet distortion. This paper covers aspects relating to the design of fast response pressure sensors and their installation on thin impeller blades. Additionally, sensor properties are outlined with a focus on calibration and measurement uncertainty estimations. The second part of this paper presents unsteady pressure results taken for a number of inlet distortion cases. It will be shown that the intended excitation order due to inlet flow distortion is of comparable magnitude to the second and third harmonics which are consistently observed in all measurements. Finally, an experimental method will be outlined that enables the measurement aerodynamic work on the blade surface during resonant crossing. This approach quantifies the energy exchange between the blade and the flow in terms of cyclic work along the blade surface. The phase angle between the unsteady pressure and the blade movement will be shown to determine the direction of energy transfer between the blade and the fluid.

Numerical Investigation of Effect of Inlet Distortion on Compressor Flow Field and Stability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
HaoGuang Zhang ◽  
Kang An ◽  
Feng Tan ◽  
YanHui Wu ◽  
WuLi Chu
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Numerical Work ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Numerical Investigations ◽  
Inlet Distortion ◽  
Compressor Rotor ◽  
The Stability

The compressor aerodynamic design is conducted under the condition of clean inlet in general, but a compressor often operates under the condition of inlet distortion in the practical application. It has been proven by a lot of experimental and numerical investigations that inlet distortion can decrease the performance and stability of compressors. The circumferential or radial distorted inlet in mostly numerical investigations is made by changing the total pressure and total temperature in the inlet ring surface of the compressors. In most of inlet distortion experiments, distorted inlets are usually created by using wire net, flashboards, barriers or the generator of rotating distortion. The fashion of generating distorted inlet for experiment is different from that for numerical simulation. Consequently, the flow mechanism of affecting the flow field and stability of a compressor with distorted inlet for experiment is partly different than that for numerical simulation. In the numerical work reported here, the inlet distortion is generated by setting some barriers in the inlet ring surface of an axial subsonic compressor rotor. Two kinds of distorted inlet are investigated to exploring the effect of distorted range on the flow field and stability of the compressor with ten-passage unsteady numerical method. The numerical results show that the inlet distortions not only degrade the total pressure and efficiency of the compressor rotor, but also decrease the stability of the rotor. The larger the range of distorted inlet is, the stronger the adverse effect is. The comprehensive stall margin for the inlet distortion of 24 degrees and 48 degrees of ten-passages is reduced about 3.35% and 5.88% respectively. The detailed analysis of the flow field in the compressor indicates that the blockage resulted from tip clearance leakage vortex (TLV) and the flow separation near the suction surfaces of some blades tip for distorted inlet is more serious than that resulted from TLV for clean inlet. Moreover, the larger the range of distorted inlet is, the larger the range of the blockage is. The analysis of unsteady flow shows that during this process, which is that one rotor blade passes through the region affected by the distorted inlet, the range of the blockage in the rotor passage increases first, then reduces, and increases last.

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