Three-Dimensional Flow Phenomena in a Transonic, High-Through-Flow, Axial-Flow Compressor Stage

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Copenhaver ◽  
Chunill Hah ◽  
Steven L. Puterbaugh

A detailed aerodynamic study of a transonic, high-through-flow, single stage compressor is presented. The compressor stage was comprised of a low-aspect-ratio rotor combined alternately with two different stator designs. Both experimental and numerical studies are conducted to understand the details of the complex flow field present in this stage. Aerodynamic measurements using high-frequency, Kulite pressure transducers and conventional probes are compared with results from a three-dimensional viscous flow analysis. A steady multiple blade row approach is used in the numerical technique to examine the detailed flow structure inside the rotor and the stator passages. The comparisons indicate that many flow field features are correctly captured by viscous flow analysis, and therefore unmeasured phenomena can be studied with some level of confidence.

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Copenhaver ◽  
C. Hah ◽  
S. L. Puterbaugh

A detailed aerodynamic study of a transonic, high-throughflow, single-stage compressor is presented. The compressor stage was comprised of a low-aspect-ratio rotor combined alternately with two different stator designs. Both experimental and numerical studies are conducted to understand the details of the complex flow field present in this stage. Aerodynamic measurements using high-frequency, Kulite pressure transducers and conventional probes are compared with results from a three-dimensional viscous flow analysis. A steady multiple blade row approach is used in the numerical technique to examine the detailed flow structure inside the rotor and the stator passages. The comparisons indicate that many flow field features are correctly captured by viscous flow analysis, and therefore unmeasured phenomena can be studied with some level of confidence.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. V. Marathe ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Y. Dong

The objective of this investigation is to understand the nature of the complex flow field inside each element of the torque converter through a systematic experimental and numerical investigation of the flow field. A miniature five-hole probe was used to acquire the data at the exit of the stator at several operating conditions. The flow field is found to be highly three dimensional with substantial flow deviations, and secondary flow at the exit of the stator. The secondary flow structure, caused by the upstream radial variation of the through flow, induces flow overturning near the core. Flow separation near the shell causes flow underturning in this region. The rate of decay of stator wake is found to be slower than that observed in the wakes of axial flow turbine nozzles. The flow predictions by a Navier–Stokes code are in good agreement with the pressure and the flow field measured at the exit of the stator at the design and the off-design conditions.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 436-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Pierzga ◽  
J. R. Wood

An experimental investigation of the three-dimensional flow field through a low aspect ratio, transonic, axial-flow fan rotor has been conducted using an advanced laser anemometer (LA) system. Laser velocimeter measurements of the rotor flow field at the design operating speed and over a range of through flow conditions are compared to analytical solutions. The numerical technique used herein yields the solution to the full, three-dimensional, unsteady Euler equations using an explicit time-marching, finite volume approach. The numerical analysis, when coupled with a simplified boundary layer calculation, generally yields good agreement with the experimental data. The test rotor has an aspect ratio of 1.56, a design total pressure ratio of 1.629 and a tip relative Mach number of 1.38. The high spatial resolution of the LA data matrix (9 radial × 30 axial × 50 blade-to-blade) permits details of the transonic flow field such as shock location, turning distribution, and blade loading levels to be investigated an compared to analytical results.


Author(s):  
Aristide Massardo ◽  
Antonio Satta ◽  
Martino Marini

A new technique is presented for the design optimization of an axial-flow compressor stage. The procedure allows for optimization of the complete radial distribution of the geometry since the variables, chosen to represent the three dimensional geometry of the stage, are coefficients of suitable polynomials. Evaluation of the objective function is obtained with a through-flow type calculation, which has acceptable speed and stability qualities. Some examples are given of the possibility to use the procedure both for redesign and, together with what was presented in Part I, for the complete design of axial-flow compressor stages.


Author(s):  
Robert P. Dring ◽  
H. David Joslyn

Through-flow analysis, which is at the heart of the aerodynamic design of turbomachinery, requires as aerodynamic input a row-by-row description of the airfoil loss, deviation, and blockage. Loss and deviation have been investigated extensively in both cascades and rotating rigs as well as in numerous two- and three-dimensional analytical studies. Blockage, however, has received far less attention. As defined herein, blockage is a measure of the departure of the flow field from the condition of axisymmetry which is assumed in the through-flow analysis. The fullspan blockage distributions calculated from measured single-stage rotor wake data were used to provide the input to the through-flow analysis, along with the measured fullspan distributions of loss and deviation. Measured and computed results are compared for the single-stage rotor operating with both thick and thin inlet hub and tip boundary layers. It is demonstrated that both the level and the spanwise and streamwise distributions of blockage have a strong impact on the computed rotor exit flow field.


Author(s):  
B. V. Marathe ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Y. Dong

The objective of this investigation is to understand the nature of the complex flow field inside each element of the torque converter through a systematic experimental and numerical investigation of the flow field. A miniature five-hole probe was used to acquire the data at the exit of the stat or at several operating conditions. The flow field is found to be highly three-dimensional with substantial flow deviations, and secondary flow at the exit of the stator. The secondary flow structure, caused by the upstream radial variation of the through flow, induces flow overturning near the core. Flow separation near the shell causes flow underturning in this region. The rate of decay of stator wake is found to be slower than that observed in the wakes of axial flow turbine nozzles. The flow predictions by a Navier-Stokes code are in good agreement with the pressure and the flow field measured at the exit of the stator at the design and the off-design conditions.


1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. G. Howard ◽  
B. R. Hutchinson ◽  
R. B. Broberg

The flow within an axial-flow spiral inducer impeller is complex and three-dimensional. The long but tightly-spiralled passages give rise to secondary flow fields strongly influenced by the blade walls. Flow analysis in such an impeller is carried out by a three-dimensional viscous flow code and compared with previously published LDV measurements. Due to the extreme blade angles of the inducer, an unconventional meshing strategy is required in order to prevent high mesh non-orthogonality. Details of that strategy are provided. Tip clearance modelling was not incorporated in this first stage of investigation. Despite this, the flow analysis reveals the pattern of development of the secondary flow field along the length of the high solidity passage consistent with the LDV data but in much greater detail than was possible with the limited capability of the measurement system. Predicted flow patterns upstream suggest preconditions for the initiation of the observed induction of upstream flow swirl at reduced flow rates.


1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Dring ◽  
H. D. Joslyn

Through-flow analysis, which is at the heart of the aerodynamic design of turbomachinery, requires as aerodynamic input a row-by-row description of the airfoil loss, deviation, and blockage. Loss and deviation have been investigated extensively in both cascades and rotating rigs as well as in numerous two- and three-dimensional analytical studies. Blockage, however, has received far less attention. As defined herein, blockage is a measure of the departure of the flow field from the condition of axisymmetry which is assumed in the through-flow analysis. The full-span blockage distributions calculated from measured single-stage rotor wake data were used to provide the input to the through-flow analysis, along with the measured full-span distributions of loss and deviation. Measured and computed results are compared for the single-stage rotor operating with both thick and thin inlet hub and tip boundary layers. It is demonstrated that both the level and the spanwise and streamwise distributions of blockage have a strong impact on the computed rotor exit flow field.


Author(s):  
H. E. Gallus ◽  
H. Hoenen

Criteria for the maximum diffusion allowable in a blade row without reaching stall play an important part in the design of highly loaded axial-flow compressors. Most of these criteria for maximum blade loading were derived from wind tunnel measurements of 2-d-steady cascade flow. As the flow field in turbomachines is extremely unsteady and of three-dimensional nature the boundary layers are influenced by these effects. The paper deals with the results of boundary layer measurements in a stator blade channel of a subsonic axial-flow compressor stage at various operating points between unthrottled and highly throttled flow (near stall). In front of the stator, the time-averaged velocity profiles as well as the fluctuations due to the unsteady flow field downstream of the rotor were measured. The growing of the separation zones inside the channel with increased blade load is studied in detail. Photos of flow visualization in the boundary layers by dye-injection and flow patterns derived from hot-wire measurements illustrate the physics of boundary layer behavior and separation due to increasing stator blade load. The investigations include measurements of the turbulence energy and a frequency analysis of the velocity fluctuations in the boundary layers.


Author(s):  
Chunill Hah ◽  
Douglas C. Rabe ◽  
Thomas J. Sullivan ◽  
Aspi R. Wadia

The effects of circumferential distortions in inlet total pressure on the flow field in a low-aspect-ratio, high-speed, high-pressure-ratio, transonic compressor rotor are investigated in this paper. The flow field was studied experimentally and numerically with and without inlet total pressure distortion. Total pressure distortion was created by screens mounted upstream from the rotor inlet. Circumferential distortions of 8 periods per revolution were investigated at two different rotor speeds. The unsteady blade surface pressures were measured with miniature pressure transducers mounted in the blade. The flow fields with and without inlet total pressure distortion were analyzed numerically by solving steady and unsteady forms of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Steady three-dimensional viscous flow calculations were performed for the flow without inlet distortion while unsteady three-dimensional viscous flow calculations were used for the flow with inlet distortion. For the time-accurate calculation, circumferential and radial variations of the inlet total pressure were used as a time-dependent inflow boundary condition. A second-order implicit scheme was used for the time integration. The experimental measurements and the numerical analysis are highly complementary for this study because of the extreme complexity of the flow field. The current investigation shows that inlet flow distortions travel through the rotor blade passage and are convected into the following stator. At a high rotor speed where the flow is transonic, the passage shock was found to oscillate by as much as 20% of the blade chord, and very strong interactions between the unsteady passage shock and the blade boundary layer were observed. This interaction increases the effective blockage of the passage, resulting in an increased aerodynamic loss and a reduced stall margin. The strong interaction between the passage shock and the blade boundary layer increases the peak aerodynamic loss by about one percent.


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