Flow Field Unsteadiness in the Tip Region of a Transonic Compressor Rotor

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Puterbaugh ◽  
W. W. Copenhaver

An experimental investigation concerning tip flow field unsteadiness was performed for a high-performance, state-of-the-art transonic compressor rotor. Casing-mounted high frequency response pressure transducers were used to indicate both the ensemble averaged and time varying flow structure present in the tip region of the rotor at four different operating points at design speed. The ensemble averaged information revealed the shock structure as it evolved from a dual shock system at open throttle to an attached shock at peak efficiency to a detached orientation at near stall. Steady three-dimensional Navier Stokes analysis reveals the dominant flow structures in the tip region in support of the ensemble averaged measurements. A tip leakage vortex is evident at all operating points as regions of low static pressure and appears in the same location as the vortex found in the numerical solution. An unsteadiness parameter was calculated to quantify the unsteadiness in the tip cascade plane. In general, regions of peak unsteadiness appear near shocks and in the area interpreted as the shock-tip leakage vortex interaction. Local peaks of unsteadiness appear in mid-passage downstream of the shock-vortex interaction. Flow field features not evident in the ensemble averaged data are examined via a Navier-Stokes solution obtained at the near stall operating point.

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hoeger ◽  
G. Fritsch ◽  
D. Bauer

For a single-stage transonic compressor rig at the TU Darmstadt, three-dimensional viscous simulations are compared to L2F measurements and data from the EGV leading edge instrumentation to demonstrate the predictive capability of the Navier–Stokes code TRACE_S. In a second step the separated regions at the blade tip are investigated in detail to gain insight into the mechanisms of tip leakage vortex-shock interaction at operating points close to stall, peak efficiency, and choke. At the casing the simulations reveal a region with axially reversed flow, leading to a rotationally asymmetric displacement of the outermost stream surface and a localized additional pitch-averaged blockage of approximately 2 percent. Loss mechanisms and streamline patterns deduced from the simulation are also discussed. Although the flow is essentially three-dimensional, a simple model for local blockage from tip leakage is demonstrated to significantly improve two-dimensional simulations on S1-surfaces.


Author(s):  
M. Hoeger ◽  
G. Fritsch ◽  
D. Bauer

For a single-stage transonic compressor rig at the TU Darmstadt 3D viscous simulations are compared to L2F-measurements and data from the EGV leading edge instrumentation to demonstrate the predictive capability of the Navier-Stokes code TRACE_S. In a second step the separated regions at the blade tip are investigated in detail to gain insight into the mechanisms of tip leakage vortex-shock interaction at operating points close to stall, peak efficiency and choke. At the casing the simulations reveal a region with axially reversed flow, leading to a rotationally asymmetric displacement of the outermost stream surface and a localized additional pitch-average blockage of app. 2%. Loss mechanisms and streamline patterns deduced from the simulation are also discussed. Although the flow is essentially 3D, a simple model for local blockage from tip leakage is demonstrated to significantly improve 2D-simulations on S1-surfaces.


Author(s):  
K. Yamada ◽  
M. Furukawa ◽  
T. Nakano ◽  
M. Inoue ◽  
K. Funazaki

Unsteady three-dimensional flow fields in a transonic axial compressor rotor (NASA Rotor 37) have been investigated by unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations. The simulations show that the breakdown of the tip leakage vortex occurs in the compressor rotor because of the interaction of the vortex with the shock wave. At near-peak efficiency condition small bubble-type breakdown of the tip leakage vortex happens periodically and causes the loading of the adjacent blade to fluctuate periodically near the leading edge. Since the blade loading near the leading edge is closely linked to the swirl intensity of the tip leakage vortex, the periodic fluctuation of the blade loading leads to the periodic breakdown of the tip leakage vortex, resulting in self-sustained flow oscillation in the tip leakage flow field. However, the tip leakage vortex breakdown is so weak and small that it is not observed in the time-averaged flow field at near-peak efficiency condition. On the other hand, spiral-type breakdown of the tip leakage vortex is caused by the interaction between the vortex and the shock wave at near-stall operating condition. The vortex breakdown is found continuously since the swirl intensity of tip leakage vortex keeps strong at near-stall condition. The spiral-type vortex breakdown has the nature of self-sustained flow oscillation and gives rise to the large fluctuation of the tip leakage flow field, in terms of shock wave location, blockage near the rotor tip and three-dimensional separation structure on the suction surface. It is found that the breakdown of the tip leakage vortex leads to the unsteady flow phenomena near the rotor tip, accompanying large blockage effect in the transonic compressor rotor at the near-stall condition.


Author(s):  
Jinhua Lang ◽  
Wuli Chu ◽  
Haoguang Zhang ◽  
Shan Ma ◽  
Xiangyi Chen

This paper shows the results of three-dimensional multi-passage numerical simulations on a transonic compressor, NASA compressor Rotor 37. The aim is to investigate the unsteady flow on the stall condition and elucidate the dynamic evolution mechanism of the rotating stall. Three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model were solved to analyze the fluid flow in the transonic axial compressor. Before the study of the stall flow, grid independence and data correctness were well validated. A new parameter B is defined to assess the blockage effect during the stall development. As shown in the results, with the development of the rotating stall, the blockage effect increases slowly before the 18th revolution in unsteady numerical simulation, and then increases dramatically in the following revolutions. Thus, the whole process of stall evolution can be divided into two stages, i.e. stall stage I and stall stage II. The stall stage I is the first 18th revolutions, while the stall stage II refers to the period after the18th revolution. Further analyses of the instantaneous flow field show that the interaction between the tip leakage flow and the detached shock wave induces the breakdown of the leakage vortex. As the broken leakage vortex moves downstream, the low energy flow is rolled up. At the middle of the channel, the trajectory of the vortex core inclines to the PS of adjacent blade under the influence of the adverse pressure gradient, and an obvious new vortex is formed. During the development process of the rotating stall, the blockage is primarily induced by the tip leakage vortex and the new vortex. In the stall stage I, the evolution of the blockage area near the tip is periodic affected by the self-sustaineed process of tip leakage vortex. The self-sustained phenomenon will be illustrated in detail later. In the stall stage II, the whole passage is blocked at 99% blade span, and the spillage flow is observed throughout the whole stage. These flow charicteristics are regarded as signs of a rapid deterioration of the flow field. A vicious cycle is seen as the main reason for the rapid deterioration of the flow field, and the vicious cycle will be explained in detail later.


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.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

This paper describes recent developments to a three-dimensional, unstructured mesh, solution-adaptive Navier–Stokes solver. By adopting a simple, pragmatic but systematic approach to mesh generation, the range of simulations that can be attempted is extended toward arbitrary geometries. The combined benefits of the approach result in a powerful analytical ability. Solutions for a wide range of flows are presented, including a transonic compressor rotor, a centrifugal impeller, a steam turbine nozzle guide vane with casing extraction belt, the internal coolant passage of a radial inflow turbine, and a turbine disk cavity flow.


Author(s):  
Xi Nan ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Takehiro Himeno ◽  
Toshinori Watanabe

Casing boundary layer effectively places a limit on the pressure rise capability achievable by the compressor. The separation of the casing boundary layer not only produce flow loss but also closely related to the compressor rotating stall. The motivation of this paper is to present a viewpoint that the casing boundary layer should be paid attention to in parallel with other flow factors on rotating stall trigger. This paper illustrates the casing boundary layer behavior by displaying its separation phenomena with the presence of tip leakage vortex at different flow conditions. Skin friction lines and the corresponding absolute streamlines are used to demonstrate the three-dimensional flow patterns on and near the casing. The results depict a Saddle, a Node and several tufts of skin friction lines dividing the passage into four zones. The tip leakage vortex is enfolded within one of the zones by the separated flows. All the flows in each blade passage are confined within the passage as long as the compressor is stable. The casing boundary layer of a transonic compressor is also examined in the same way, which results in qualitatively similar zonal flows that enfolds the tip leakage vortex. This research develops a new way to study the casing boundary layer in rotating compressors. The results may provide a first-principle based explanation to stalling mechanisms for compressors that are casing sensitive.


Author(s):  
Chan-Sol Ahn ◽  
Kwang-Yong Kim

Design optimization of a transonic compressor rotor (NASA rotor 37) using the response surface method and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis has been carried out in this work. The Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model was used in the flow analysis. Three design variables were selected to optimize the stacking line of the blade. Data points for response evaluations were selected by D-optimal design, and linear programming method was used for the optimization on the response surface. As a main result of the optimization, adiabatic efficiency was successfully improved. It was found that the optimization process provides reliable design of a turbomachinery blade with reasonable computing time.


Author(s):  
Zhiting Tong ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Jingyi Chen ◽  
Chaoqun Nie

The self-induced unsteadiness of tip leakage vortex (TLV), which appears in a compressor rotor working in a range of operating points on its characteristics, from wide-open throttle all the way to the stall limit, is investigated experimentally. The research aims are twofold, to clarify the three modes in TLV development process through experimental evidences and to explore the effect of this in-blade TLV unsteadiness on stall inception. In the first half of the paper, in order to detect the unsteadiness and ensure its existence in the experimental environment (not just in computational results), phase-locked Mean and Root-Mean-Square (RMS) contours are used to track the time-averaged trajectories of the TLV, while a power spectral density (PSD) analysis provides a means to identify the magnitude and the frequency of the oscillation. With all of the above, the three modes of the TLV development, which are steady, in-blade unsteady and cross-blade unsteady TLV, can be clearly demonstrated. In the second half of this paper, various tip jet injections are applied to test the effects of the unsteady TLV on stall inception. It is found that a spike stall precursor is originated from circumferential locations where the strongest unsteady TLV are. At those locations, tip jet injections that are designated to directly alter the characteristics of TLV improve the stall margin effectively. Further, the injections are arranged over the rotor tip in difference axial locations and switched on at different points of compressor characteristic, demonstrating that if the injection misses the tip vortices or interferes with TLV too late, little or even no improvement in stall margin can be gained. These results show that the unsteady TLV are closely related to spike stall inception in this single rotor, which implies that the initiation of compressor stall could be manipulated by properly altering the characteristics of TLV unsteadiness.


Author(s):  
Masato Furukawa ◽  
Kazuhisa Saiki ◽  
Kazutoyo Yamada ◽  
Masahiro Inoue

The unsteady flow nature caused by the breakdown of the tip leakage vortex in an axial compressor rotor at near-stall conditions has been investigated by unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flow simulations. The simulations show that the spiral-type breakdown of the tip leakage vortex occurs inside the rotor passage at the near-stall conditions. Downstream of the breakdown onset, the tip leakage vortex twists and turns violently with time, thus interacting with the pressure surface of the adjacent blade. The motion of the vortex and its interaction with the pressure surface are cyclic. The vortex breakdown causes significant changes in the nature of the tip leakage vortex, which result in the anomalous phenomena in the time-averaged flow fields near the tip at the near-stall conditions: no rolling-up of the leakage vortex downstream of the rotor, disappearance of the casing wall pressure trough corresponding to the leakage vortex, large spread of the low-energy fluid accumulating on the pressure side, and large pressure fluctuation on the pressure side. As the flow rate is decreased, the movement of the tip leakage vortex due to its breakdown becomes so large that the leakage vortex interacts with the suction surface as well as the pressure one. The interaction with the suction surface gives rise to the three-dimensional separation of the suction surface boundary layer.


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