A Numerical Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Viscous Flow in a Transonic Compressor Rotor and Comparison With Experiment

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

The numerical analysis of highly loaded transonic compressors continues to be of considerable interest. Although much progress has been made with inviscid analyses, viscous effects can be very significant, especially those associated with shock–boundary layer interactions. While inviscid analyses have been enhanced by the interactive inclusion of blade surf ace boundary layer calculations, it may be better in the long term to develop efficient algorithms to solve the full three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. Indeed, it seems that many phenomena of key interest, like tip clearance flows, may only be accessible to a Navier–Stokes solver. The present paper describes a computer program developed for solving the three-dimensional viscous compressible flow equations in turbomachine geometries. The code is applied to the study of the flowfield in an axial-flow transonic compressor rotor with an attempt to resolve the tip clearance flow. The predicted flow is compared with laser anemometry measurements and good agreement is found.

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.


Author(s):  
N. Lymberopoulos ◽  
K. Giannakoglou ◽  
I. Nikolaou ◽  
K. D. Papailiou ◽  
A. Tourlidakis ◽  
...  

Mechanical constraints dictate the existence of tip clearances in rotating cascades, resulting to a flow leakage through this clearance which considerably influences the efficiency and range of operation of the machine. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solvers are often used for the numerical study of compressor and turbine stages with tip-clearance. The quality of numerical predictions depends strongly on how accurately the blade tip region is modelled; in this respect the accurate modelling of tip region was one of the main goals of this work. In the present paper, a 3-D Navier-Stokes solver is suitably adapted so that the flat tip surface of a blade and its sharp edges could be accurately modelled, in order to improve the precision of the calculation in the tip region. The adapted code solves the fully elliptic, steady, Navier-Stokes equations through a space-marching algorithm and a pressure correction technique; the H-type topology is retained, even in cases with thick leading edges where a special treatment is introduced herein. The analysis is applied to two different cases, a linear cascade and a compressor rotor, and comparisons with experimental data are provided.


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.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Gerolymos ◽  
I. Vallet

The purpose of this paper is to investigate tip-clearance and secondary flows numerically in a transonic compressor rotor. The computational method used is based on the numerical integration of the Favre-Reynolds-averaged three-dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equations, using the Launder–Sharma near-wall k–ε turbulence closure. In order to describe the flowfield through the tip and its interaction with the main flow accurately, a fine O-grid is used to discretize the tip-clearance gap. A patched O-grid is used to discretize locally the mixing-layer region created between the jetlike flow through the gap and the main flow. An H–O–H grid is used for the computation of the main flow. In order to substantiate the validity of the results, comparisons with experimental measurements are presented for the NASA_37 rotor near peak efficiency using three grids (of 106, 2 X 106, and 3 X 106 points, with 21, 31, and 41 radial stations within the gap, respectively). The Launder–Sharma k–ε model underestimates the hub corner stall present in this configuration. The computational results are then used to analyze the interblade-passage secondary flows, the flow within the tip-clearance gap, and the mixing downstream of the rotor. The computational results indicate the presence of an important leakage-interaction region where the leakage-vortex after crossing the passage shock-wave mixes with the pressure-side secondary flows. A second trailing-edge tip vortex is also clearly visible.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hah ◽  
D. C. Rabe ◽  
T. J. Sullivan ◽  
A. 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 eight 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 percent 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.


Author(s):  
Matthew J. Warfield ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana

This paper deals with a numerical solution of the full Navier-Stokes equations governing the flowfield in a turbomachinery rotor. The incompressible equations are solved using a pseudocompressibility time marching code. A two-equation turbulence model (k-ε) coupled with a vectorial eddy viscosity model based on an Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model is used to account for the anisotropic effects of rotation and three dimensionality. The predictions are compared with laser doppler velocimeter and hot wire data acquired in a compressor rotor passage at two different flow coefficients. The predicted blade to blade profiles of velocity at various radial locations as well as the streamwise velocity profiles in the blade boundary layer show good agreement with experimental data. The radial velocities are qualitatively predicted but good comparison with data was not achieved. Boundary layer growth is predicted reasonably well.


Author(s):  
Stephane Baralon ◽  
Lars-Erik Eriksson ◽  
Ulf Håll

Two three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solutions of the Nasa 67 transonic compressor rotor with tip clearance, computed at near-peak efficiency and near-stall flow conditions, have been circumferentially averaged in order to evaluate the circumferential spatial fluctuation terms such as u′u′, u′v′, u′w′, etc. The three-dimensional distribution of these fluctuations is presented and physically interpreted for the two flow conditions. Then, the meridional distributions of the tangential average of each of these fluctuation terms, the so-called perturbation stresses, are described and interpreted for the two flow conditions. A meridional throughflow computation for which all stresses were included has been performed for the near-peak efficiency flow condition using a time-marching finite-volume solver. The calculation proved to be in good agreement with the tangentially averaged 3D solution. Moreover, the relative importance of the perturbation and viscous stresses has been investigated. The influence of the viscous stresses on the meridional flow was not found important whereas the perturbation stresses were identified as significant contributors to the blade passage losses and to the spanwise mixing phenomenon. Furthermore, the relative effects of each perturbation term on the meridional flow prediction have been investigated for the near-peak efficiency case. The u′w′~, v′w′~, u′v′~ and u′u′~ stresses proved to exert a significant influence on the prediction of blade design key parameters such as flow angles and losses in the tip region, essentially.


Author(s):  
Daisaku Masaki ◽  
Shojiro Kaji

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver based upon a high resolution shock-capturing scheme has been developed in order to analyze complex flow phenomena inside transonic fan/compressor rotors, especially tip clearance flow. The aim of this research is to find out a key element concerned with aerodynamic instability of transonic fan/compressor rotors such as rotating stall and surge by using this newly developed numerical tool. The numerical analysis of this research is twofold. First it investigates the flowfield of a transonic compressor rotor along the design speed operating line. It obtains definite flow structures around the tip region and clear description of the transition of the flow pattern inside the clearance gap between operating points, which shows that shock-tip leakage vortex interaction plays an important role on both loss generation and the failure of steady flow, or surge. A model will be proposed on the onset of tip stall in transonic compressor rotors according to the calculated results. Secondly, the above model will be examined through a series of numerical experiments by altering tip clearance height white keeping the design speed. From qualitative point of view, the model works fairly well and seems geometry-independent for typical transonic fan/compressor rotors. A clue to the optimum clearance is also obtained.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4168
Author(s):  
Botao Zhang ◽  
Xiaochen Mao ◽  
Xiaoxiong Wu ◽  
Bo Liu

To explain the effect of tip leakage flow on the performance of an axial-flow transonic compressor, the compressors with different rotor tip clearances were studied numerically. The results show that as the rotor tip clearance increases, the leakage flow intensity is increased, the shock wave position is moved backward, and the interaction between the tip leakage vortex and shock wave is intensified, while that between the boundary layer and shock wave is weakened. Most of all, the stall mechanisms of the compressors with varying rotor tip clearances are different. The clearance leakage flow is the main cause of the rotating stall under large rotor tip clearance. However, the stall form for the compressor with half of the designed tip clearance is caused by the joint action of the rotor tip stall caused by the leakage flow spillage at the blade leading edge and the whole blade span stall caused by the separation of the boundary layer of the rotor and the stator passage. Within the investigated varied range, when the rotor tip clearance size is half of the design, the compressor performance is improved best, and the peak efficiency and stall margin are increased by 0.2% and 3.5%, respectively.


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.


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