Casing Treatment for Desensitization of Compressor Performance and Stability to Tip Clearance

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mert Cevik ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Hong Yu
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Cfd Simulations ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Nominal Performance

This paper presents the development of a novel casing treatment to reduce compressor performance and stall margin sensitivities to tip clearance increase. A linked research project on blade design strategies for desensitization had discovered two flow features that reduce sensitivity to tip clearance, namely increased incoming meridional momentum in the rotor tip region and reduction/elimination of double tip leakage flow. Double tip leakage flow is the flow that exits one tip clearance and enters the tip clearance of the circumferentially adjacent blade instead of convecting downstream out of the blade passage. A new and practical casing treatment was developed and analyzed through Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to decrease double tip leakage and reduce or even eliminate performance and stall margin sensitivity to tip clearance size. The casing treatment design consists of sawtooth-shaped circumferential indentations placed on the shroud over the rotor with a depth on the order of the tip clearance size. A detailed analysis of the flow field allowed for the elucidation of the flow mechanism associated with this casing treatment. A computational parametric study gave preliminary design rules for minimizing both performance/stall margin sensitivity to tip clearance and nominal performance loss. An improved casing indentation design was produced for which CFD simulations showed a complete desensitization of pressure ratio and stall margin while reducing efficiency sensitivity significantly for the tip clearance range studied with only a very small penalty in nominal pressure ratio. Further simulations showed that this casing treatment can be combined with desensitizing blade design strategies to further reduce tip sensitivity and reduce/eliminate/reverse nominal performance penalty. Lastly, preliminary CFD simulations on an axial compressor stage indicate that this shallow indentations' casing treatment strategy remains effective in a stage environment.

Design of Casing Treatment on a Mixed-Flow Compressor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Du ◽  
Joerg R. Seume
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Open Area ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Mixed Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Flow Compressor

Casing treatments (CTs) have been proved to beneficially affect the behavior of tip clearance flow and compressor stability. This paper presents the design of casing treatment for a mixed-flow compressor with a very small tip gap of 0.1mm. In the first part, the potential of applying two traditional types of casing treatments, i.e. circumferential grooves and axial slots, to enhance the stability of a mixed-flow compressor is investigated. The flow details in the reference compressor with smooth casing are examined first. It is found that a separating vortex is formed due to the reversed flow on the blade suction side near the rotor trailing edge at the near-stall point. It is supposed to be responsible for the decrease in total pressure ratio when the compressor approaches to stall. The numerical stall, i.e. the breakdown of the simulation, is initiated from the spillage of tip leakage flow over the rotor blade leading edge. The effect of circumferential grooves on the compressor performances is not remarkable. The implement of axial slots ameliorates the total pressure ratio and extend the flow range substantially, but with higher efficiency penalty than the circumferential grooves. The recirculation formed in the axial skewed slots eliminates the separation vortex near the trailing edge and suppresses the spillage of the tip leakage flow forward the rotor leading edge simultaneously. The axial skewed slots are further designed and optimized numerically by DoE (Design of Experiments). As DoE factors the axial length, the height, the open area ratio, and the number per blade passage of the slots are varied. Their effects on the two target values stall margin and polytropic efficiency are investigated. The plot of stall margin improvement (SMI) with a function of the peak efficiency improvement (PEI) indicates that the SMI changes reversely with the PE. There are two trends in the correlation curves of SMI with PE. For the configurations with the open area ratio of 20%, the SMI is changed from 9% to 23% with 1% decrease in PE by varying other three factors. For the CTs with the open area ratio of 60% the augment in SMI from 17.8% to 26.3% produces extra efficiency loss of 4.2%.

The Effects of Tip Leakage Flow on the Performance of Multistage Compressors Used in Small Core Engine Applications

2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reid A. Berdanier ◽  
Nicole L. Key
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Small Core ◽  
Thermal Growth

Large rotor tip clearances and the associated tip leakage flows are known to have a significant effect on overall compressor performance. However, detailed experimental data reflecting these effects for a multistage compressor are limited in the open literature. As design trends lead to increased overall compressor pressure ratio for thermal efficiency benefits and increased bypass ratios for propulsive benefits, the rear stages of the high-pressure compressor will become physically small. Because rotor tip clearances cannot scale exactly with blade size due to the margin needed for thermal growth considerations, relatively large tip clearances will be a reality for these rear stages. Experimental data have been collected from a three-stage axial compressor to assess performance with three-tip clearance heights representative of current and future small core machines. Trends of overall pressure rise, stall margin, and efficiency are evaluated using clearance derivatives, and the summarized data presented here begin to narrow the margin of tip clearance sensitivities outlined by previous studies in an effort to inform future compressor designs. Furthermore, interstage measurements show stage matching changes and highlight specific differences in the performance of rotor 1 and stator 2 compared to other blade rows in the machine.

Performance Desensitization for a High-Speed Axial Compressor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yassine Souleimani ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Hong Yu
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Compressor Rotor

The increase in compressor tip clearance over the lifespan of an aero-engine leads to a long-term degradation in its fuel consumption and operating envelope. A highly promising recent numerical study on a theoretical high-speed axial compressor rotor proposed a novel casing treatment to decrease performance and stall margin sensitivity to tip clearance increase. This paper aims to apply and analyze, through CFD simulations, this casing treatment concept to a representative production axial compressor rotor with inherently lower sensitivity to tip clearance increase and complement the explanation on the mechanism behind the reduction in sensitivity. Simulations of the baseline rotor showed that the lower span region contribute as much to the pressure ratio sensitivity as the tip region which is dominated by tip leakage flow. In contrast, the efficiency sensitivity is mainly driven by losses occurring in the tip region. The novel casing treatment was successfully applied to the baseline rotor through a design refinement. Although the casing treatment causes some penalty in nominal performance, it completely reversed the pressure ratio sensitivity (i.e. pressure ratio increases with tip clearance) and reduced the efficiency sensitivity. The reversed pressure ratio sensitivity is explained by a rotation in the core flow in the lower span region indirectly induced by the flow injection from the casing treatment. The lower efficiency sensitivity comes from a reduction in the amount of fluid that crosses the tip clearance of two adjacent blades, known as double leakage. The casing treatment’s beneficial effect on stall margin sensitivity is less obvious because of the stall inception type of the baseline rotor and its change in the presence of the casing treatment.

Mechanism of the Interaction Between Casing Treatment and Tip Leakage Flow in a Subsonic Axial Compressor

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingen Lu ◽  
Wuli Chu ◽  
Junqiang Zhu ◽  
Yanhui Wu
Keyword(s):  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Compressor Rotor ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Flow Through

The use of slots and grooves in the shroud over the tips of compressor blades, known as casing treatment, is known as a powerful method to control tip leakage flow through the clearance gap and enhance the flow stability in compressors. This paper present a detailed steady and unsteady numerical studies of the coupled flow through rotor blade passages and two different types of casing treatment for a modern subsonic axial-flow compressor rotor. Particular attention was given to examining the interaction between the tip leakage flow and the casing treatment. In order to validate the multi block model applied in the rotor blade end-wall region, the computational results for the modern subsonic compressor rotor both with and without casing treatment were correlated with available experimental test data for estimation of the global performance. Detailed analyses of the flow visualization at the tip have exposed the different tip flow topologies between the cases with casing treatment and with untreated smooth wall. It was found that the primary stall margin enhancement afforded by the casing treatment is a result of the tip clearance flow manipulation. The repositioning of the tip clearance vortex further towards the trailing edge of the blade passage and delaying the movement of incoming/tip clearance flow interface to the leading edge plane are the physical mechanisms responsible for extending the compressor stall margin.

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.

A Proposal for Passive Wall Treatment Applied in High Performance Axial Flow Compressors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén Bruno Díaz ◽  
Jesuino Takachi Tomita ◽  
Cleverson Bringhenti ◽  
Francisco Carlos Elizio de Paula ◽  
Luiz Henrique Lindquist Whitacker
Keyword(s):  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Smooth Wall ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Viscous Effects ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Tip Leakage

Abstract Numerical simulations were carried out with the purpose of investigating the effect of applying circumferential grooves at axial compressor casing passive wall treatment to enhance the stall margin and change the tip leakage flow. The tip leakage flow is pointed out as one of the main contributors to stall inception in axial compressors. Hence, it is of major importance to treat appropriately the flow in this region. Circumferential grooves have shown a good performance in enhancing the stall margin in previous researches by changing the flow path in the tip clearance region. In this work, a passive wall treatment with four circumferential grooves was applied in the transonic axial compressor NASA Rotor 37. Its effect on the axial compressor performance and the flow in the tip clearance region was analyzed and set against the results attained for the smooth wall case. A 2.63% increase in the operational range of the axial compressor running at 100%N, was achieved, when compared with the original smooth wall casing configuration. The grooves installed at compressor casing, causes an increase in the flow entropy generation due to the high viscous effects in this gap region, between the rotor tip surface and casing with grooves. These viscous effects cause a drop in the turbomachine efficiency. For the grooves configurations used in this work, an efficiency drop of 0.7% was observed, compared with the original smooth wall. All the simulations were performed based on 3D turbulent flow calculations using Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, and the flow eddy viscosity was determined using the two-equation SST turbulence model. The details of the grooves geometrical dimensions and its implementation are described in the paper.

Effect of Airfoil Vortex Generator on the Performance and Stability of a Transonic Axial Compressor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subbaramu Shivaramaiah ◽  
Mahesh K. Varpe
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Vortex Generator ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Transonic Compressor

Abstract In the present research work, effect of airfoil vortex generator on performance and stability of transonic compressor stage is investigated through CFD simulations. In turbomachines vortex generators are used to energize boundary and generated vortex is made to interact with tip leakage flow and secondary flow vortices formed in rotor and stator blade passage. In the present numerical investigation symmetrical airfoil vortex generator is placed on rotor casing surface close to leading edge, anticipating that vortex generated will be able to disturb tip leakage flow and its interaction with rotor passage core flow. Six different vortex generator configuration are investigated by varying distance between vortex generator trailing edge and rotor leading edge. Particular vortex generator configuration shows maximum improvement of stall margin and operating range by 5.5% and 76.75% respectively. Presence of vortex generator alters flow blockage by modifying flow field in rotor tip region and hence contributes to enhancement of stall margin. As a negative effect, interaction of vortex generator vortices and casing causes surface friction and high entropy generation. As a result compressor stage pressure ratio and efficiency decreases.

Extensive Experimental Study of Circumferential Single Groove in an Axial Flow Compressor

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jichao Li ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Sichen Wang ◽  
Juan Du ◽  
Chaoqun Nie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Tip Leakage

Circumferential single-groove casing treatment becomes an interesting topic in recent few years, because it is a good tool to explore the interaction between the groove and the flow in blade tip region. The stall margin improvement (SMI) as a function of the axial groove location has been found for some compressors, such a trend cannot be predicted by steady high-fidelity CFD simulations. Recent efforts show that to catch such a trend, multi-passage, unsteady flow simulations are needed as the stalling mechanism itself involves cross-passage flows and unsteady dynamics. This indicates a need to validate unsteady numerical simulation results. In this paper, an extensive experimental study of a total of fifteen single casing grooves in a low-speed axial compressor rotor is presented, the groove location varies from 0.4% to 98.3% of axial tip chord are tested. The unsteady pressure data both at casing and at the blade wake with different groove locations are measured and processed, including the movement of trajectory of tip leakage flow, the evolution of unsteadiness of tip leakage flow (UTLF), the unsteady spectrum signature during the stall process, and the outlet unsteady flow characteristic along the span. These data provide a case study for validation of the unsteady CFD results, and may be helpful for further interpretation on the stalling mechanism affected by circumferential casing grooves.

Compressor Efficiency Variation With Rotor Tip Gap From Vanishing to Large Clearance

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sakulkaew ◽  
C. S. Tan ◽  
E. Donahoo ◽  
C. Cornelius ◽  
M. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Threshold Value ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Flow Mixing ◽  
Viscous Shear ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Compressor Efficiency

Compressor efficiency variation with rotor tip gap is assessed using numerical simulations on an embedded stage representative of that in a large industrial gas turbine with Reynolds number ∼ 2 × 106 to 7 × 106. The results reveal three distinct behaviors of efficiency variation with tip gap. For relatively small tip gap (less than 0.8% span), the change in efficiency with tip gap is nonmonotonic with an optimum tip gap for maximum efficiency. The optimum tip gap is set by two competing flow processes: decreasing tip leakage mixing loss and increasing viscous shear loss at the casing with decreasing tip gap. An optimum tip gap scaling is established and shown to satisfactorily quantify the optimal gap value. For medium tip gap (0.8%–3.4% span), the efficiency decreases approximately on a linear basis with increasing tip clearance. However, for tip gap beyond a threshold value (3.4% span for this rotor), the efficiency becomes less sensitive to tip gap as the blade tip becomes more aft-loaded thus reducing tip flow mixing loss in the rotor passage. The threshold value is set by the competing effects between increasing tip leakage flow and decreasing tip flow induced mixing loss with increasing tip gap. Thus, to desensitize compressor performance variation with blade gap, rotor should be tip aft-loaded and hub fore-loaded while stator should be tip fore-loaded and hub aft-loaded as much as feasible. This reduces the opportunity for clearance flow mixing loss and maximizes the benefits of reversible work from unsteady effects in attenuating the clearance flow through the downstream blade-row. The net effect can be an overall compressor performance enhancement in terms of efficiency, pressure rise capability, robustness to end gap variation, and potentially useful operable range broadening.

Compressor Efficiency Variation With Rotor Tip Gap From Vanishing to Large Clearance

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sakulkaew ◽  
C. S. Tan ◽  
E. Donahoo ◽  
C. Cornelius ◽  
M. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Threshold Value ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Flow Mixing ◽  
Viscous Shear ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Compressor Efficiency

Compressor efficiency variation with rotor tip gap is assessed using numerical simulations on an embedded stage representative of that in a large industrial gas turbine with Reynolds number ∼ 2 to 7×106. The results reveal three distinct behaviors of efficiency variation with tip gap. For relatively small tip gap (less than 0.8% span), the change in efficiency with tip gap is non-monotonic with an optimum tip gap for maximum efficiency. The optimum tip gap is set by two competing flow processes: decreasing tip leakage mixing loss and increasing viscous shear loss at the casing with decreasing tip gap. An optimum tip gap scaling is established and shown to satisfactorily quantify the optimal gap value. For medium tip gap (0.8%–3.4% span), the efficiency decreases approximately on a linear basis with increasing tip clearance. However, for tip gap beyond a threshold value (3.4% span for this rotor), the efficiency becomes less sensitive to tip gap as the blade tip becomes more aft-loaded thus reducing tip flow mixing loss in the rotor passage. The threshold value is set by the competing effects between increasing tip leakage flow and decreasing tip flow induced mixing loss with increasing tip gap. Thus, to desensitize compressor performance variation with blade gap, rotor should be tip aft-loaded and hub fore-loaded while stator should be tip fore-loaded and hub aft-loaded as much as feasible. This reduces the opportunity for clearance flow mixing loss and maximizes the benefits of reversible work from unsteady effects in attenuating the clearance flow through the downstream blade-row. The net effect can be an overall compressor performance enhancement in terms of efficiency, pressure rise capability, robustness to end gap variation and potentially useful operable range broadening.

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