The Control of Non-Axisymmetric Flow in Axial Turbomachinery Using Circumferentially Varying Stator Exit Angles
Turbomachinery operating in distorted flowfields is often very close to the sources of the distortion, and can influence the flowfield distortions at its inlet and outlet. Several techniques are available to reduce the impact of an upstream-running outlet distortion on the turbomachinery by introducing circumferential variation in the most downstream stator row. However, these techniques assume that the upstream-running distortion is not changed by the modifications to the turbomachinery, and none of them addresses the issue of inlet distortion, either on its own or in combination with outlet distortion. A methodology to design circumferentially varying stator angles has been developed. This is based on a two-dimensional linearisation of the distorted flow through the turbomachinery, combined with information from three-dimensional flowfield calculations. The resulting new design method has been applied to an installed lift fan operating with considerable inlet and outlet distortion. The distorted flow through the lift fan is computed by a three-dimensional numerical method incorporating an actuator disc blade row model. The new design method is then used to produce several redesigned builds with circumferentially varying stator exit angles. The three-dimensional flow through the new builds is computed, and compared with flow through the axisymmetric fan. The calculations show that existing non-axisymmetric design strategies may not be applicable to installations having large flowfield distortions. An alternative approach based on unsteady rotor loading is presented, and relatively small stator exit angle variations are shown to produce significant reductions in this quantity.