Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall in a Three-Stage Axial Compressor

Author(s):  
Joel M. Haynes ◽  
Gavin J. Hendricks ◽  
Alan H. Epstein

A three-stage, low speed axial research compressor has been actively stabilized by damping low amplitude circumferentially travelling waves which can grow into rotating stall. Using a circumferential array of hot wire sensors, and an array of high speed individually positioned control vanes as the actuator, the first and second spatial harmonics of the compressor were stabilized down to a characteristic slope of 0.9, yielding an 8% increase in operating flow range. Stabilization of the third spatial harmonic did not alter the stalling flow coefficient. The actuators were also used open loop to determine the forced response behavior of the compressor. A system identification procedure applied to the forced response data then yielded the compressor transfer function. The Moore-Greitzer, 2-D, stability model was modified as suggested by the measurements to include the effect of blade row time lags on the compressor dynamics. This modified Moore-Greitzer model was then used to predict both the open and closed loop dynamic response of the compressor. The model predictions agreed closely with the experimental results. In particular, the model predicted both the mass flow at stall without control and the design parameters needed by, and the range extension realized from, active control.

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Haynes ◽  
G. J. Hendricks ◽  
A. H. Epstein

A three-stage, low-speed axial research compressor has been actively stabilized by damping low-amplitude circumferentially traveling waves, which can grow into rotating stall. Using a circumferential array of hot-wire sensors, and an array of highspeed individually positioned control vanes as the actuator, the first and second spatial harmonics of the compressor were stabilized down to a characteristic slope of 0.9, yielding an 8 percent increase in operating flow range. Stabilization of the third spatial harmonic did not alter the stalling flow coefficient. The actuators were also used open loop to determine the forced response behavior of the compressor. A system identification procedure applied to the forced response data then yielded the compressor transfer function. The Moore-Greitzer two-dimensional stability model was modified as suggested by the measurements to include the effect of blade row time lags on the compressor dynamics. This modified Moore-Greitzer model was then used to predict both the open and closed-loop dynamic response of the compressor. The model predictions agreed closely with the experimental results. In particular, the model predicted both the mass flow at stall without control and the design parameters needed by, and the range extension realized from, active control.


Author(s):  
Adam R. Hickman ◽  
Scott C. Morris

Flow field measurements of a high-speed axial compressor are presented during pre-stall and post-stall conditions. The paper provides an analysis of measurements from a circumferential array of unsteady shroud static pressure sensors during stall cell development. At low-speed, the stall cell approached a stable size in approximately two rotor revolutions. At higher speeds, the stall cell developed within a short amount of time after stall inception, but then fluctuated in circumferential extent as the compressor transiently approached a stable post-stall operating point. The size of the stall cell was found to be related to the annulus average flow coefficient. A discussion of Phase-Locked Average (PLA) statistics on flow field measurements during stable operation is also included. In conditions where rotating stall is present, flow field measurements can be Double Phase-Locked Averaged (DPLA) using a once-per-revolution (1/Rev) pulse and the period of the stall cell. The DPLA method provides greater detail and understanding into the structure of the stall cell. DPLA data indicated that a stalled compressor annulus can be considered to contained three main regions: over-pressurized passages, stalled passages, and recovering passages. Within the over-pressured region, rotor passages exhibited increased blade loading and pressure ratio compared to pre-stall values.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth L. Suder ◽  
Michael D. Hathaway ◽  
Scott A. Thorp ◽  
Anthony J. Strazisar ◽  
Michelle B. Bright

Mass injection upstream of the tip of a high-speed axial compressor rotor is a stability enhancement approach known to be effective in suppressing stall in tip-critical rotors. This process is examined in a transonic axial compressor rotor through experiments and time-averaged Navier-Stokes CFD simulations. Measurements and simulations for discrete injection are presented for a range of injection rates and distributions of injectors around the annulus. The simulations indicate that tip injection increases stability by unloading the rotor tip and that increasing injection velocity improves the effectiveness of tip injection. For the tested rotor, experimental results demonstrate that at 70 percent speed the stalling flow coefficient can be reduced by 30 percent using an injected massflow equivalent to 1 percent of the annulus flow. At design speed, the stalling flow coefficient was reduced by 6 percent using an injected massflow equivalent to 2 percent of the annulus flow. The experiments show that stability enhancement is related to the mass-averaged axial velocity at the tip. For a given injected massflow, the mass-averaged axial velocity at the tip is increased by injecting flow over discrete portions of the circumference as opposed to full-annular injection. The implications of these results on the design of recirculating casing treatments and other methods to enhance stability will be discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Cameron ◽  
Matthew A. Bennington ◽  
Mark H. Ross ◽  
Scott C. Morris ◽  
Juan Du ◽  
...  

Experimental and numerical studies were conducted to investigate tip-leakage flow and its relationship to stall in a transonic axial compressor. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results were used to identify the existence of an interface between the approach flow and the tip-leakage flow. The experiments used a surface-streaking visualization method to identify the time-averaged location of this interface as a line of zero axial shear stress at the casing. The axial position of this line, denoted xzs, moved upstream with decreasing flow coefficient in both the experiments and computations. The line was consistently located at the rotor leading edge plane at the stalling flow coefficient, regardless of inflow boundary condition. These results were successfully modeled using a control volume approach that balanced the reverse axial momentum flux of the tip-leakage flow with the momentum flux of the approach fluid. Nonuniform tip clearance measurements demonstrated that movement of the interface upstream of the rotor leading edge plane leads to the generation of short length scale rotating disturbances. Therefore, stall was interpreted as a critical point in the momentum flux balance of the approach flow and the reverse axial momentum flux of the tip-leakage flow.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
L. G. Fre´chette ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
E. M. Greitzer ◽  
...  

Rotating stall and surge have been stabilized in a transonic single-stage axial compressor using active feedback control. The control strategy is to sense upstream wall static pressure patterns and feed back the signal to an annular array of twelve separately modulated air injectors. At tip relative Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.5 the control achieved 11 and 3.5 percent reductions in stalling mass flow, respectively, with injection adding 3.6 percent of the design compressor mass flow. The aerodynamic effects of the injection have also been examined. At a tip Mach number, Mtip, of 1.0, the stall inception dynamics and effective active control strategies are similar to results for low-speed axial compressors. The range extension was achieved by individually damping the first and second spatial harmonics of the prestall perturbations using constant gain feedback. At a Mtip of 1.5 (design rotor speed), the prestall dynamics are different than at the lower speed. Both one-dimensional (surge) and two-dimensional (rotating stall) perturbations needed to be stabilized to increase the compressor operating range. At design speed, the instability was initiated by approximately ten rotor revolutions of rotating stall followed by classic surge cycles. In accord with the results from a compressible stall inception analysis, the zeroth, first, and second spatial harmonics each include more than one lightly damped mode, which can grow into the large amplitude instability. Forced response testing identified several modes traveling up to 150 percent of rotor speed for the first three spatial harmonics; simple constant gain control cannot damp all of these modes and thus cannot stabilize the compressor at this speed. A dynamic, model-based robust controller was therefore used to stabilize the multiple modes that comprise the first three harmonic perturbations in this transonic region of operation.


Author(s):  
Sungho Yoon ◽  
Rudolf Selmeier ◽  
Patricia Cargill ◽  
Peter Wood

The choice of the stator hub configuration (i.e. cantilevered versus shrouded) is an important design decision in the preliminary design stage of an axial compressor. Therefore, it is important to understand the effect of the stator hub configuration on the aerodynamic performance. In particular, the stator hub configuration fundamentally affects the leakage flow across the stator. The effect of the stator hub configuration on the leakage flow and its consequent aerodynamic mixing loss with the main flow within the stator row is systematically investigated in this study. In the first part of the paper, a simple model is formulated to estimate the leakage loss across the stator hub as a function of fundamental stage design parameters, such as the flow coefficient, the degree of reaction and the work coefficient, in combination with some relevant geometric parameters including the clearance/span, the pitch-to-chord ratio and the number of seals for the shrouded geometry. The model is exercised in order to understand the effect of each of these design parameters on the leakage loss. It is found that, for a given flow coefficient and work coefficient, the leakage loss across the stator is substantially influenced by the degree of reaction. When a cantilevered stator is compared with a shrouded stator with a single seal at the same clearance, it is shown that a shrouded configuration is generally favored as a higher degree of reaction is selected, whereas a cantilevered configuration is desirable for a lower degree of reaction. Further to this, it is demonstrated that, for shrouded stators, an additional aerodynamic benefit can be achieved by using multiple seals. The second part of the paper investigates the effect of the rotating surfaces. Traditionally, only the pressure loss has been considered for stators. However, the current advanced CFD generally includes the leakage path with associated rotating surfaces, which impart energy to the flow. It is shown that the conventional loss coefficient, based on considering only the pressure loss, is misleading when hub leakage flows are modeled in detail, because there is energy addition due to the rotation of the hub or the shroud seals for the cantilevered stator and the shrouded stator, respectively. The calculation of the entropy generation across the stator is a better measure of relative performance when comparing two different stator hub configurations with detailed CFD.


Author(s):  
L. G. N. Bennett ◽  
W. D. E. Allan

Rotating stall is an internal aerodynamic disturbance that limits the performance and operating life of a compressor. It has been studied with the aim of developing techniques for its prediction and prevention. To further the understanding of rotating stall inception, a test rig was constructed with the axial stages of a Rolls Royce Model 250-C20B small, high speed axial compressor as the test article. A gasoline engine was used to power the compressor and airflow was throttled through a pneumatically controlled valve. Simultaneous static pressure measurements were taken with seven high speed transducers arranged in two configurations: distributed both axially and circumferentially around the compressor casing. The compressor characteristic was mapped and detailed pressure measurements were taken between normal and surge operating conditions. Previous studies of high speed multi-stage compressors have shown both modal and spike type stall inception at different compressor stages. Other examinations of the Model 250 compressor have shown stall inception occurring at the first stage of the compressor. Similar results were observed in this study and an analysis was conducted using a variety of signal processing techniques including pressure trace inspection and discrete spatial Fourier decomposition.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
O. G. McGee ◽  
K. L. Coleman

General methodologies are proposed in this two-part paper that further phenomenological understanding of compressible stall inception and aeromechanical control of high-speed axial compressors and engine performance. Developed in Part I are strategies for passive stabilization of compressible rotating stall, using tailored structural design and aeromechanical feedback control, implemented in certain classes of high-speed axial compressors used in research laboratories and by industry. Fundamentals of the stability of various dynamically-compensated, high-speed compressors was set down from linearized, compressible structural-hydrodynamic equations of modal stall inception extended further in this study from previous work. A dimensionless framework for performance-based design of aeromechanically-controlled compression system stall mitigation and engine performance is established, linking specified design flow and work-transfer (pressure) operability to model stages or local blade components, velocity triangle environment, optimum efficiency, extended stall margin and operability loci, and aeromechanical detailed design. A systematic evaluation was made in Part II (Coleman and McGee, 2013, “Aeromechanical Control of High-Speed Axial Compressor Stall and Engine Performance—Part II: Assessments of Methodology,” ASME J. Fluids Eng. (to be published)) on the performance of ten aeromechanical feedback controller schemes to increase the predicted range of stable operation of two laboratory compressor characteristics assumed, using static pressure sensing and local structural actuation to rudimentary postpone high-speed modal stall inception. The maximum flow operating range for each of the ten dynamically-compensated, high-speed compression systems was determined using optimized or “tailored” structural controllers, and the results described in Part II of the companion paper are compared to maximum operating ranges achieved in corresponding low-speed compression systems.


Author(s):  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
James D. Paduano

The effectiveness of jet actuation for active modal control of rotating stall is investigated experimentally. The dominant physical effects of injection, such as momentum and mass addition, are elucidated. The results indicate that several of the theoretical assumptions used in past studies of jet injection for rotating stall control must be revised. An updated model of the compression system with jet actuation which allows for the effect of control feedback dynamics to be adequately characterized is developed and verified with forced response measurements. It predicts the right trends of movement of the critical pole. Preliminary active control results are presented, among which is a 5.5% range extension in downstream flow coefficient.


Author(s):  
Kenneth L. Suder ◽  
Michael D. Hathaway ◽  
Scott A. Thorp ◽  
Anthony J. Strazisar ◽  
Michelle B. Bright

Mass injection upstream of the tip of a high-speed axial compressor rotor is a stability enhancement approach known to be effective in suppressing stall in tip-critical rotors. This process is examined in a transonic axial compressor rotor through experiments and time-average Navier-Stokes CFD simulations. Measurements and simulations for discrete injection are presented for a range of injection rates and distributions of injectors around the annulus. The simulations indicate that tip injection increases stability by unloading the rotor tip and that increasing injection velocity improves the effectiveness of tip injection. For the tested rotor, experimental results demonstrate that at 70% speed the stalling flow coefficient can be reduced by 30% using an injected massflow equivalent to 1% of the annulus flow. At design speed, the stalling flow coefficient was reduced by 6% using an injected massflow equivalent to 2% of the annulus flow. The experiments show that stability enhancement is related to the mass-averaged axial velocity at the tip. For a given injected massflow, the mass averaged axial velocity at the tip is increased by injecting flow over discrete portions of the circumference as opposed to full-annular injection. The implications of these results on the design of recirculating casing treatments and other methods to enhance stability will be discussed.


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