scholarly journals Wake Recovery Performance Benefit in a High-Speed Axial Compressor

Author(s):  
Dale E. Van Zante ◽  
John J. Adamczyk ◽  
Anthony J. Strazisar ◽  
Theodore H. Okiishi

This paper addresses the significant differences in compressor rotor wake mixing loss which exist in a stage environment relative to a rotor in isolation. The wake decay for a rotor in isolation is due solely to viscous dissipation which is an irreversible process and thus leads to a loss in both total pressure and efficiency. Rotor wake decay in the stage environment is due to both viscous mixing and the inviscid strain imposed on the wake fluid particles by the stator velocity field. This straining process, referred to by Smith (1993) as recovery, is reversible and for a 2D rotor wake leads to an inviscid reduction of the velocity deficit of the wake. It will be shown that for the rotor/stator spacing typical of core compressors, wake stretching is the dominant wake decay process within the stator with viscous mixing playing a secondary role. A model for the rotor wake decay process is developed and used to quantify the viscous dissipation effects relative to those of inviscid wake stretching. The model is verified using laser anemometer measurements acquired in the wake of a transonic rotor operated in isolation and in a stage configuration at near peak efficiency and near stall operating conditions. Additional insight is provided by a time-accurate 3D Navier Stokes simulation of the compressor stator flow field at the corresponding stage loading levels. Results from the wake decay model exhibit good agreement with the experimental data. Data from the model, laser anemometer measurements, and simulations indicate that wake straining (stretching) is the primary decay process in the stator passage. The implications of these results on compressor stage design are discussed.

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale E. Van Zante ◽  
John J. Adamczyk ◽  
Anthony J. Strazisar ◽  
Theodore H. Okiishi

Rotor wakes are an important source of loss in axial compressors. The decay rate of a rotor wake is largely due to both mixing (results in loss) and stretching (no loss accrual). Thus, the actual loss associated with rotor wake decay will vary in proportion to the amounts of mixing and stretching involved. This wake stretching process, referred to by Smith (1996) as recovery, is reversible and for a 2-D rotor wake leads to an inviscid reduction of the velocity deficit of the wake. It will be shown that for the rotor/stator spacing typical of core compressors, wake stretching is the dominant wake decay process within the stator with viscous mixing playing only a secondary role. A model for the rotor wake decay process is developed and used to quantify the viscous dissipation effects relative to those of inviscid wake stretching. The model is verified using laser anemometer measurements acquired in the wake of a transonic rotor operated alone and in a stage configuration at near peak efficiency and near stall operating conditions. Results from the wake decay model exhibit good agreement with the experimental data. Data from the model and laser anemometer measurements indicate that rotor wake straining (stretching) is the primary decay process in the stator passage. Some implications of these results on compressor stage design are discussed.


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.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tan ◽  
Yuanchao Li ◽  
Ian Wilkes ◽  
Rinaldo L. Miorini ◽  
Joseph Katz

A new optically index matched facility has been constructed to investigate tip flows in compressor-like settings. The blades of the one and a half stage compressor have the same geometry, but lower aspect ratio as the inlet guide vanes (IGVs) and the first stage of the low-speed axial compressor (LSAC) facility at NASA Glenn. With transparent blades and casings, the new setup enables unobstructed velocity measurements at any point within the tip region and is designed to facilitate direct measurements of effects of casing treatments on the flow structure. We start with a smooth endwall casing. High speed movies of cavitation and time-resolved PIV measurements have been used to characterize the location, trajectory, and behavior of the tip leakage vortex (TLV) for two flow rates, the lower one representing prestall conditions. Results of both methods show consistent trends. As the flow rate is reduced, TLV rollup occurs further upstream, and its initial orientation becomes more circumferential. At prestall conditions, the TLV is initially aligned slightly upstream of the rotor passage, and subsequently forced downstream. Within the passage, the TLV breaks up into a large number of vortex fragments, which occupy a broad area. Consequently, the cavitation in the TLV core disappears. With decreasing flow rate, this phenomenon becomes more abrupt, occurs further upstream, and the fragments occupy a larger area.


Author(s):  
Kirubakaran Purushothaman ◽  
Sankar Kumar Jeyaraman ◽  
Ajay Pratap ◽  
Kishore Prasad Deshkulkarni

This paper describes a methodology for obtaining correct blade geometry of high aspect ratio axial compressor blades during running condition taking into account of blade untwist and bending. It discusses the detailed approach for generating cold blade geometry for axial compressor rotor blades from the design blade geometry using fluid structure interaction technique. Cold blade geometry represents the rotor blade shape at rest, which under running condition deflects and takes a new operating blade shape under centrifugal and aerodynamic loads. Aerodynamic performance of compressor primarily depends on this operating rotor blade shape. At design point it is expected to have the operating blade shape same as the intended design blade geometry and a slight mismatch will result in severe performance deterioration. Starting from design blade profile, an appropriate cold blade profile is generated by applying proper lean and pre-twist calculated using this methodology. Further improvements were carried out to arrive at the cold blade profile to match the stagger of design profile at design operating conditions with lower deflection and stress for first stage rotor blade. In rear stages, thermal effects will contribute more towards blade deflection values. But due to short blade span, deflection and untwist values will be of lower values. Hence difference between cold blade and design blade profile would be small. This methodology can especially be used for front stage compressor rotor blades for which aspect ratio is higher and deflections are large.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Motoyuki Kawase ◽  
Aldo Rona

A proof of concept is provided by computational fluid dynamic simulations of a new recirculating type casing treatment. This treatment aims at extending the stable operating range of highly loaded axial compressors, so to improve the safety of sorties of high-speed, high-performance aircraft powered by high specific thrust engines. This casing treatment, featuring an axisymmetric recirculation channel, is evaluated on the NASA rotor 37 test case by steady and unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations, using the realizable k-ε model. Flow blockage at the recirculation channel outlet was mitigated by chamfering the exit of the recirculation channel inner wall. The channel axial location from the rotor blade tip leading edge was optimized parametrically over the range −4.6% to 47.6% of the rotor tip axial chord c z . Locating the channel at 18.2% c z provided the best stall margin gain of approximately 5.5% compared to the untreated rotor. No rotor adiabatic efficiency was lost by the application of this casing treatment. The investigation into the flow structure with the recirculating channel gave a good insight into how the new casing treatment generates this benefit. The combination of stall margin gain at no rotor adiabatic efficiency loss makes this design attractive for applications to high-speed gas turbine engines.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Camp ◽  
I. J. Day

This paper presents a study of stall inception mechanisms in a low-speed axial compressor. Previous work has identified two common flow breakdown sequences, the first associated with a short length-scale disturbance known as a “spike,” and the second with a longer length-scale disturbance known as a “modal oscillation.” In this paper the physical differences between these two mechanisms are illustrated with detailed measurements. Experimental results are also presented that relate the occurrence of the two stalling mechanisms to the operating conditions of the compressor. It is shown that the stability criteria for the two disturbances are different: Long length-scale disturbances are related to a two-dimensional instability of the whole compression system, while short length-scale disturbances indicate a three-dimensional breakdown of the flow-field associated with high rotor incidence angles. Based on the experimental measurements, a simple model is proposed that explains the type of stall inception pattern observed in a particular compressor. Measurements from a single-stage low-speed compressor and from a multistage high-speed compressor are presented in support of the model.


Author(s):  
T. R. Camp ◽  
I. J. Day

This paper presents a study of stall inception mechanisms a in low-speed axial compressor. Previous work has identified two common flow breakdown sequences, the first associated with a short lengthscale disturbance known as a ‘spike’, and the second with a longer lengthscale disturbance known as a ‘modal oscillation’. In this paper the physical differences between these two mechanisms are illustrated with detailed measurements. Experimental results are also presented which relate the occurrence of the two stalling mechanisms to the operating conditions of the compressor. It is shown that the stability criteria for the two disturbances are different: long lengthscale disturbances are related to a two-dimensional instability of the whole compression system, while short lengthscale disturbances indicate a three-dimensional breakdown of the flow-field associated with high rotor incidence angles. Based on the experimental measurements, a simple model is proposed which explains the type of stall inception pattern observed in a particular compressor. Measurements from a single stage low-speed compressor and from a multistage high-speed compressor are presented in support of the model.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 730-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuj Dhingra ◽  
Yedidia Neumeier ◽  
J. V. R. Prasad ◽  
Andrew Breeze-Stringfellow ◽  
Hyoun-Woo Shin ◽  
...  

A stability measure rooted in the unsteady characteristics of the flow field over the compressor rotor has been previously developed. The present work explores the relationship between the stochastic properties of this measure, called the correlation measure, and the compressor stability boundary. A stochastic model has been developed to gauge the impact of the correlation measure’s stochastic nature on its applicability to compressor stability management. The genesis of this model is in the fundamental properties of a specific stochastic process, one that is created by the threshold crossings of a random process. The model validation utilizes data obtained on three different axial compressor facilities. These include a single-stage low-speed axial compressor, a four-stage low-speed research compressor, and an advanced technology demonstrator high-speed compressor. This paper presents details of the model development and validation, as well as closed loop experimental results to demonstrate correlation measure’s usefulness in compressor stability management.


Author(s):  
Daniel Hoyniak ◽  
William S. Clark

A recently developed two dimensional, linearized Navier-Stokes algorithm, capable of modeling the unsteady flows encountered in turbomachinery applications, has been benchmarked and validated for use in the prediction of the aerodynamic damping. Benchmarking was accomplished by comparing numerical simulations with experimental data for two geometries. The first geometry investigated is a high turning turbine cascade. For this configuration, two different steady operating conditions were considered. The exit flow for one operating condition is subsonic whereas the exit flow for the other operating condition is supersonic. The second geometry investigated is a tip section from a high speed fan. Again, two separate steady operating conditions were examined. For this fan geometry, one operating condition falls within an experimentally observed flutter region whereas the other operating condition was observed experimentally to be flutter free. For both geometries considered, experimental measurements of the unsteady blade surface pressures were acquired for a linear cascade subjected to small amplitude torsional vibrations. Comparisons between the numerical calculations and the experimental data demonstrate the ability of the present computational model to predict accurately the steady and unsteady blade loading, and hence the aerodynamic damping, for each configuration presented.


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