An Experimental Investigation of Stator Clocking Effects in a Two-Stage Low-Speed Axial Compressor

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sta¨ding ◽  
D. Wulff ◽  
G. Kosyna ◽  
B. Becker ◽  
V. Gu¨mmer
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Flow Coefficient ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Pressure Measurements ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
The Impact

The impact of stator clocking on performance and flow of a 2.5-stage axial compressor has been investigated. Stator clocking, the circumferential indexing of adjacent stator rows with equal blade counts, is known as a potential means to modify the flow field in multistage turbomachinery and increase overall efficiencies of both turbines and compressors. These potential effects on turbomachine performance are due to wake-airfoil interactions and primarily depend on the alignment of the downstream stator row with the upstream stator wake path. The present survey describes and discusses the experimental research on stator clocking effects in a low-speed 2.5-stage axial flow compressor, using front loaded CDA blade sections and cantilevered stator rows with identical blade counts. Conventional static pressure tappings were used to locate global peaks in compressor performance for varying Stator 2 clocking positions at different flow coefficients. Results of unsteady total pressure measurements obtained by means of a high-frequency pressure transducer, embedded in the Stator 2 leading edge, give information on Stator 1 wake propagation. Traverse data from pneumatic 5-hole probes show the impact of stator indexing on Stator 2 exit total pressure at different blade spans. Regardless of flow coefficient, the variations of overall compressor efficiency due to Stator 2 clocking are around 0.2% and are exhibiting a near-sinusoidal trend over the clocking angle. It is shown that total pressure measurements at mid-span of Stator 2 leading edge suggest best overall performances for design and low loading conditions, if the Stator 1 wakes pass through mid-passage of Stator 2. At high loading, however, maximum efficiency locates the wake path directly at the leading edge. Due to a considerable span-wise skewness of the upstream stator wake, the aerodynamic clocking position for Stator 2 varies from hub to tip. While it is shown again that this effect weakens the advantages of airfoil indexing on a global scale, stator clocking shows much more potential if only a single blade section is considered.

Prestall Instability in Axial Flow Compressors

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Eck ◽  
Roland Rückert ◽  
Dieter Peitsch ◽  
Marc Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Flow Coefficient ◽  
Spectral Signature ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Pressure Transducers ◽  
Flow Disturbances

Abstract The aim of the present paper is to improve the physical understanding of discrete prestall flow disturbances developing in the tip area of the compressor rotor. For this purpose, a complementary instrumentation was used in a single-stage axial compressor. A set of pressure transducers evenly distributed along the circumference surface mounted in the casing near the rotor tip leading edges measures the time-resolved wall pressures simultaneously to an array of transducers recording the chordwise static pressures. The latter allows for plotting quasi-instantaneous casing pressure contours. Any occurring flow disturbances can be properly classified using validated frequency analysis methods applied to the data from the circumferential sensors. While leaving the flow coefficient constant, a continuously changing number of prestall flow disturbances appears to be causing a unique spectral signature, which is known from investigations on rotating instability. Any arising number of disturbances is matching a specific mode order found within this signature. While the flow coefficient is reduced, the propagation speed of prestall disturbances increases linearly, and meanwhile, the speed seems to be independent from the clearance size. Casing contour plots phase-locked to the rotor additionally provide a strong hint on prestall disturbances clearly not to be caused by a leading edge separation. Data taken beyond the stalling limit demonstrate a complex superposition of stall cells and flow disturbances, which the title “prestall disturbance” therefore does not fit to precisely any more. Different convection speeds allow the phenomena to be clearly distinguished from each other. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the pressure fluctuations caused by the prestall disturbances offer the potential to use them as a stall precursor or to quantify the deterioration of the clearance height between the rotor blade tips and the casing wall during the lifetime of an engine.

An Experimental and Computational Investigation of Tip Clearance Flow and Its Impact on Stall Inception

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Bennington ◽  
Mark H. Ross ◽  
Joshua D. Cameron ◽  
Scott C. Morris ◽  
Juan Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Flow Coefficient ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Clearance Flow

A numerical and experimental study was conducted to investigate the tip clearance flow and its relationship to stall in a transonic axial compressor. The CFD results were used to identify the existence of an interface between incoming axial flow and the reverse tip clearance flow. A surface streaking method was used to experimentally identify this interface as a line of zero axial shear stress at the casing. The position of this line, denoted xzs, moved upstream with decreasing flow coefficient in both the experiments and computations. The line was found to be at the rotor leading edge plane when the compressor stalled. Further measurements using rotor offset and inlet distortion further corroborated these results, and demonstrated that the movement of the interface upstream of the leading edge leads to the generation of rotating (“spike”) disturbances. Stall was therefore interpreted to occur as a result of a critical momentum balance between the approach fluid and the tip-leakage flow.

Combined Effects of Forward Sweep and Tip Clearance on the Performance of Axial Flow Compressor Stage

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. V. Ramakrishna ◽  
M. Govardhan
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Numerical Work ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Axial Flow Compressor ◽  
Flow Compressor

There are a number of performance indices for a turbomachine on the basis of which its strength is evaluated. In the case of axial compressors, pressure ratio, efficiency and stall margin are few such indices which are of major concern in the design phase as well as in the evaluation of performance of the machine. In the process of improving the blade design, 3D blade stacking, where the aerofoil sections constituting the blade are moved in relation to the flow. Tilting the blade sections to the flow direction (blade sweep) would increase the operating range of an axial compressor due to modifications in the pressure and velocity fields on the suction surface. On the other hand, blade tip gap, though finite, has great influence on the performance of a turbomachine. The present work investigates the combined effect of these two factors on various flow characteristics in a low speed axial flow compressor. The objective of the present paper is thereby confined to study the collective effects of sweep and tip clearance without attempting to suggest an outright new design. In the present numerical work, the performance of Tip Chordline Sweeping (TCS) and Axial Sweeping (AXS) of low speed axial compressor rotor blades are studied. For this, 15 computational domains were modeled for five rotor sweep configurations and three different clearance levels for each rotor. Through the results, 20°AXS rotor is found to be distinctive among all the rotors with highest pressure rise, higher operating range and less tip clearance loss characteristics. TCS rotors produced improved total pressure rise at the low flow coefficients when the tip gap is increased. Hence there is a chance that an “optimum” tip gap exists for the TCS rotors in terms of total pressure coefficient and operating range, while AXS rotors are at their best with the minimum possible clearance.

scholarly journals An experimental investigation on the interaction between inlet swirl distortion and a low-speed axial compressor

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 003685042094092
Author(s):  
Xuegao Wang ◽  
Jun Hu ◽  
Jin Guo ◽  
Baofeng Tu ◽  
Zhiqiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Axial Velocity ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Performance Change ◽  
Inlet Swirl ◽  
Compressor Performance

The aim of this article mainly lies in two aspects. The first is to investigate the effect of inlet swirl distortion on the performance and stability of a low-speed compressor experimentally. The second is to quantify swirl pattern revolution through the compressor and find out background causes of the change in compressor performance. Swirl distortion makes the leading-edge incidence opposite between tip and hub regions, compared to that of clean flow. And the compressor performance change is ultimately determined by these two aspects. Results indicate that negative bulk swirl improves pressure rise, and the effect is on the contrary to the positive bulk swirl. Under the condition of paired swirl, pressure rise also presents a reduction. All these three types of swirl have little effect on the stall boundary. Although swirl distortion shows clear recovery at rotor exit, downstream components still work at off-design conditions due to the induced nonuniformity in axial velocity and total pressure.

Study of Effects of Rotor Tip Tailoring in Axial Flow Compressors

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaitanya V. Halbe ◽  
Yashovardhan S. Chati ◽  
Jubin Tom George ◽  
A. M. Pradeep ◽  
Bhaskar Roy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Baseline Design ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Compressor Rotor ◽  
Multistage Compressor ◽  
Novel Design

The performance of an axial compressor rotor is known to be affected by the variations in tip clearance during its operation. This effect is pronounced for the rear stages of a multistage compressor. This paper describes a novel design that is shown to aerodynamically desensitize the rotor tip to the tip clearance variations. The effect of tip clearance variations on the performance of a baseline low speed, high hub-to-tip ratio axial compressor rotor is studied using CFD. Based on the understanding developed from this flow analysis, the baseline rotor is redesigned by tailoring the tip and redistributing the blade loading over the span. The tip tailoring results in a blade with split dihedral, i.e. of applied dihedral variable from the leading edge to the trailing edge. CFD analysis of the tip tailored configuration shows lower pressure drop with increasing tip clearance as compared to the baseline design. The simulation results are validated through testing in a low speed axial compressor rig, thereby giving experimental support to the desensitization of the rotor to the studied tip clearance variations by tip tailoring.

Influence of Leading Edge Fillet and Nonaxisymmetric Contoured Endwall on Turbine NGV Exit Flow Structure and Interactions With the Rim Seal Flow

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özhan H. Turgut ◽  
Cengiz Camcı
Keyword(s):  
Flow Structure ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Guide Vane ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Constant Thickness ◽  
Computational Evaluation ◽  
Nozzle Guide

Three different ways are employed in the present paper to reduce the secondary flow related total pressure loss. These are nonaxisymmetric endwall contouring, leading edge (LE) fillet, and the combination of these two approaches. Experimental investigation and computational simulations are applied for the performance assessments. The experiments are carried out in the Axial Flow Turbine Research Facility (AFTRF) having a diameter of 91.66cm. The NGV exit flow structure was examined under the influence of a 29 bladed high pressure turbine rotor assembly operating at 1300 rpm. For the experimental measurement comparison, a reference Flat Insert endwall is installed in the nozzle guide vane (NGV) passage. It has a constant thickness with a cylindrical surface and is manufactured by a stereolithography (SLA) method. Four different LE fillets are designed, and they are attached to both cylindrical Flat Insert and the contoured endwall. Total pressure measurements are taken at rotor inlet plane with Kiel probe. The probe traversing is completed with one vane pitch and from 8% to 38% span. For one of the designs, area averaged loss is reduced by 15.06%. The simulation estimated this reduction as 7.11%. Computational evaluation is performed with the rotating domain and the rim seal flow between the NGV and the rotor blades. The most effective design reduced the mass averaged loss by 1.28% over the whole passage at the NGV exit.

Numerical Investigation of the Solidity Effect on Linear Compressor Cascades

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sans ◽  
M. Resmini ◽  
J.-F. Brouckaert ◽  
S. Hiernaux
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Investigation ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Compressor Cascade ◽  
Minimum Loss ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
High Mach ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

Solidity in compressors is defined as the ratio of the aerodynamic chord over the peripheral distance between two adjacent blades, the pitch. This parameter is simply the inverse of the pitch-to-chord ratio generally used in turbines. Solidity must be selected at the earliest design phase, i.e. at the level of the meridional design and represents a crucial step in the whole design process. Most of the existing studies on this topic rely on low-speed compressor cascade correlations from Carter or Lieblein. The aim of this work is to update those correlations for state-of-the-art controlled diffusion blades, and extend their application to high Mach number flow regimes more typical of modern compressors. Another objective is also to improve the physical understanding of the solidity effect on compressor performance and stability. A numerical investigation has been performed using the commercial software FINE/Turbo. Two different blade profiles were selected and investigated in the compressible flow regime as an extension to the low-speed data on which the correlations are based. The first cascade uses a standard double circular arc profile, extensively referenced in the literature, while the second configuration uses a state-of-the-art CDB, representative of low pressure compressor stator mid-span profile. Both profiles have been designed with the same inlet and outlet metal angles and the same maximum thickness but the camber and thickness distributions, the stagger angle and the leading edge geometry of the CDB have been optimized. The determination of minimum loss, optimum incidence and deviation is addressed and compared with existing correlations for both configurations and various Mach numbers that have been selected in order to match typical booster stall and choke operating conditions. The emphasis is set on the minimum loss performance at mid-span. The impact of the solidity on the operating range and the stability of the cascade are also studied.

Effect of Upstream Rotor Vortical Disturbances on the Time-Averaged Performance of Axial Compressor Stators: Part 1—Framework of Technical Approach and Wake–Stator Blade Interactions

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. V. Valkov ◽  
C. S. Tan
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Tip Vortex ◽  
Technical Approach ◽  
Tip Vortices ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Unsteady Interaction ◽  
Flow Approximation ◽  
Stator Blade ◽  
The Impact

In a two-part paper, key computed results from a set of first-of-a-kind numerical simulations on the unsteady interaction of axial compressor stators with upstream rotor wakes and tip leakage vortices are employed to elucidate their impact on the time-averaged performance of the stator. Detailed interrogation of the computed flow field showed that for both wakes and tip leakage vortices, the impact of these mechanisms can be described on the same physical basis. Specifically, there are two generic mechanisms with significant influence on performance: reversible recovery of the energy in the wakes/tip vortices (beneficial) and the associated nontransitional boundary layer response (detrimental). In the presence of flow unsteadiness associated with rotor wakes and tip vortices, the efficiency of the stator under consideration is higher than that obtained using a mixed-out steady flow approximation. The effects of tip vortices and wakes are of comparable importance. The impact of stator interaction with upstream wakes and vortices depends on the following parameters: axial spacing, loading, and the frequency of wake fluctuations in the rotor frame. At reduced spacing, this impact becomes significant. The most important aspect of the tip vortex is the relative velocity defect and the associated relative total pressure defect, which is perceived by the stator in the same manner as a wake. In Part 1, the focus will be on the framework of technical approach, and the interaction of stator with the moving upstream rotor wakes.

A Study of Influences of Inlet Total Pressure Distortions On Clearance Flow in an Axial Compressor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoming Zhu ◽  
Xiaolan Liu ◽  
Bo Yang ◽  
Moru Song
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Flow Cells ◽  
Static Pressure Distribution ◽  
Speed Flow ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
The Stability

Abstract The rotating distortion generated by upstream wakes or low speed flow cells is a kind of phenomenon in the inlet of middle and rear stages of an axial compressor. Highly complex inflow can obviously affect the performance and the stability of these stages, and is needed to be considered during compressor design. In this paper, a series of unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations is conducted based on a model of an 1-1/2 stage axial compressor to investigate the effects of the distorted inflows near the casing on the compressor performance and the clearance flow. Detailed analysis of the flow field has been performed and interesting results are concluded. The distortions, such as total pressure distortion in circumferential and radial directions, can block the tip region so that the separation loss and the mixing loss in this area are increased, and the efficiency and the total pressure ratio are dropped correspondingly. Besides, the distortions can change the static pressure distribution near the leading edge of the rotor, and make the clearance flow spill out of the rotor edge more easily under near stall condition, especially in the cases with co-rotating distortions. This phenomenon can be used to explain why the stall margin is deteriorated with nonuniform inflows.

scholarly journals Grid Dependency Study for the NASA Rotor 37 Compressor Blade

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Ennio Carnevale ◽  
Michele Marconcini
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Turbulence Modeling ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Compressor Blade ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Temperature Ratio ◽  
Turbulent Transition ◽  
Total Temperature ◽  
The Impact

The NASA Rotor 37 has been computed by several authors in the last few years with relative success. The aim of this work is to present a systematic grid dependency study in order to quantify the amount of uncertainty that comes from the grid density. The computational domain is divided onto several regions (i.e. leading edge, trailing edge, shear layer …) and for each of them, the impact of the grid density is investigated. By means of this analysis, substantial improvement has been obtained in the prediction of efficiency and exit angle. On the contrary, the improvement achieved in total pressure and total temperature ratio is less remarkable. It is believed that only after a systematic grid dependency study can the contribution of turbulence modeling, laminar-turbulent transition, and boundary conditions be analyzed with success.

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