Deficiencies in Turbulence Modelling for the Prediction of the Stability Boundary in Highly Loaded Compressors

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Moreno ◽  
John Dodds ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati ◽  
Sina Stapelfeldt
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Stability Boundary ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
The Stability

Abstract Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are employed for aerodynamic and aeroelastic modelling in axial compressors. Their solutions are highly dependent on the turbulence models for closure. The main objective of this work is to assess the widely used Spalart-Allmaras model’s suitability for compressor flows. For this purpose, an extensive investigation of the sources of uncertainties in a high-speed multi-stage compressor rig was carried out. The grid resolution near the casing end wall, which affects the tip leakage flow and casing boundary layer, was found to have a major effect on the stability limit prediction. Refinements in this region led to a stall margin loss prediction. It was found that this loss was exclusively due to the destruction term in the SA model.

Deficiencies in the Spalart–Allmaras Turbulence Model for the Prediction of the Stability Boundary in Highly Loaded Compressors

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Moreno ◽  
John Dodds ◽  
Sina Stapelfeldt ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Stability Boundary ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
The Stability

Abstract Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations are employed for aerodynamic and aeroelastic modeling in axial compressors. Their solutions are highly dependent on the turbulence models for closure. The main objective of this work is to assess the widely used Spalart–Allmaras model suitability for high-speed compressor flows. For this purpose, an extensive investigation of the sources of uncertainties in a high-speed multi-stage compressor rig was carried out. The grid resolution near the casing end wall, which affects the tip leakage flow and casing boundary layer, was found to have a major effect on the stability limit prediction. Refinements in this region led to a stall margin loss prediction. It was found that this loss was exclusively due to the destruction term in the SA model.

Investigation of Passage Flow Features in a Transonic Compressor Rotor With Casing Treatments

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Mu¨ller ◽  
H.-P. Schiffer ◽  
Melanie Voges ◽  
Chunill Hah
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Transonic Compressor ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Casing Treatments

An experimental investigation on casing treatments in a one-stage transonic compressor is presented. The reference case consists of a radially staggered blisk and six circumferential grooves. Speedlines show that this axisymmetric treatment already provided a substantial increase in operating range with relatively small losses in efficiency. Since the onset of rotating stall in tip-critical high-speed compressors is always linked to the tip-leakage flow and the build-up of blockage within the blade passage. High-resolution measurement techniques have been employed to investigate the corresponding effects. Results with Particle Image Velocimetry show that the interaction between the tip leakage vortex and the shock front cause a blockage area. When throttled further, the blockage increases. The shock structure changes similar to the phenomena of vortex breakdown described by different researchers in the past, but a stagnation point is not present. Before reaching the stability limit, the interface line between the incoming flow and the blocked area moves towards the inlet plane of the rotor indicating spike-type stall inception. Wall pressure measurements confirmed this theory for the smooth wall, but with circumferential grooves applied, a part span stall cell develops prior to the stability limit. In order to assess the performance of circumferential grooves, two additional configurations are presented. The corresponding measurements addressed the questions whether circumferential grooves also provide an operating range extension when applied to an optimized rotor design with higher initial stall margin. Therefore, an identical casing treatment is applied to a forward swept rotor. The second question is, how circumferential grooves perform in direct comparison to a non-axisymmetric endwall structure. Axial slots have been applied to the radially staggered rotor. While the stall margin exceeds all other configurations, detrimential effects in efficiency are observed. A detailed anaylsis of probe data shows the changes of the radial profile at the rotor outlet which allows recommendations for more efficient CT designs. Parameters allowing to evaluate the CT influence are presented.

HSCT Forward Swept Fan Performance

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Neubert ◽  
Charles P. Gendrich
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Light Weight ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Flow Solver ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Fan Performance ◽  
Multi Stage

Previous experimental and analytical studies have demonstrated the potential for significant improvements in efficiency and stall margin with forward swept rotor blading. This paper extends the assessment to a light weight, low noise two stage fan designed and fabricated under the NASA High Speed Civil Transport program. The experimental investigation evaluates the effect of forward sweep on efficiency and stall margin relative to the predicted levels for a radial fan designed for the same requirements. Efficiency was above multi-stage fan state of the art and stall margin was significantly greater than predicted based on radial fan experience. In addition, the effects of increasing the axial gap between the IGV and rotor 1, as well as R1 to S1 axial gap are evaluated. The increased axial gap between R1 & S1 had a much greater effect on performance than increasing the IGV to R1 gap. And, 3D Navier-Stokes flow solver analysis was performed for comparison to test results.

Simulation of Multi-Stage Compressor at Off-Design Conditions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Mauro Carnevale ◽  
Luca di Mare ◽  
Simon Gallimore
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Eddy Viscosity ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Viscosity Model ◽  
Eddy Viscosity Model ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Pressure Profiles ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
The Right

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been widely used for compressor design, yet the prediction of performance and stage matching for multi-stage, high-speed machines remain challenging. This paper presents the authors’ effort to improve the reliability of CFD in multistage compressor simulations. The endwall features (e.g. blade fillet and shape of the platform edge) are meshed with minimal approximations. Turbulence models with linear and non-linear eddy viscosity models are assessed. The non-linear eddy viscosity model predicts a higher production of turbulent kinetic energy in the passages, especially close to the endwall region. This results in a more accurate prediction of the choked mass flow and the shape of total pressure profiles close to the hub. The non-linear viscosity model generally shows an improvement on its linear counterparts based on the comparisons with the rig data. For geometrical details, truncated fillet leads to thicker boundary layer on the fillet and reduced mass flow and efficiency. Shroud cavities are found to be essential to predict the right blockage and the flow details close to the hub. At the part speed the computations without the shroud cavities fail to predict the major flow features in the passage and this leads to inaccurate predictions of massflow and shapes of the compressor characteristic. The paper demonstrates that an accurate representation of the endwall geometry and an effective turbulence model, together with a good quality and sufficiently refined grid result in a credible prediction of compressor matching and performance with steady state mixing planes.

Criteria for the Stability Limit Prediction of High Speed Centrifugal Compressors With Vaneless Diffuser: Part I — Flow Structure Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Cravero ◽  
Davide Marsano
Keyword(s):  
Rotational Speed ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Vaneless Diffuser ◽  
Centrifugal Compressors ◽  
Vaned Diffuser ◽  
High Rotational Speed ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Computational Resources

Abstract High-speed centrifugal compressor requirements include a wide operating range between choking and stall especially for turbocharging applications. The prediction of the stability limit at different speeds is still challenging. In literature, several studies have been published on the phenomena that trigger the compressor instability. However, a comprehensive analysis of criteria that can be used in the first steps of centrifugal compressors design to predict the stability limit is still missing. In previous work the authors have already presented a criterion, so called “Stability Parameter”, to predict the surge line of centrifugal compressors based on a simplified CFD approach that does not require excessive computational resources and that can be efficiently used in the preliminary design phases. The above methodology has demonstrated its accuracy for centrifugal compressors with vaned diffuser, but a lower accuracy has been detected for vaneless diffusers. Before proceeding to identify additional criteria focused on compressors with vaneless diffuser, an in-depth fluid dynamics analysis has been necessary. This analysis has been also carried out through fully 3D unsteady simulations to allow identifying the real phenomena linked to the trigger of the instability of centrifugal compressors. It has been found how these phenomena are strongly related to the rotational speed, in particular have been shown the key role of the volute at high rotational speed.

Stall inception mechanisms in a contra-rotating fan operating at different speed combinations

2019 ◽  
Vol 234 (8) ◽  
pp. 1041-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Manas ◽  
AM Pradeep
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Inception ◽  
Unsteady Pressure ◽  
Stall Cells ◽  
The Stability

Contra-rotating fan is a concept that can possibly replace the present-day conventional fans due to its several aerodynamic advantages. It has the potential to improve the stability limit and can achieve a higher pressure ratio per stage. One of the advantages of a contra-rotating fan is its capability to operate both the rotors at different speeds. In the present study, experiments are carried out at different speed combinations of the rotors and the stall inception phenomenon is captured using high-response unsteady pressure sensors placed on the casing upstream of the leading edge of rotor-1. The unsteady pressure data are investigated using wavelet and Fourier analysis techniques. It is observed that the mechanism of stall inception is different for different speed combinations. The pre-stall disturbances fall in different frequency ranges for different speed combinations. For the range of speed combinations investigated, the frequency of appearance of stall cells of rotor-1 does not depend on the speed of rotor-2. A higher speed of rotation of rotor-1 leads to a higher frequency of appearance of stall cells and a lower speed of rotation of rotor-1 leads to a lower frequency of appearance of stall cells. For all the speed combinations, there is a range of frequency where no disturbance is observed and this range is termed as the ‘no-disturbance zone’. Disturbances are observed at lower frequencies and at frequencies close to the blade passing frequency. In order to understand the flow physics in detail, computational analysis is carried out for different speed combinations of the rotors. For a higher speed of rotor-2, it is observed that the suction effect of rotor-2 is significant enough to pull the tip-leakage flow towards the axial direction. Thus, the suction effect of rotor-2 plays a significant role in determining the stall of the stage.

Investigation of the Flow Structures in Supersonic Free and Impinging Jet Flows

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Chin ◽  
M. Li ◽  
C. Harkin ◽  
T. Rochwerger ◽  
L. Chan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Impinging Jet ◽  
Optical Methods ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Jet Flows ◽  
Shock Cell ◽  
Rans Turbulence Models

A numerical study of compressible jet flows is carried out using Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence models such as k-ɛ and k-ω-SST. An experimental investigation is performed concurrently using high-speed optical methods such as Schlieren photography and shadowgraphy. Numerical and experimental studies are carried out for the compressible impinging at various impinging angles and nozzle-to-wall distances. The results from both investigations converge remarkably well and agree with experimental data from the open literature. From the flow visualizations of the velocity fields, the RANS simulations accurately model the shock structures within the core jet region. The first shock cell is found to be constraint due to the interaction with the bow-shock structure for nozzle-to-wall distance less than 1.5 nozzle diameter. The results from the current study show that the RANS models utilized are suitable to simulate compressible free jets and impinging jet flows with varying impinging angles.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the CeCOST Swirl Burner

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erdzan Hodzic ◽  
Senbin Yu ◽  
Arman Ahamed Subash ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Xiao Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Swirl Burner ◽  
Current Configuration ◽  
Stable Case ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd ◽  
The Stability

Clean technology has become a key feature due to increasing environmental concerns. Swirling flows, being directly associated with combustion performance and hence minimized pollutant formation, are encountered in most propulsion and power-generation combustion devices. In this study, the development process of the conceptual swirl burner developed at the Swedish National Centre for Combustion and Technology (CeCOST), is presented. Utilizing extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, both the lead time and cost in manufacturing of the different burner parts were significantly reduced. The performance maps bounded by the flashback and blow-off limits for the current configuration were obtained and studied in detail using advanced experimental measurements and numerical simulations. Utilizing high speed OH-chemiluminescence, OH/CH2O-PLIF and Large Eddy Simulation (LES), details of the combustion process and flame-flow interaction are presented. The main focus is on three different cases, a stable case, a case close to blow-off and flashback condition. We show the influence of the flame on the core flow and how an increase in swirl may extend the stability limit of the anchored flame in swirling flow burners.

scholarly journals Numerical Optimization of a Stall Margin Enhancing Recirculation Channel for an Axial Compressor

Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Motoyuki Kawase ◽  
Aldo Rona
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Dynamic Simulations ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment

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.

The Analysis of Axial Momentum of the Rotor Tip Flows for Axial Compressors With Circumferential Grooves

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Nan ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Sichen Wang ◽  
Le Liu ◽  
Ning Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Volume ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Onset Condition ◽  
Groove Configurations ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Control Volumes

A new control volume analysis is developed in this paper aiming at assessing the circumferential grooves effectiveness on stability improvement. The underlying mechanism for this approach is based on the hypothesis that the spike stall precursors can be triggered by the forward spillage of the rotor tip leakage flow and the onset condition of such a spillage is determined by the axial momentum balance within the rotor tip region. Control volumes are defined to quantify the axial momentum balance of the whole region where the grooves influence the flow at the rotor tip. The distribution curve of the cumulative axial momentum along the axial chord indicates that the grooves change the rotor tip loading and increase the stability, which is useful to assess the different grooved casings. As an example, multiple-groove configurations for a transonic rotor are analyzed. The results verified the cumulative axial momentum distribution for different grooved casings are in accordance with the stall margin extension variations. Another example is to prescreen the best double-groove configurations for a low speed compressor. By using this current approach, a double-groove configuration was selected and validated by experiments. These examples demonstrate the current approach has great potential in helping pre-screen circumferential grooves. As an important issue, peak efficiency changed by the grooves is discussed in the last section. Entropy production is quantitatively compared with and without grooves.

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