A Three-Dimensional Unsteady Through-Flow Model for Rotating Stall in Axial Compressors

Author(s):  
Jin Guo ◽  
Jun Hu ◽  
Xuegao Wang ◽  
Rong Xu

Abstract Rotating stall is a natural limit to the stable operating range of compressors due to the inverse pressure gradient of viscous gas. Effective prediction of compressor stall boundary is an important guarantee for the successful development of aeroengine. In this paper, a three-dimensional unsteady through-flow model based on body force theory is developed to reflect the dynamic stall process of multistage axial compressors with acceptable computational costs. The influence of blade geometric parameters is fully considered in blade force source terms. The source terms are related to the attack angle and Mach number of the blade inlet using the deviation angle and loss model in the through-flow theory. Meanwhile, the temporal lag response of the source terms to the upstream flow conditions is taken into account. Therefore, it can be utilized for predicting the off-design performance and rotating stall characteristics of multistage axial compressors. The developed model is validated on a two-stage low-speed axial compressor. The calculated performance line and stall cell speed are in agreement with the experimental results. The unsteady flow behavior of the compressor during stall is presented by the model. The results indicate that the developed model has the potential to be applied to the preliminary evaluation of compressor stability in design stage.

Author(s):  
Wu Xiaoxiong ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Shi Lei ◽  
Zhang Guochen ◽  
Mao Xiaochen

In this paper, an improved streamline curvature (SLC) approach is presented to obtain the internal flow fields and evaluate the performance of transonic axial compressors. The approach includes some semi-empirical correlations established based on previous literatures, such as minimum loss incidence angle model, deviation model and total pressure loss model. Several developments have been made in this paper for the purpose of considering the influences of three-dimensional (3D) flow in high-loaded multistage compressors with high accuracy. A revised deviation model is applied to predict the cascade with large deflection range. The method for predicting the shock loss is also discussed in detail. In order to validate the reliability of the approach, two test cases including a two-stage transonic fan and a three-stage transonic compressor are conducted. The overall performance and distribution of spanwise aerodynamic parameters are illustrated in this paper. Compared with both the experimental and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) data at design and a number of different off-design condition, the SLC results give reasonable characteristic curves. The validation demonstrates that this improved approach can serve as a fast and reliable tool for flow field analysis and performance prediction in preliminary design stage of axial compressors.


Author(s):  
Hanxuan Zeng ◽  
Xinqian Zheng ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati

Abstract The occurrence of stall and surge in axial compressors has a great impact on the performance and reliability of aero-engines. Accurate and efficient prediction of the key features during these events has long been the focus of engine design processes. In this paper, a new body-force model that can capture the three-dimensional and unsteady features of stall and surge in compressors at a fraction of time required for URANS computations is proposed. To predict the rotating stall characteristics, the deviation of local airflow angle from the blade surface is calculated locally during the simulation. According to this local deviation, the computational domain is divided into stalled and forward flow regions, and the body-force field is updated accordingly; to predict the surge characteristics, the local airflow direction is used to divide the computational domain into reverse flow regions and forward flow regions. A single-stage axial compressor and a three-stage axial compressor are used to verify the proposed model. The results show that the method is capable of capturing stall and surge characteristics correctly. Compared to the traditional fully three-dimensional URANS method (fRANS), the simulation time for multi-stage axial compressors is reduced by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude.


2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Dorfner ◽  
Alexander Hergt ◽  
Eberhard Nicke ◽  
Reinhard Moenig

Modern methods for axial compressor design are capable of shaping the blade surfaces in a three-dimensional way. Linking these methods with automated optimization techniques provides a major benefit to the design process. The application of nonaxisymmetric contoured endwalls is considered to be very successful in turbine rotors and vanes. Concerning axial compressors, nonaxisymmetric endwalls are still a field of research. This two-part paper presents the recent development of a novel endwall design. An aerodynamic separator, generated by a nonaxisymmetric endwall groove, interacts with the passage vortex. This major impact on the secondary flow results in a significant loss reduction because of load redistribution, reduction in recirculation areas, and suppressed corner separation. The first paper deals with the development of the initial endwall design using a linear compressor cascade application. A brief introduction of the design methods is provided, including the automated optimization and the 3D process chain with a focus on the endwall contouring tool. Hereafter, the resulting flow phenomena and physics due to the modified endwall surface are described and analyzed in detail. Additionally, the endwall design principal is transferred to an axial compressor stage. The endwall groove is applied to the hub and casing endwalls of the stator, and the initial numerical investigation is presented. For highly loaded operating points, the flow behavior at the hub region can be improved in accord with the cascade results. Obviously, the casing region is dominated by the incoming tip vortex generated by the rotor and still remains an area for further investigations concerning nonaxisymmetric endwall contouring.


1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Dong ◽  
S. J. Gallimore ◽  
H. P. Hodson

Measurements have been performed in a low-speed high-reaction single-stage axial compressor. Data obtained within and downstream of the rotor, when correlated with the results of other investigations, provide a link between the existence of suction surface–hub corner separations, their associated loss mechanisms, and blade loading. Within the stator, it has been shown that introducing a small clearance between the stator blade and the stationary hub increases the efficiency of the stator compared to the case with no clearance. Oil flow visualizaton indicated that the leakage reduced the extensive suction surface–hub corner separation that would otherwise exist. A tracer gas experiment showed that the large radial shifts of the surface streamlines indicated by the oil flow technique were only present close to the blade. The investigation demonstrates the possible advantages of including hub clearance in axial flow compressor stator blade rows.


1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Dring

The objective of this work was to examine radial transport in axial compressors from two perspectives. The first was to compare the mixing coefficient based on a secondary flow model (using measured radial velocities) with that based on a turbulent diffusion model. The second was to use measured airfoil pressure forces and momentum changes to assess the validity of the assumption of diffusive radial transport which is common to both models. These examinations were carried out at both design and off-design conditions as well as for two rotor tip clearances. In general it was seen that radial mixing was strongest near the hub and that it increased dramatically at near-stall conditions. It was also seen that radial transport could cause large differences (≈ 100%) between the force on an airfoil and the change in momentum across the airfoil at the same spanwise location.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Margalida ◽  
Pierric Joseph ◽  
Olivier Roussette ◽  
Antoine Dazin

The present paper aims at evaluating the surveillance parameters used for early stall warning in axial compressors, and is based on unsteady pressure measurements at the casing of a single stage axial compressor. Two parameters—Correlation and Root Mean Square (RMS)—are first compared and their relative performances discussed. The influence of sensor locations (in both radial and axial directions) is then considered, and the role of the compressor’s geometrical irregularities in the behavior of the indicators is clearly highlighted. The influence of the throttling process is also carefully analyzed. This aspect of the experiment’s process appears to have a non-negligible impact on the stall warning parameters, despite being poorly documented in the literature. This last part of this research work allow us to get a different vision of the alert parameters compared to what is classically done in the literature, as the level of irregularity that is reflected by the magnitude of the parameters appears to be an image of a given flow rate value, and not a clear indicator of the stall inception.


Author(s):  
Y. Levy ◽  
J. Pismenny ◽  
A. Reissner ◽  
W. Riess

The relationships between the frequencies of pressure oscillation ωOSC and the rotor speed (frequencies of rotor rotation) ωRR, as well as between the phases of pressure oscillation and geometrical angles of the sensor locations on the compressor casing (in the transverse cross-section) were determined experimentally. In addition, the phase–location relation permitted determination of the number of stall cells under established rotating stall. Literature on rotating stall in axial compressors typically refers to rotating stall with frequencies less than the rotor speed. This paper is concerned with two types of rotating stall, observed during experiments in a four-stage axial compressor, operating at the same rotor speed, n/nd = 0.95, where n is the rotor speed and nd the rotor data-sheet speed. The rotating stall frequencies were both, smaller and larger than the rotor speed. The relationships between ωOSC and ωRR were determined by four methods: directly from the time diagram of the pressure oscillation, from the diagrams of pressure variation in space and time, from the autocorrelation characteristics, and from the frequency characteristics of the pressure signals. All methods indicated values of ωOSC/ωRR in the form of integer ratios, 3:7 and 11:2. The phases of pressure oscillation in the transverse cross-section are equal to the sensor angles in compressor stator (in the case ωOSC/ωRR = 3:7) or are three times larger (in the case ωOSC/ωRR = 11:2), in accordance with the classical theory of single-cell and three-cell configurations of rotating stall, respectively.


Author(s):  
L. G. Fre´chette ◽  
O. G. McGee ◽  
M. B. Graf

A theoretical evaluation was conducted delineating how aeromechanical feedback control can be utilized to stabilize the inception of rotating stall in axial compressors. Ten aeromechanical control methodologies were quantitatively examined based on the analytical formulations presented in the first part of this paper (McGee et al, 2003a). The maximum operating range for each scheme is determined for optimized structural parameters, and the various schemes are compared. The present study shows that the most promising aeromechanical designs and controls for a class of low-speed axial compressors were the use of dynamic fluid injection. Aeromechanically incorporating variable duct geometries and dynamically re-staggered IGV and rotor blades were predicted to yield less controllability. The aeromechanical interaction of a flexible casing wall was predicted to be destabilizing, and thus should be avoided by designing sufficiently rigid structures to prevent casing ovalization or other structurally-induced variations in tip clearance. Control authority, a metric developed in the first part of this paper, provided a useful interpretation of the aeromechanical damping of the coupled system. The model predictions also show that higher spatial modes can become limiting with aeromechanical feedback, both in control of rotating stall as well as in considering the effects of lighter, less rigid structural aeroengine designs on compressor stability.


Author(s):  
J. Lepicovsky ◽  
E. P. Braunscheidel

Effective active control of rotating stall in axial compressors requires detailed understanding of flow instabilities associated with this compressor regime. Newly designed miniature high frequency response total and static pressure probes as well as commercial thermoanemometric probes are suitable tools for this task. However, during the rotating stall cycle the probes are subjected to flow direction changes that are far larger than the range of probe incidence acceptance, and therefore probe data without a proper correction would misrepresent unsteady variations of flow parameters. A methodology, based on ensemble averaging, is proposed to circumvent this problem. In this approach the ensemble averaged signals acquired for various probe setting angles are segmented, and only the sections for probe setting angles close to the actual flow angle are used for signal recombination. The methodology was verified by excellent agreement between velocity distributions obtained from pressure probe data, and data measured with thermoanemometric probes. Vector plots of unsteady flow behavior during the rotating stall regime indicate reversed flow within the rotating stall cell that spreads over to adjacent rotor blade channels. Results of this study confirmed that the NASA Low Speed Axial Compressor (LSAC) while in a rotating stall regime at rotor design speed exhibits one stall cell that rotates at a speed equal to 50.6% of the rotor shaft speed.


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