Experimental Investigation of the Flow Mechanisms and the Performance Change of a Highly Loaded Axial Compressor Stage with/without Stator Hub Clearance
Source abstract
Abstract
Three-dimensional corner separation is common in axial compressors, which can lead to large flow loss and blockage especially when it evolves into the corner stall (open separation). In this paper, the evolution of the three-dimensional flow structures inside a cantilevered stator of a 1.5 stage low-speed highly loaded axial compressor as the stator hub clearance varies, and its effect on the whole compressor performance are investigated experimentally. Firstly, when the stator hub is sealed, the hub corner stall will occur at small mass flow rate conditions. Then, when a very small stator hub clearance is introduced, the leakage flow tends to strengthen the hub corner separation at large mass flow rate conditions and prompts the occurrence of hub corner stall as the mass flow rate decreases. This is mainly caused by the fact that the leakage flow has relatively low energy due to the viscosity effect in the clearance and large flow loss generation as the clearance flow comes across and mixes with the transverse secondary flow. Finally, when the stator hub clearance increases, the effect of the flow viscosity becomes very weak and could be ignored, so the enhanced leakage flow can suppress the transverse migration of the low energy flow near the hub, and the hub corner separation at large mass flow rate conditions could be weakened and the hub corner stall at small mass flow rate conditions could be removed or delayed. As the stator hub clearance varies, the flow structures inside the stator passage could be summarized into five typical flow structures, and this is closely associated with the performance of the compressor.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Turbomachinery Performance and Optimization · Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technologies · Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aero-Engine Aero-Thermodynamics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Aero-Engine, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China · National Science and Technology Major Project
References (35)
Show source-provided references
1. A Criterion for Axial Compressor Hub-Corner Stall10.1115/1.2775492 ↗
2. Competing Three-Dimensional Mechanisms in Compressor Flows10.1115/1.4034685 ↗
3. Axial Compressor Stator Aerodynamics10.1115/1.3239754 ↗
4. Experimental investigation of the three-dimensional flow in an annular compressor cascade10.1115/1.3262220 ↗
5. Sachdeva, A. (2010). Study and Control of Three Dimensional flow Separations in a High Pressure Compressor Stator Blade Row by Boundary Layer Aspiration. [Ph.D. Thesis, Ecole Centrale de Lyon].
6. A combined application of micro-vortex generator and boundary layer suction in a high-load compressor cascade10.1016/j.cja.2019.03.034 ↗
7. Control of three-dimensional separations in axial compressors by tailored boundary layer suction10.1115/1.2749294 ↗
8. Peacock, R. (1965). Boundary-Layer Suction to Eliminate Corner Separation in Cascades of Aerofoils, Citeseer.
9. Kirtley, K.R., Graziosi, P., Wood, P., Beacher, B., and Shin, H.-W. (2004, January 14–17). Design and Test of an Ultra-Low Solidity Flow-Controlled Compressor Stator. Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2004: Power for Land, Sea, and Air, Vienna, Austria.10.1115/GT2004-53012 ↗
10. Song, Y., Chen, H., Chen, F., and Wang, Z. (2007, January 14–17). Effects of Air Injection on Performance of Highly-Loaded Compressor Cascades. Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2007: Power for Land, Sea, and Air, Montreal, QC, Canada.10.1115/GT2007-27062 ↗
11. Experimental investigation of endwall and suction side blowing in a highly loaded compressor stator cascade10.1115/1.4003254 ↗
12. Hergt, A., Meyer, R., and Engel, K. (2006, January 8–11). Experimental Investigation of Flow Control in Compressor Cascades. Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2006: Power for Land, Sea, and Air, Barcelona, Spain.10.1115/GT2006-90415 ↗
13. Influence of dihedral on the secondary flow in a two-dimensional compressor cascade10.1115/1.3239609 ↗
14. Weingold, H.D., Neubert, R.J., Behlke, R.F., and Potter, G.E. (1995, January 5–8). Reduction of compressor stator endwall losses through the use of bowed stators. Proceedings of the ASME 1995 International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition, Houston, TX, USA.10.1115/95-GT-380 ↗
15. Dean, R.C. (1954). Secondary Flow in Axial Compressors. [Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology].
16. Methods of predicting the tip clearance effects in axial flow turbomachinery10.1115/1.3425036 ↗
17. Lakshminarayana, B., and Horlock, J. (1963). Tip-Clearance Flow and Losses for an Isolated Compressor Blade, Aeronautical Research Council London (England).
18. Lakshminarayana, B., and Horlock, J. (1967). Leakage and Secondary Flows in Compressor Cascades, HM Stationery Office.
19. Singh, U.K., and Ginder, R.B. (1998, January 2–5). The Effect of Hub Leakage Flow in a Transonic Compressor Stator. Proceedings of the ASME 1998 International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exhibition, Stockholm, Sweden.10.1115/98-GT-424 ↗
20. Lee, C., Song, J., Lee, S., and Hong, D. (2010, January 14–18). Effect of a gap between inner casing and stator blade on axial compressor performance. Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2010: Power for Land, Sea, and Air, Glasgow, UK.10.1115/GT2010-22439 ↗
21. George, K.K., Sunkara, S.N.A., George, J.T., Joseph, M., Pradeep, A., and Roy, B. (2014, January 16–20). Investigations on stator hub end losses and its control in an axial flow compressor. Proceedings of the ASME turbo expo 2014: Turbine technical conference and exposition, Düsseldorf, Germany.10.1115/GT2014-26845 ↗
22. Interaction of tip clearance flow and three-dimensional separations in axial compressors10.1115/1.2720876 ↗
23. Three-dimensional flows and loss reduction in axial compressors10.1115/1.3262113 ↗
24. A review of turbomachinery tip gap effects: Part 1: Cascades10.1016/0142-727X(82)90017-0 ↗
25. Compressor efficiency variation with rotor tip gap from vanishing to large clearance10.1115/1.4007547 ↗
26. Experimental study of a high-throughflow transonic axial compressor stage10.1115/1.3239606 ↗
27. A comparison between the design point and near-stall performance of an axial compressor10.1115/1.2927405 ↗
28. Experimental investigation of the effect of rotor tip gaps on 3D separating flows inside the stator of a highly loaded compressor stage10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2016.02.006 ↗
29. Liu, B.J., Zhang, S., and Yu, X.J. (2014, January 22–25). Experimental investigations on the effects of bowed stator in a highly loaded axial compressor stage. Proceedings of the 2014 ISFMFE—6th International Symposium on Fluid Machinery and Fluid Engineering, Wuhan, China.
30. Yu, X.J., and Liu, B.J. (2016). Research on three-dimensional blade designs in an ultra-highly loaded low-speed axial compressor stage: Design and numerical investigations. Adv. Mech. Eng., 8.10.1177/1687814016674629 ↗
31. Assessment of curvature correction and reattachment modification into the shear stress transport model within the subsonic axial compressor simulations10.1177/0957650915595168 ↗
32. Seven-hole cone probes for high angle flow measurement Theory and calibration10.2514/3.8188 ↗
33. Rains, D.A. (1954). Tip Clearance Flows in Axial Compressors and Pumps. [Ph.D. Thesis, California Institute of Technology].10.21236/AD0037339 ↗
34. Zhang, S. (2018). Study on the Mechanism of the 3D Blade Design of Highly Loaded Subsonic Axial Compressor. [Ph.D. Thesis, Beihang University].
35. Three-Dimensional Separations in Axial Compressors10.1115/1.1811093 ↗