Application of an Analytical Method to Locate a Mixing Plane in a Supersonic Compressor

Abstract

In order to achieve greater pressure ratios, compressor designers have the opportunity to use transonic configurations. In the supersonic part of the incoming flow, shock waves appear in the front part of the blades and propagate in the upstream direction. In case of multiple blade rows, steady simulations have to impose an azimuthal averaging (mixing plane) which prevents these shock waves to extend upstream. In the present paper, several mixing plane locations are numerically tested and compared in a supersonic configuration. An analytical method is used to describe the shock pattern. It enables to take a critical look at the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) steady results. Based on this method, the shock losses are also evaluated. The good agreement between analytical and numerical values shows that this method can be useful to wisely forecast the mixing plane location and to evaluate the shift in performances due to the presence of the mixing plane.