Combined flow control with full-span slot and end-wall boundary layer suction in a large-camber compressor cascade

Abstract

To investigate combined flow control strategies with full-span slot and end-wall (EW) boundary layer suction, a large-camber compressor cascade was treated with a full-span slot configuration firstly. Then, two combined flow control schemes with different EW boundary layer suction slots were set up based on the full-span slot configuration. Finally, the performance of the baseline cascade and the slotted cascades was evaluated and compared numerically. The results show that the full-span slotted scheme can eliminate the trailing edge (TE) separation near the blade midspan and weakens the corner separation. However, the EW secondary flow still develops on the blade suction surface (SS) before the full-span slot outlet and separates to form the wall vortex (WV). In contrast, the two combined flow control schemes can effectively inhibit the development of the EW secondary flow on the blade SS, contributing to the smaller total pressure loss and stronger static pressure recovery capacity. Between them, the combined flow control scheme with full-chord-length EW suction slot behaves better. It can effectively eliminate the concentrated shedding vortex, WV and corner vortex in the cascade passage, and the passage vortex is also weakened to some extent. Therefore, the TE separation and the corner separation are basically eliminated. The total pressure loss, flow turning angle and static pressure coefficient can be increased by an average of −38.4%, 3.1° and 16.2% in the combined flow control cascade with full-chord-length EW suction slot respectively, which is beneficial for improving the stability margin and static pressure recovery capacity of compressor blades.