Effect of the Rotor Blades Part Span Shrouds on the Transonic Axial Compressor Operation Map

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the investigation of the part span shroud effect on the transonic axial compressor operational map. The objective of the paper is a 4.5-stage transonic low-pressure compressor of the aero-derivative gas turbine engine. The study was performed with using 3D RANS calculations via Ansys CFX commercial solver. The numerical model was validated with experimental data for 4 speedlines. The standard k-ɛ turbulence model demonstrated good agreement with the experimental data while SST model unexpectedly overpredicted mass flow rate. The strong effect of the mesh aspect ratio in the radial direction was observed. A significant decrease of the mass flow rate and the compressor efficiency was shown for the rotation speed range 85% – 95%. The maximum mass flow rate decreasing was estimated as 3.5%, maximum efficiency deterioration – 1.5%.