Paper 32: The Effects of Reynolds Number, Turbulence Intensity, and Axial Velocity Ratio on Compressor Blade Performance

Abstract

The paper describes a series of experiments that were conducted on a compressor blade of conventional geometry, in a low-speed research compressor, to determine the effect of Reynolds number on the performance of (1) an isolated rotor blade row when the free-stream turbulence is low, (2) the isolated rotor at a higher level of turbulence, and (3) the rotor row when unsteadiness is introduced by a set of inlet guide vanes of zero camber and zero stagger. In each case the axial velocity ratio at mid-span was measured and tests were carried out under similar conditions on a two-dimensional cascade of blades using a wind tunnel with porous side walls. The compressor results indicate that there are significant Reynolds number effects under these conditions, and the comparison with the cascade results demonstrates that there is a difference in performance between the rotating row and the cascade.