Robust Design Optimization of an Industrial 1.5 Stage Axial Compressor Under Operational and Geometrical Uncertainties

Abstract

Abstract A robust design optimization of a 1.5 stage axial compressor with secondary flows from Safran Aero Boosters is investigated. A total of 9 simultaneous operational and geometrical uncertainties are propagated for the nominal design point as well as for two off-design points, close to stall and choke conditions respectively. These uncertainties, including mass flow rates of the secondary flows, tip gap size of the rotor and highly correlated profiles on the inlet condition, are propagated by the Non-Intrusive Probabilistic Collocation method. In order to understand the effects of the uncertainties on the performances and to minimize the computational cost of the robust optimization, a preliminary uncertainty quantification (UQ) study of the original design is performed to identify and rule out less influential uncertainties. Contrary to what was expected, the imposed geometrical uncertainties on the tip gap are identified to have the relatively smallest influence on the performances by means of scaled sensitivity derivatives. The global objective of the robust design optimization is to minimize the standard deviations of the main compressor performances at all three operating points and to preserve the mean values of these performances. Because the objective functions are standard deviations, this study is only possible in a robust optimization setting, by propagating the simultaneous operational and geometrical uncertainties. A total of 9 stochastic objectives and 15 stochastic constraints are taken into account. The best optimal design preserves the mean performances of the compressor, while the standard deviations are minimized compared with the original design, ensuring a more robust operation. This effect is very pronounced in the off-design points.