Tandem Blades Research Articles

Understanding the Flow Field in a Highly Loaded Tandem Compressor Cascade

Abstract Large flow turning in compressor cascades with single airfoils requires an effective control of the boundary layer growth under the diffusing flow. An alternative approach consists of distributing the loading over two subsequent airfoils, using a so-called tandem blade, to, in some measure, restart the boundary layer before flow separation occurs. It is, however, not always clear whether the benefits of the two-blade setup justify the additional manufacturing complexity. The present work explores the tandem blade concept using a gradient-based optimization method to produce an efficient, highly loaded compressor cascade blade directly. A comparison between two-dimensional single and tandem configurations is first presented to clarify the benefits of one over the other. The geometry is optimized for each concept using a gradient-based optimization technique to improve the pressure loss coefficient at multiple operating points for a given flow-turning constraint. While the optimized single and tandem blade designs have similar performance, the lower solidity of the latter provides a lighter compressor stage for the considered operating range. A three-dimensional tandem compressor cascade based on the two-dimensional study is then optimized to account for secondary flows. The aerodynamic performance and the operating range are assessed and compared, along with a study of the physical phenomena surrounding the tandem configuration. The resulting geometry presents similar non-conventional features observed during the two-dimensional study that exploits the flow mechanism of two-airfoil configurations.

Flow Analysis of Tandem Blades as the Outlet Vane of a Highly Loaded Compressor

Flow Analysis of Tandem Blades as the Outlet Vane of a Highly Loaded Compressor

An experimental study of noise generated by tandem blades

To facilitate the low-noise design of tandem lift bodies as applied in aeroengines and aircraft, the acoustic features of tandem blades are investigated by wind-tunnel experiments. This is further specialized for the rotating blades applied in contra-rotating open rotors under the concept of frozen-rotor. A 70-channel phased microphone array and nine high-precision free-field microphones are employed. The beamforming method, enhanced by a source filtering technique, is employed to locate noise sources, providing insights into the source patterns of blade-blade interaction noise concerning flow speed, blade spacing, and aft blade clipping. The results show the following: (A) Sources of tandem-blade noise exist in the form of concentrated source clusters, resulting in two major clusters: the mid-span interaction noise and the tip-induced noise. (B) These source clusters tend to separate as flow speed or blade spacing increases. (C) By increasing blade spacing, the band-pass filtered overall sound pressure level is reduced by 2.9 dB. (D) A two-phase noise suppression pattern is observed with blade clipping, resulting in a total reduction of 3.0 dB for the interaction noise through the removal of tip-induced noise sources and the replacement of mid-span noise sources. Based on these findings, suggestions concerning blade spacing and clipping are discussed.

Improving near-stall performance of axial flow compressors using variable rotor tandem stage. A steady analysis

This paper investigates the idea of substituting the first stage of a conventional axial-flow compressor and its inlet guide vane (IGV) row with a variable rotor tandem (VRT) stage to reduce the size and weight of axial-flow compressors. It is expected that a tandem stage gains higher pressure ratio than a conventional stage, and simultaneously, its variable stagger rotor provides more flexibility in handling unsteady phenomena at low mass flow rates. A three-dimensional numerical model based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations is developed to conduct this investigation. To validate the numerical model, experimental tests are conducted on a tandem single-stage axial-flow compressor test bench in the Dana laboratory of Amirkabir University of Technology, to compare the performance map with numerical results. The validated numerical model is then employed to simulate the performance of both front and aft variable rotor blades. The proposed tandem stage effectively performs the IGV duty, suppresses instabilities at low mass flow rates, and eventually extends the compressor's stable operational range. This proves that a VRT stage is an efficient active surge-control system tool. The detailed survey of the three-dimensional flow field reveals that the aft tandem rotor blade stagger angle is more effective in increasing the stall margin and decreasing the minimum operational mass flow rate than the front row of blades. It is observed that when the aft blades rotate in the direction of decreasing the tandem blades' gap area, the flow momentum increases and causes the compressor stability at lower mass flow rates.

Numerical Investigation on internal flow characteristics of a mixed-flow pump with Tandem malposed blades

Abstract Mixed-flow pump plays an important role in national major projects and national economic construction. In this paper, a mixed-flow pump is taken as the research object, and the internal flow characteristics and the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy in the pump under different malposed angles of blade are studied by using numerical simulation and blade modification method. The results show that the pump efficiency and head are higher when the tandem blade angles (α) are 15° and 45°, and the pump head is the largest at the α =15°, increasing by 4.37%. Meanwhile, the high-pressure area inside the impeller was large, which had a higher pressurization performance. Under the rated flow condition, the velocity curve of α =15° changes most gently, which is close to the prototype velocity curve, and the single hump zone is not obvious. The tandem malposed blades can restrain the velocity fluctuation and improve the flow field in the impeller. At α =45°, the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation and the velocity fluctuation were the smallest; the flow field was the most stable. The research results have reference significance for the optimal design and selection of mixed flow pump.

Analysis and Optimization of the Performances of the Tandem Blade Radial Compressor Using the CFD

Centrifugal compressors are frequently used in both military and commercial areas because they can be easily manufactured and reach high-pressure compression ratios. The factor that limits the performance and operating range of compressors is flow instability. Many ideas have been put forward for performance improvement, but tandem blade radial compressors, which do not require an extra air system, have attracted the most interest. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were carried out on various parameters of the tandem blade (TB) radial compressor, and an optimization study was carried out to find the best design using a genetic algorithm on a whole operating curve. It was investigated how these parameters affected the efficiency and total pressure ratio between the determined lower and upper limits. The numerical analyses of the optimum design obtained as a result of the iterations were carried out. As a result of the iterations, three optimum designs were obtained and numerical analysis was carried out according to one of them, and then they were compared with the results in the literature. The general agreement of computational fluid dynamics and the literature data served as a validation for the computational approach. The error rates between the numerical analysis results and the experimental results in the literature were calculated for different flow rates and were found to be 1.98% as the highest and 0.35 as the lowest. The work carried out in this article will provide a valuable reference for future advanced tandem blade compressor designs.

Investigation on the Aerodynamic Performance and Flow Mechanism of Transonic Ultra-Highly Loaded Tandem-Rotor Stage

The compressor serves as a crucial component that influences the performance of the gas turbine engine. Researchers have been endeavoring to explore compressor types that possess a high loading level and high-efficiency characteristics concurrently. In this study, tandem blade technology was applied to a transonic ultra-highly loaded axial compressor, and the Baseline single-blade rotor was replaced by a tandem rotor to take into account the loading level and compressor performance. Detailed investigations were carried out to identify the effects on the aerodynamic performance of the ultra-highly loaded stage and the fundamental flow mechanism within the tandem-rotor stage. This paper presents original design maps for the tandem-rotor stage, and the selection criteria for tandem parameters in tandem-rotor stage are refined. The results indicate that the peak efficiency improved by 0.83%, the stall margin increased by 2.16%, and the choke flow rate rose by 0.30% for the optimal tandem-rotor configuration. The meridional division position of the rotor primarily affects the ratio of loading of the front and rear blades, while the circumferential relative position of the tandem rotor mainly influences the channel types formed by the front and rear blades. Larger values for the meridional division position parameter and smaller values for circumferential relative position parameter should be selected for the tandem rotor design to optimize both the isentropic efficiency and total pressure ratio. This investigation offers the theoretical foundation for the design of a transonic ultra-highly loaded tandem-rotor compressor.

Coupling optimization design of configuration and swept-bowed effects in highly loaded subsonic compressor tandem cascades with tip clearance

The coupling optimization design for swept-bowed effects and configuration of tandem cascade is conducted in a highly loaded subsonic compressor tandem cascade, in which the novelty lies in considering the spanwise distribution of configuration parameters and exploring the coupling relationship between them and swept-bowed design. Research results show that, compared with the original one, the loss coefficient of the optimal tandem cascade is decreased by 38.7% at the 4° incidence angle and the range of available incidence angle expands by 25%. For the distribution of the configuration parameters, parameters at the hub are significantly different from those near the tip, which confirms the tandem blade design in compressors is complex and needs to consider 3D flow effect. Forward swept and positive bowed design are beneficial for reducing loss at tip and alleviating the blockage, which cannot be achieved by the optimization only for configuration parameters. In terms of the weak coupling relationship between configuration parameters distribution and swept-bowed effects, the former should be considered first in practical engineering.

Understanding the Effect of Three-Dimensional Design in Tandem Blade

Abstract In order to maximize the pressure ratio and efficiency, compressor designers have tried several unconventional design approaches. Tandem blading is one such unconventional design that promises a higher pressure ratio per stage through a higher diffusion factor. The nozzle shape created between the forward and aft blades of a tandem configuration acts as a passive boundary layer control mechanism. The boundary layer growth over the aft rotor is therefore effectively controlled with the help of this gap-nozzle flow. The flow complexity is likely to increase in the case of a tandem rotor due to the twin leakage vortices, twin wake regions, and their interaction with the hub and casing boundary layers. Modern compressor blades are often designed with three-dimensional blade techniques such as sweep, lean, dihedral, end bent, etc., to reduce the various losses and achieve optimum performance. However, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the effect of 3D blade designs on the performance of tandem rotors has not been fully explored so far. A comprehensive numerical investigation is undertaken to understand the effect of 3D designs on the performance of tandem blades. Axial sweep and dihedral failed to improve the performance of the tandem rotor. Significant improvement in the stall margin is observed for the forward chordwise-swept and negative lean tandem rotors and is largely attributed to lower tip incidence. The performance penalty of the forward-swept and negatively leaned cases can be reduced by integrating compound or variable lean and sweep into the design.

Study on flow separation and suction control of a compressor tandem cascade

To control the boundary layer separation on the front blade suction surface in a compressor tandem cascade at a high incidence angle, three suction schemes at different axial positions were introduced and the cascade performance improvement and separation flow control effects were investigated. Based on the experimental and numerical simulations, the aerodynamic performance of the prototype tandem cascade reaches the peak at the incidence angle of 5°. Continue to increase the incidence angle, the loss increases sharply, and the static pressure rise coefficient and diffusion factor begin to decrease. With the boundary layer suction on the suction surface of the front blade, fluid energy in the upstream boundary layer of the suction slot is increased, and the adverse pressure gradient downstream is decreased. By suction, the development and separation of the boundary layer are inhibited, and the loss in the tandem cascade is significantly reduced. The flow control effect of the suction scheme at the onset location of boundary layer separation is the best, and the flow loss can be reduced by about 34.9% with a suction flow rate of 1% at the incidence angle of 5°. The suction schemes have good flow control effects in a wide working range and broaden the available range of incidence angles of the tandem cascade. This study provides a reference for the design of tandem blades considering flow control and has a positive significance for improving compressor efficiency and pressure ratio.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Streamlines for Tandem Impeller in a Centrifugal Pump

Abstract Radial fluid machines with conventional impeller often lead to flow separation in the blade passage in case of high flow deflection. Tandem blades can be used to counteract this problem. Due to their properties, a new thin boundary layer forms at the rear blade profile, which benefits the deflection of the flow. The present investigation focuses on a comparison between numerical and experimental streamline patterns on the impellers blades suction side. For this purpose, a conventional impeller is compared with a tandem impeller. Furthermore, a method for creating oil painting patterns in a rotating system is presented. The numerical investigations were performed using a full model (including inlet section, impeller, volute, outlet section and impeller side gaps). A total of four operating points were examined in the range from high partial load to overload. The same operating points were run in a pump loop during the experiment. The results of the present work show that the numerically and experimentally generated streamline patterns agree well with exceptions. It could be shown that a flow separation of the blades suction side can be prevented using tandem blades.

Numerical Investigation of Near-Tip Modifications for a Highly Loaded Low-Speed Rotor Under the Influence of Double Leakage

Abstract This paper numerically investigates the flow field in the tip region of a highly loaded axial low-speed compressor rotor. The rotor in focus is of a hybrid blade configuration, featuring a tandem profile in the mid-span region and single blade profiles near the endwalls. The simulated 1.5-stage configuration also consists of a single row inlet guide vane (IGV) and a tandem stator. Due to high loading coefficients (Ψ = 0.58) in combination with moderate flow coefficients (ϕ = 0.58), double leakage of the tip leakage vortex plays a major role at all operating conditions. As already shown in the past, double leakage is a stability influencing dominant flow phenomenon in compressor rotors and influencing that can be the key to an efficient working range enhancement on compressor stages. This work introduces a simple and powerful method of enhancing the working range for low-speed rotors under the influence of double leakage. It is shown, that modifications to the pressure side (ps) shape of rotor tip profiles can influence the interaction of the tip leakage vortex with the adjacent blade, comparable to the effects of casing treatments. These unconventional blade shapes result from the transformations from tandem blade configurations to hybrid blades near the endwalls. The resulting single blade profile close to the tip features a convex profile element (an increase in local thickness, called the “belly”), which significantly influences the local static pressure gradients. This unusual pressure-side profiling can change mass flow over the tip and, by correct positioning, may reduce the amount of double leakage and, consequently, increase the rotor’s efficient working range. This work presents the geometry definitions for the hybrid blade single-segments, a detailed analysis of the impact on design and off-design operating conditions together with their underlying flow phenomena, and finally proposes design guidelines for the blade-tip geometries of highly loaded rotors under the influence of double leakage.

Cantilevered Tandem Stator in Annular High Speed Test Rig

The present paper investigates the aerodynamic performance of a cantilevered tandem stator based on experiments conducted within a high speed annular test rig at the Technische Universitaet Berlin. A tandem blade in this context describes a double rowed stator configuration where the turning of the incoming flow is split up between two blades arranged in succession. For evaluation purposes, a conventional single bladed stator is used as reference. To provide machine relevant boundary conditions of cantilevered stator assemblies, the moving hub wall is recreated by a rotating disk. Overall, the tandem stator is able to achieve higher flow turning while keeping the total pressure losses below those of a single stator. It is found that the tandem stator in general behaves similar to the conventional stator. When installed in cantilevered fashion, both stator types benefit considerably in terms of loss reduction. Without the hub clearance and therefore absence of the clearance flow, each of the configurations suffered from severe corner separation. The tandem stator responds more sensitively to change in clearance height.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Performance of Tandem Vanes for a Centrifugal Pump

Abstract Conventional vane designs come with the disadvantage of flow detachment for high deflection. For axial machines, often tandem vanes are prevalent which combines two vanes for redirection of the flow and thus effectively prevents detachment. However, their application for radial machines has hardly been investigated so far. This study investigates the influence of tandem vanes on the performance in terms of head and efficiency of a centrifugal pump. First, different tandem designs were numerically investigated based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For a selected tandem variant, the numerical results were validated by experimental investigations. The preceding numerical investigations were done stationary by using a single passage model to compare the performance of different tandem impellers with a conventional impeller (unsplit vane). Therefore, a method was developed to design tandem vanes from given undivided vanes. In this way, the influence of the offset in the circumferential direction and the angle of attack of the rear blade profile were systematically investigated. Transient CFD simulations have been done for a complete single-stage volute pump. In the experiments, the performance curves for both the conventional and tandem impeller were determined. The results of this study show that tandem blades can increase the pressure rise of a centrifugal pump while maintaining almost the same efficiency if a suitable combination of blade angle and offset in the circumferential direction of the rear blade has been selected. Furthermore, the CFD results show that the detachment can be prevented inside the impeller passage.

Transient nature of secondary vortices in an axial compressor stage with a tandem rotor

An efficient and compact design of a compressor continues to be a challenging area of research. The unavoidable streamwise adverse pressure gradient together with passage transverse pressure gradient restricts the maximum allowable blade turning. Tandem blading is an interesting concept for increasing the pressure rise by permitting a higher blade turning angle. The energized flow through the tandem blade nozzle gap helps to minimize the possibility of flow separation over the suction surface of the aft blade. However, a coherent transient analysis of a tandem rotor stage in an axial compressor is yet to be well explored. In the present paper, the complex flow field over a tandem rotor and the succeeding stator passage is analyzed in detail. Although the tandem rotor increases the flow turning and diffusion effect, the presence of separate trailing edge wakes and hub corner vortex causes early onset of flow separation over the stator suction. The flow structures developed within the rotor and the stator passages at different time instances are highlighted with the help of limiting streamlines and iso-surface Q-criterion superimposed with entropy contours. The results indicate that within the rotor passage, transient flow features are observed near the hub corner region close to the aft blade trailing edge rather than the tip region. When the rotor passes the stator leading edge, the rotor trailing edge leakage flow at the hub is entrained into the stator leading edge reverse flow region. This is then further circumferentially dragged into the mid-passage region. The interference of multiple rotor wakes with the stator leading edge leads to the formation of longitudinal and arch like separation vortices at the stator-hub and the stator-casing regions, respectively. These separation vortices grow in size while being convected downstream. Eventually, as time progresses, the vortices split and shed periodically from the stator surface. The present investigation highlights the requirement of a new stator design in a tandem rotor–conventional stator configuration. Such designs could further magnify the significant aerodynamic performance obtained using a tandem configuration.

An Analysis of the Secondary Flow Around a Tandem Blade Under the Presence of a Tip Gap in a High-Speed Linear Compressor Cascade

Abstract Tandem blades have often been under investigation, experimentally as well as numerically, but most of the studies have been about tandem blade stators without tip gap. This work analyzes the influence of a tip gap on the flow field of a tandem blade for engine core compressors. Experiments have been conducted in a high-speed linear compressor cascade on a tandem and a reference geometry. The flow is analyzed using five-hole probe measurements in the wake of the blades and oil flow visualization to show the near surface stream lines. First, the results for design conditions (tandem and conventional blades) are compared to measurements on corresponding blades without a tip gap. Similarities and differences in the flow topology due to the tip clearance are analyzed, showing that the introduction of the tip clearance has a similar influence on the loss and turning development for the tandem and the conventional blades. The tandem blade features two tip clearance vortices with a complex flow interaction and the possible formation of a third counter-rotating vortex between them. An incidence variation from 0 deg to 5 deg for both blades indicates at first a similar behavior. After a separation of the flow field into gap and non-gap half, it becomes apparent that the tandem blade shows higher losses on the gap side, while featuring a close-to-constant behavior on the non-gap side. Further investigation of the flow on the gap side shows indicators of the front blade exhibiting tip clearance vortex break down, while the rear blade seems unaffected.

Response of a Tandem-Staged Compressor to Circumferential Inflow Distortion

Abstract Tandem rotor, as a concept, promises a higher diffusion capacity than a single rotor. However, it is reported to have a lower operating range than the conventional rotor. Inflow distortion can lead to significant changes in the flow dynamics of the axial-flow compressor. Further, a highly loaded tandem blade is likely to be severely affected due to the inflow distortions. In this study, circumferential distortion is imposed at the inlet of a tandem stage and its response is studied, using steady and unsteady probes. The performance characteristics and other aerodynamics parameters under the circumferential distortion are compared with the clean inflow case. As expected, the tandem stage experiences a significant drop in the total pressure rise and operating range under circumferential distortion. A large deficit in the total pressure, efficiency, and axial velocity is observed in the distorted region. The casing pressure traces, Morlet wavelet analysis, and Fast Fourier Transform techniques are used to analyze the unsteady data. The stall is incepted in the form of a low-intensity spike, which later evolved into a fully grown stall within 2.5 rotor revolutions. Further, the amplitude of the stall cell under the circumferential distortion is found to be higher than the clean flow.

Impacts of Tandem Configurations on the Aerodynamic Performance of an Axial Supersonic Through-Flow Fan Cascade

Abstract In the current study, the tandem blade technology is applied to an supersonic throughflow fan (STFF) tandem cascade for the first time and a 2D STFF tandem cascade is preliminarily designed. Through the modification design of the tandem airfoils and their configuration (axial overlap (AO) and percent pitch (PP)), the coefficients of total pressure loss and loading are reduced by 4% and 8.58%, respectively. Furthermore, the impact of tandem configurations on the performance is parametrically investigated by numerical simulations. The results indicate that compared with AO, the performance under design incidence is more sensitive to PP except for the cases with PP exceeding a threshold value (1.15). PP dominates the loss and load by controlling the evolution of the FB wake and the shock structure of FB and the rear one of the tandem blade (RB), while AO mainly adjusts the entire shock system structure through the change of virtual shape, resulting in the variation in load distribution between FB and RB. It is worth noting that the overall loading and the total loss remain unchanged with increasing AO except for the tandem configurations (PP = 1.05, AO ≤ −0.01), which make the flow structure in the gap region undergo a fundamental change. With the optimal tandem configuration (PP = 1.05, AO = −0.01) and the modified tandem blades (the ratios of chord length and camber for FB over RB are 0.67 and 0.5, respectively), the total pressure loss coefficient is further reduced by 19.7% in comparison with the preliminary tandem design.

Using tandem blades to break loading limit of highly loaded axial compressors

It is confirmed that tandem-blade configurations have potential to enlarge the flow turning in two-dimension (2D) studies. However, the potential of tandem blades to enlarge the design space for highly loaded axial compressors was rarely investigated in open literatures. The present work aims to show the capability of tandem blades to break the loading limit of conventional blades for highly loaded compressors. The 2D models of the maximum static pressure rise derived in previous work were validated by a large amount experimental data, which showed a good agreement. An E parameter was defined to evaluate the stall margin of compressor based on the theoretical models, which indicated that the tandem blade was able to increase the loading limit of axial compressors. A single-blade stage with a loading coefficient of 0.46 (based on the blade tip rotating speed) was designed as the baseline case under the guidance of the E parameter. A tandem-blade stage was then designed by ensuring that the velocity triangles were similar to the single-blade stage. The performances of both stages were investigated experimentally. The results showed that the maximum efficiency of the tandem-blade stage was 92.8%, 1% higher than the single; the stall margin increased from 16.9% to 22.3%. Besides, the maximum pressure rise of tandem rotors was beyond the loading limit of 2D single-blade cascades, which confirmed the potential of tandem blades to break the loading limit of axial compressors.

Моделювання течії в дворядному вентиляторі турбореактивного двоконтурного двигуна

Modern trends in the global aircraft industry are prompting aircraft engine engineers to create and develop various methods to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of turbomachines. The urgent need to improve the efficiency of new generation engines leads to a rapid increase in the bypass ratio of engines, which requires the development of fans with large diametrical dimensions and high aerodynamic perfection. Boundary layer control in turbomachines using tandem blade rows is one of the most promising ways to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft engine fans with a high bypass ratio. The work aims to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics of a fan with a tandem impeller for a turbofan engine. Two fan impellers were investigated: a single-row and an equivalent tandem-row (the equivalence was ensured by the equality of the structural angles of the flow inlet and outlet and the equality of the chord of the profiles). The blade row consisted of 33 blades, the tip diameter at the inlet to the impeller was 2.37 m, the hub diameter was 0.652 m. The flow was simulated in the range of axial velocity at the inlet from 80 to 200 m/s at a relative rotor speed of 0.65, 0.85, and 0.9. For the investigated tandem fan impeller, the chord of the first row was 60% of the total chord of the profile, the length of the slotted channel was 10% of the total chord. The flow was simulated using a numerical experiment. When closing the system of Navier-Stokes equations, Menter's SST turbulence model was used. The computational grid is unstructured, with an adaptation of the boundary layer. The work shows that the use of a tandem impeller will improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the fan. As a result of the study, it was found that the pressure ratio in a fan with tandem impeller increases from 0.32 to 20% for an operating mode at a relative rotor speed of n=0.65, n=0.85, and n=0.9 in the range of values of the gas-dynamic flow rate function q (λ)=0.4...1. The greatest growth is observed on the left branches of the pressure lines. The obtained data on the efficiency of a fan with a tandem impeller showed that in the range of values of the gas-dynamic flow rate function q(λ)=0.4...0.6 and q(λ)=0.76...0.98 a tandem impeller is higher than the efficiency of a fan with a single-row impeller, for values of the gas-dynamic flow function q(λ)=0.64...0.76 - the efficiency of a fan with a tandem impeller is 4% less than the efficiency of a fan with a single-row impeller.