Transonic Axial Flow Compressor Rotor Research Articles

Three-dimensional optimization of squealer-tip for a transonic axial-flow compressor rotor blade

This research represents an innovative method for geometry generation of the squealer-tip in axial compressor rotors and its exploit in a numerical optimization process to obtain a better stage performance. For this purpose, the NASA Rotor-67 transonic compressor rotor blade is used as a test case to study the aerodynamic performance using computational fluid dynamics. The validation was performed for the characteristic map at the design speed and the comparison with the experimental results indicates excellent matching and high adaptability of the numerical method. An ingenious method of producing squealer tip for an axial compressor rotary blade is presented in this article, which is capable for locally shaping both suction and pressure surface geometry at a desired spanwise location simultaneously, while keeping the tip clearance at its value of the baseline NASA Rotor-67 geometry. In this method, control points are used to produce the starting spanwise location of the squealer, and modify the depth of the squealer geometry. The L-27 orthogonal array of the Taguchi method as the Design of Experiment (DOE) has been used to investigate the sensitivity of the aerodynamic results in three performance points of the choke, design and near stall regions, in relation to the design variables of the squealer. The generated database in the sensitivity analysis was used to train artificial neural networks to replace the CFD solutions with overwhelming run time. By coupling the genetic algorithm to the aforementioned neural networks and by applying penalties to maintain the minimum performance of the Rotor-67, enhancement of total pressure ratio, adiabatic efficiency, mass flow rate and even the surge margin was achieved. The main effect of the squealer is to modify the shape of blade tip vortices, and by more dissipation of energy in blade tip area and reduced equivalent flow area in this region, finally results in improved overall mass flow rate, total pressure ratio, adiabatic efficiency and surge margin by 0.58 %, 0.36 %, 0.19 % and 4.81 % respectively, at design point.

Investigation of transitional flow in a transonic compressor rotor with hub leakage using large eddy simulation

The hub leakage flow has been acknowledged as an important factor for performance deficiency of axial-flow compressors. Meanwhile, the laminar-turbulent transition in compressors is highly sensitive to the upstream flow state and significantly affects the flow loss. In the present work, quasi-wall-resolved large eddy simulation of a transonic axial-flow compressor rotor at the near-peak-efficiency point is carried out to investigate the effects of hub leakage as well as its absolute tangential velocity on the compressor performance and the laminar-turbulent transition in the blade passage. It is confirmed that the hub leakage with an absolute tangential velocity of 0.5 wheel speed can result in the near-hub total pressure deficit. With the hub leakage taken into account, the predicted total pressure ratio and adiabatic efficiency agree well with the experimental data. The simulation results indicate that increasing the absolute tangential velocity of hub leakage would intensify the near-hub vortices, elevate the endwall turbulence level, increase the near-hub flow loss, and cause a remarkable total pressure ratio drop. This work promotes the understanding of complex flow mechanisms in axial-flow compressors in the presence of hub leakage.

Design optimization and flow analysis of discrete tip injection in a transonic compressor based on nonlinear harmonic method and endwall blockage attenuation

Discrete tip injection (DTI) shows great promise for improving the operating stability of transonic axial flow compressor (AFC) rotors. However, the design optimization of DTI remains a challenging task because of both the reliance on computationally expensive unsteady simulations to calculate its effects and the lack of a flow physics-based index for assessing operating stability. The present study introduces a nonlinear harmonic method for the rapid simulation of the dominant unsteady effects caused by a DTI device, and it proposes the unsteady shroud endwall blockage attenuation as an operating stability optimization index for DTI design based on analyzing the stall flow mechanism in transonic AFCs. On this basis, an efficient optimization method for DTI design is proposed in combination with an adaptive kriging-based optimization technique. This design optimization method is validated by the Coandă injector design for the transonic rotor National Aeronautics and Space Administration Rotor 37, with improved operating range and reduced injection mass flow pursued simultaneously by a comprehensive objective function. The optimal DTI design significantly reduces the stalling flow coefficient of the compressor by 4.46% at a small injection mass flow (0.72% of the compressor stalling mass flow), with a slight increase in the aerodynamic performance of the compressor. Detailed unsteady flow-field analysis shows that the main reason for the improved operating stability of the transonic AFC is a significant attenuation and delayed recovery of shroud endwall blockage, and the underlying flow mechanism is elucidated well.

Strength and vibration analysis of transonic compressor under multiple field loads

The transonic axial flow compressor Rotor 37 is subjected to the combined action of thermal load, centrifugal load, and aerodynamic load in real work. The difference in load will cause the blade deformation and the size and distribution of stress to change. And it will cause the vibration frequency of the blade to change compared with the static state at room temperature. This paper studies the compressor blades based on the fluid-thermal-structure coupling method, and comprehensively considers the combined effects of thermal load, centrifugal load and aerodynamic load on the compressor blades. The results of the study show: that when the thermal load acts on the blade alone, it will have less impact on the blade deformation and greater impact on the stress, but when coupled with other loads, it will have a greater impact on the blade deformation and stress. In the case of fluid-thermal-structure coupling, the deformation of the compressor blade will first increase and then decrease with the increase of mass flow, and the change of stress will not decrease with the increase of mass flow. Rotation speed will affect the change trend of blade stress with mass flow. Compared with the static state at room temperature, the natural frequency of the blade under fluid-thermal-structure coupling has undergone a huge change. The first-order vibration frequency has increased by 25.77 %. It can be seen from the Campbell diagram that the compressor blade has a resonance at about 63 % and 98 % Point, in this case, the blade is prone to resonance, and more attention should be paid.

Critical endwall blockage attenuation-based automatic optimization of casing treatment design for transonic axial flow compressor

Tip leakage flow (TLF) and endwall blockage formation are closely associated with the inception of rotating stall in tip-critical transonic axial flow compressor (AFC) rotors. The present study proposes a critical endwall blockage attenuation-based optimization method of casing treatment design for transonic AFC. First, a well-defined endwall blockage quantification method is developed to reveal the development of the endwall blockage at near-stall, and two blockages of the maximum endwall blockage and the near trailing edge endwall blockage are identified as the critical values for stall inception. Next, both adiabatic efficiency at design point and critical endwall blockages at near-stall are used as optimization objectives in an adaptive surrogate-based optimization procedure to deal with the design of nonuniform multiple grooves casing treatment (NMGCT) for the NASA Stage 35, thus avoiding the extremely time-consuming simulations of compressor performance curves. The analysis of the representative optimal designs demonstrates that the NMGCT can act on the tip flow field in a variety of ways, e.g. lowering the maximum endwall blockage can suppress the intensity of the TLF-shock wave interaction, or lowering the near trailing edge endwall blockage is able to control both the trajectory of the TLF closer to the suction surface and the thickness of the suction surface boundary layer. These achievements can help improving the stall margin of the tip-critical transonic AFC. However, in the case of AFC similar to Stage 35, reducing the maximum endwall blockage can achieve greater stall margin improvement and smaller peak efficiency penalty.

Effect of Circumferential Single Casing Groove Location on the Flow Stability under Tip-Clearance Effect in a Transonic Axial Flow Compressor Rotor

Numerical simulations have been performed to study the effect of the circumferential single-grooved casing treatment (CT) at multiple locations on the tip-flow stability and the corresponding control mechanism at three tip-clearance-size (TCS) schemes in a transonic axial flow compressor rotor. The results show that the CT is more efficient when its groove is located from 10% to 40% tip axial chord, and G2 (located at near 20% tip axial chord) is the best CT scheme in terms of stall-margin improvement for the three TCS schemes. For effective CTs, the tip-leakage-flow (TLF) intensity, entropy generation and tip-flow blockage are reduced, which makes the interface between TLF and mainstream move downstream. A quantitative analysis of the relative inlet flow angle indicates that the reduction of flow incidence angle is not necessary to improve the flow stability for this transonic rotor. The control mechanism may be different for different TCS schemes due to the distinction of the stall inception process. For a better application of CT, the blade tip profile should be further modified by using an optimization method to adjust the shock position and strength during the design of a more efficient CT.

Numerical study on the effect of blade tip clearance change on stall margin of the transonic axial flow compressor rotor

The change of the blade tip clearance size has an important impact on the performance of the compressor. Considering that the performance curve of the compressor is often limited by surge and stall boundaries, this paper used the numerical simulation method to investigate the influence mechanism of the blade tip clearance size change on the stall margin of transonic axial flow compressor rotor. By mathematically decomposing the calculation formula of the stall margin of rotor, the approximate calculation formula of the change of rotor’s stall margin was obtained. Then, the detailed quantitative analysis of the factors that affect the rotor’s stall margin was carried out, the influence weights of various factors on the rotor’s stall margin was also obtained. Finally, the physical mechanism of the change of the rotor’s performance parameters was obtained by the analysis of rotor tip flow field after the blade tip clearance size change.

The improvement of transonic compressor performance by the self-circulating casing treatment

The performance curve of the compressor is limited by the surge boundary, so it is of great significance to increase the stable working range of the compressor. The self-circulating casing treatment is an effective way to improve the stable working range of the compressor. In this paper, the study of the influence of the injector position of the self-circulating casing treatment on the transonic axial flow compressor rotor performance is carried out by using the numerical simulation. The influence mechanism of the injector position on the enhancing stability effect of the self-circulating casing treatment is revealed. It is found that the self-circulating casing treatment can reduce the blade tip blockage by restraining the blade tip clearance leakage flow and changing the trajectory of the tip clearance leakage vortex, thus delaying the deterioration of the rotor tip flow field and improving the rotor stability. When the injector position of the self-circulating casing treatment moves from the upstream of the leading edge of the blade tip to the trailing edge of the blade tip, the enhancing stability effect of the self-circulating casing treatment increases first and then decreases. But the high-velocity jet from the injector of the self-circulating casing treatment aggravates the mixing loss of the rotor tip flow field, so that the rotor efficiency slightly decreases after using the self-circulating casing treatment.

Numerical investigation into the mechanism regarding the inception and evolution of flow unsteadiness induced by the tip leakage flow in a transonic compressor

Unsteady flow in the blade tip region of modern axial flow compressors is one of the sources of loss, noise, and blade vibration. In some cases, it is potentially linked to stall inception. In this paper, the complex flow fields in the blade tip region of a transonic axial flow compressor rotor have been numerically investigated. The predicted results were validated by experimental data. Analyses of monitoring results of numerical probes showed that three typical flow characteristics occurred as the operating condition approached the stability limit: no flow fluctuation at the first operating point; flow fluctuation with high frequency and low amplitude at the second operating point; flow fluctuation with low frequency and high amplitude at the third operating point. Further analysis of the tip flow field showed that the evolution of the tip leakage vortex experienced three stages as the rotor was throttled. At the first stage, the TLV did not breakdown. At the second stage, a bubble-type breakdown of the tip leakage vortex occurred. At the third stage, a spiral-type breakdown of tip leakage vortex occurred. The current study demonstrated that the flow unsteadiness that appears within the test rotor was induced by the tip leakage vortex breakdown. Furthermore, with the transformation of the vortex breakdown form, the characteristic frequency and amplitude of the flow oscillation substantially changed.

A new approach of endwall recirculation in axial compressors

This study reports on a novel design of endwall recirculation in a transonic axial flow compressor rotor. The bled air from downstream of the rotor is injected over the tip clearance of the blades in the circumferential direction opposite to the blade rotation. Results reveal that the treated casing effectively increases the operating range of the rotor at the expense of some efficiency loss. It is shown that the endwall recirculation applied in this work does not reduce the incidence angle upstream of the blade but reduces the pressure difference between the pressure and suction surface and pushes the leakage vortex and the passage shock downstream. The endwall flow was found to be responsible for stall initiation in the treated casing (similar to the smooth casing).

Analysis and application of shroud wall optimization to an axial compressor with upstream boundary layer to improve aerodynamic performance

PurposeFor an axial-flow compressor rotor, the upstream inflow conditions will vary as the aircraft faces harsh flight conditions (such as taking off, landing or maneuvering) or the whole compressor operates at off-design conditions. With the increase of upstream boundary layer thickness, the rotor blade tip will be loaded and the increased blade load will deteriorate the shock/boundary layer interaction and tip leakage flows, resulting in high aerodynamic losses in the tip region. The purpose of this paper is to achieve a better flow control for tip secondary flows and provide a probable design strategy for high-load compressors to tolerate complex upstream inflow conditions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an analysis and application of shroud wall optimization to a typical transonic axial-flow compressor rotor by considering the inlet boundary layer (IBL). The design variables are selected to shape the shroud wall profile at the tip region with the purpose of controlling the tip leakage loss and the shock/boundary layer interaction loss. The objectives are to improve the compressor efficiency at the inlet-boundary-layer condition while keeping its aerodynamic performance at the uniform condition.FindingsAfter the optimization of shroud wall contour, aerodynamic benefits are achieved mainly on two aspects. On the one hand, the shroud wall optimization has reduced the intensity of the tip leakage flow and the interaction between the leakage and main flows, thereby decreasing the leakage loss. On the other hand, the optimized shroud design changes the shock structure and redistributes the shock intensity in the spanwise direction, especially weakening the shock near the tip. In this situation, the shock/boundary layer interaction and the associated flow separations and wakes are also eliminated. On the whole, at the inlet-boundary-layer condition, the compressor with optimized shroud design has achieved a 0.8 per cent improvement of peak efficiency over that with baseline shroud design without sacrificing the total pressure ratio. Moreover, the re-designed compressor also maintains the aerodynamic performance at the uniform condition. The results indicate that the shroud wall profile has significant influences on the rotor tip losses and could be properly designed to enhance the compressor aerodynamic performance against the negative impacts of the IBL.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in developing a shroud wall contour optimization design strategy to control the tip leakage loss and the shock/boundary layer interaction loss in a transonic compressor rotor. The obtained results could be beneficial for transonic compressors to tolerate the complex upstream inflow conditions.

Numerical investigation into the underlying mechanism connecting the vortex breakdown to the flow unsteadiness in a transonic compressor rotor

This paper presents a series of systematic multi-passage unsteady RANS simulations on a transonic axial flow compressor rotor (Rotor 35). The objective is to have a better understanding of the underlying flow mechanism which connects the phenomena of the tip leakage vortex (TLV)'s breakdown to the appearance of flow unsteadiness. It has been revealed that both bubble-type and spiral-type breakdown of the TLV can result in a self-sustained flow unsteadiness at high-loading flow conditions. The origin of such unsteadiness lies in that the vorticity region redistributed by the vortex breakdown is capable of affecting the pressure distribution on the pressure side of a passage. Once this threshold event is met, the swirl intensity of the TLV and the strength of shock wave, which are key factors controlling the vortex breakdown, varies accordingly, thus leading to an instantaneous rather than a stationary vortex breakdown occurring in the confined rotor–passage system. As compared to the bubble-type breakdown of TLV, the spiral-type breakdown of TLV exerts more severe impact on the pressure distribution on the PS of the passage. As a result, a significant change in the scale of the breakdown region occurs. This gives rise to not only an appearance of a new vortex structure but also a blockage transfer across the passage against the rotor turning direction. The new vortex structure, termed as tip secondary vortex (TSV), is essentially a vortex segment arising from the spiral-type breakdown of TLV. The necessary condition for the inception of the rotating wave like RI is the blockage transfer induced by the spiral-type breakdown of TLV and its resultant interaction with the tip leakage in the adjacent passage.

Aerodynamic optimization of the tangential stacking line of a transonic axial flow compressor rotor using genetic algorithm

In this paper, aerodynamic optimization of the tangential stacking line of the NASA Rotor 37 as a transonic axial flow compressor rotor is carried out using computational fluid dynamics and genetic algorithm. To cover a wide range of curves with a minimum number of design parameters, a B-spline curve with three control points at 33, 66 and 100% of the blade span is used to define the blade stacking lines. Firstly, by rotating the tangential position of the control points, different rotors have been created and are simulated using the Navier–Stokes governing equations. Then, using genetic algorithm operators, based on the adiabatic efficiency as an objective function, new blades are created and numerically simulated. This process is repeated to achieve maximum adiabatic efficiency. The comparison of the optimum blade and the original blade indicates that optimal tangential stacking line causes the shock wave to move downstream and reduce the secondary flow which has led to an improvement of about 1.7% of the adiabatic efficiency.

Computational analysis of vortices near casing in a transonic axial compressor rotor

Complicated flowfields near casing in a transonic axial flow compressor rotor have been numerically investigated in this paper. Two vortex identification methods, namely the Eigenvector Method and Lambda 2 Method, are introduced as important tools for the graphical representation of the concentrated vortices arising from tip leakage flow and blade boundary layer separation. The analysis of the numerical results reveals that multiple tip vortices whose development are dependent on the variation of shock wave configuration are observed at conditions around the peak efficiency point. However, with the decrease of the massflow rate, only the well-known tip leakage vortex and the second tip vortex are left in the tip region due to the disappearance of the second shock wave. Then when the massflow rate further decreases to the stall limit, an deceleration flow region emerges downstream of the shock wave due to an increasing interaction between the first shock wave and the well-known tip leakage vortex. The tip leakage vortex further experiences a bubble-type and then spiral-type breakdown at near stall flow conditions. In addition, the validity of the two vortex identification methods is also discussed in this paper. It is found that both methods are able to identify and accentuate the concentrated streamwise vortices near casing when a vortex is not disrupted. However, if the vortex breakdown occurs, only Eigenvector Method can describe the breakdown region in a deep view.

Multidisciplinary Design and Optimizations of Swept and Leaned Transonic Rotor

Optimization problems in many engineering applications are usually considered as complex subjects. Researchers are often obliged to solve a multi-objective optimization problem. Several methodologies such as genetic algorithm (GA) and artificial neural network (ANN) are proposed to optimize multi-objective optimization problems. In the present study, various levels of sweep and lean were exerted to blades of an existing transonic rotor, the well-known NASA rotor-67. Afterward, an ANN optimization method was used to find the most appropriate settings to achieve the maximum stage pressure ratio, efficiency, and operating range. At first, the study of the impact of sweep and lean on aerodynamic and performance parameters of the transonic axial flow compressor rotors was undertaken using a systematic step-by-step procedure. This was done by employing a three-dimensional (3D) compressible turbulent model. The results were then used as the input data to the optimization computer code. It was found that the optimized sweep angles can increase the safe operating range up to 30% and simultaneously increase the pressure ratio and subsequently the efficiency by 1% and 2%. Moreover, it was found that the optimized leaned blades, according to their target function, had positive (forward (FW)) or negative (backward (BW)) optimized angles. Leaning the blade at the optimum point can increase the safe operating range up to 12% and simultaneously increase the pressure ratio and subsequently the efficiency by 4% and 5%.

Effects of low Reynolds number on flow stability of a transonic compressor

As the aircraft cruising at high altitude over 20,000 m with subsonic speed, the Reynolds number in terms of the compressor blade becomes very low and the compressor performance decreases dramatically due to separation of boundary layer and secondary-flow. The main objective in this paper is to understand the physical mechanism by which Reynolds number affects the compressor stable range. In this paper, a series of steady and unsteady numerical simulations were carried out for a transonic compressor rotor under several conditions, which corresponded to the operations at sea level, and at high altitude. Detailed analyses of the flow visualization have exposed the different flow topologies of the complicated secondary flow. It was found that the transonic axial-flow compressor rotor used in current investigation was prone to tip stall behavior, and the complex flow mechanisms which occur near the blade tip are found to be the key factors for the limited flow stability both under high Reynolds number and low Reynolds number. Under high Reynolds number, the tip flow field was dominated by the low momentum zones generated by the interaction between tip leakage flow and incoming flow, and with the decrease of Reynolds number, the tip leakage flow was weakened and the low-momentum fluid due to the surface boundary layer separation and radial transport of low-energy fluid was dominant in the tip flow.

Aerodynamics of swept and leaned transonic compressor-rotors

A systematic investigation to understand the impact of axially swept and tangentially leaned blades on the aerodynamic behaviour of transonic axial-flow compressor rotors was undertaken. Effects of axial and tangential blade curvature were analyzed separately. A commercial CFD package, which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, was used to compute the complex flow field of transonic compressor-rotors. It was validated against NASA Rotor 37 existing experimental data. Computed performance maps and downstream profiles showed a good agreement with measured ones. Furthermore, comparisons with experimental data indicated that the overall features of three-dimensional shock structure, shock-boundary layer interaction, and wake development are calculated well by the numerical solution. Next, quite a large number of new transonic swept rotors (26) were modelled from the original Rotor 37, by changing the meridional curvature of the original stacking line through three previously defined control points (located at 33%, 67% and 100% of span). Similarly, 26 new transonic leaned rotors were modelled by changing the circumferential position of the same control points. All the new transonic rotors were simulated and the results revealed many interesting aspects which are believed to be very helpful to better understand the blade curvature effects on shock structure and secondary losses within a transonic rotor.

Numerical Calculation of Three-Dimensional F1ow through A Transonic Compressor Rotor

Three-dimensional flow analysis is implemented to investigate the flow through transonic axial-flow compressor rotor(NASA R67) and to evaluate the performances of Abid's low-Reynolds-number k- and Baldwin-Lomax turbulence models. A finite volume method is used fur spatial discretization. The equations are solved implicitly in time by the use of approximate factorization. The upwind difference scheme is used for inviscid terms and viscous terms are approximated with central difference. The flux-difference-splitting method of Roe is used to obtain fluxes at the cell faces. Numerical analysis is performed near peak efficiency and near stall. The results are compared with the experimental data for NASA R67 rotor. Blade-to-Blade Mach number distributions are compared to confirm the accuracy of the code. From the results, it is concluded that Abid'k- model is better for the calculation of flow rate and efficiency than Baldwin-Lomax model. But, the predictions for Mach number and shock structure are almost the same.

Experimental Investigation of Stepped Tip Gap Effects on the Performance of a Transonic Axial-Flow Compressor Rotor

The effects of stepped-tip gaps and clearance levels on the performance of a transonic axial-flow compressor rotor were experimentally determined. A two-stage compressor with no inlet guide vanes was tested in a modern transonic compressor research facility. The first-stage rotor was unswept and was tested for an optimum tip clearance with variations in stepped gaps machined into the casing near the aft tip region of the rotor. Nine causing geometries were investigated consisting of three step profiles at each of three clearance levels. For small and intermediate clearances, stepped tip gaps were found to improve pressure ratio, efficiency, and flow range for most operating conditions. At 100 percent design rotor speed, stepped tip gaps produced a doubling of mass flow range with as much as a 2.0 percent increase in mass flow and a 1.5 percent improvement in efficiency. This study provides guidelines for engineers to improve compressor performance for an existing design by applying an optimum casing profile.

A Navier-Stokes analysis of 3-D transonic cascade flow and its visualization.

The purpose of this paper is, first, to analyze 3-D transonic cascade flow by using the TVD Navier-Stokes code developed by the authors. Since the momentum equations of contravariant velocities are used in the code, the treatments of boundary conditions, especially the solid wall and the periodic boundaries for the 3-D cascade flow, become very easy. A Chakravarthy-Osher type TVD scheme modified by the authors is adopted in order to clearly simulate 3-D complex flow having shock waves and separation bubbles. The second purpose is to visualize the computed results by using the 3-D color graphic display. As numerical examples, the 3-D viscous flows thorough a transonic axial-flow compressor rotor with or without a tip clearance are computed, and the colored oli-flow patterns, 3-D particle paths, 3-D time lines which show the shock/boundary layer interactions and a leakage vortex near the casing wall are obtained. In particular, the mechanism of occurrence of the leakage vortex is investigated in detail.