Tip leakage flow (TLF) patterns, which affect compressor performance, are closely related to compressor stability. To date, minimal attention has been given to circumferential nonuniformity of the TLF in a centrifugal compressor with a nonaxisymmetric volute structure. In this study, the circumferential difference of the TLF in a centrifugal compressor with a volute during the stall process is analyzed. The circumferential nonuniformity of tip leakage vortex (TLV) trajectories, loading distribution near the tip, and distance between the TLV core and the leading edge (LE) of splitter blades were also investigated. It is shown that in the circumferential direction, there are two peaks associated with the angle (α) between the TLV trajectory of the seven main blades and the axial direction. As the stall process progresses, the blade whose LE is affected by the high static pressure band (PP) induced by the volute tongue (VT) loses its work capacity first and the α difference between this blade and the other blades increases. In addition, the tip loading and TLF velocity of the blade whose LE is affected by the high static pressure band induced by the VT are at a minimum, and the flow loss in the tip clearance is higher. There is a phenomenon of the TLV breakdown. When the blade trailing edge (TE) is located in the low static pressure region, TLV streamlines appear as a significant turn at the breakdown point. However, the TLV streamlines at other circumferential positions do not exhibit this phenomenon.
The casing-wall static pressure of the centrifugal compressor behaves the double-peak distribution in the circumference at small flow rates but the single-peak distribution at large flow rates. A previous study shows that the double-peak distribution is induced by the redistribution of impeller outlet flow rates. In this paper, by using the similar simplified method of directly imposing pressure boundary to the diffuser outlet, the original reason for the formation process difference of pressure distribution in the circumference at different operating conditions is further investigated. The results show that at large flow rates, under the combined action of the specific downstream pressure distribution and the flow performance of the compressor itself, alternating low/high velocity airflow zones similar to those at small flow rates cannot be established in the diffuser when the impeller outlet flow rates are redistributed. Therefore, the static pressure can only express the single-peak distribution in the circumference. In fact, whether the static pressure exhibits the double-peak or single-peak distribution in the circumference depends on whether the impeller outlet flow mutation can destroy the original flow balance. When the flow mutation is dominant, the double-peak distribution is created, whereas when the original flow balance is prevailing, the single-peak distribution is formed.
In the centrifugal compressor applied in the automobile turbochargers, the asymmetric structure of volute causes the non-uniform flow field in the impeller and compressor stall. The non-uniformity of the flow field in the compressor can be reflected by the casing-wall static pressure distribution. In this study, by removing the volute and directly imposing different simplified static pressure boundary conditions at the diffuser outlet, the formation mechanism of casing-wall static pressure circumferential double-peak distribution of the compressor is explored. It is found that the mass flow rate is redistributed at the impeller outlet due to local high static pressure induced by the volute tongue, which results in the formation of two airflow regions with high velocity in the diffuser, ultimately leading to the static pressure circumferential double-peak distribution in the diffuser and the impeller. Noted that because of the existence of the blades, the airflow regions with high and low velocity formed in the diffuser are locked within a limited range of one or more widths of the blade passage. When the number of blades in the compressor is large, the static pressure can appear as multi-peak distribution in the circumferential direction. Moreover, the result of the mass flow rate redistribution at the impeller outlet is determined by the static pressure distribution characteristics at the diffuser outlet.
The asymmetric volute structure in the turbocharger centrifugal compressor causes a static pressure circumferential double-peak distribution (PD-DP) at small flow rates and affects the circumferential stall position near the impeller inlet. In this study, a recirculation device was added to a prototype compressor, and the effect of the recirculation flow on the PD-DP was studied to reveal the difference in the PD-DP formation mechanism with and without the device. In addition, the influence of the PD-DP difference on the compressor flow stability was investigated. The results show that the PD-DP generated various pressure gradients between the front and rear slots of the recirculation device at different circumferential positions, resulting in a double-peak distribution in the recirculation flow rate. When the recirculation airflow flowed back into the impeller inlet, the two recirculation flow rate peaks were near the circumferential positions occupied by the two static pressure peaks in the prototype compressor. Therefore, the pressure distortion degree near the impeller inlet could be inhibited, weakening the difference in the deflection degree of the tip leakage flow (TLF) in each compressor passage. It should be noted that the circumferential positions with more prominent variation in the TLF corresponded to the passages with more serious flow deterioration in the prototype compressor, and the blockage of these passages near the inlet was reduced to a greater extent, which could better improve the flow stability of the compressor.
Under the action of an asymmetric volute structure, a non-uniform flow field is formed in the circumferential direction of the centrifugal compressor. During the throttling process of the compressor at different rotational speeds, the static pressure presents a double-peak distribution of two high static pressure strips, one of which is induced by the volute tongue. However, the formation mechanism of the other high static pressure strip remains unclear. In this regard, computations of the steady and unsteady flows in a centrifugal compressor with and without a volute are performed. The purpose of removing the volute is to simplify the boundary conditions at the diffuser exit, eliminate the circumferential pressure gradient distribution in the volute, and retain the circumferential local high static pressure region induced by the VT; thereafter, the circumferential static pressure distributions in the diffuser and impeller are observed. The results indicate that after eliminating the pressure gradient at the diffuser exit along the rotation direction, only local high static pressure boundary conditions can result in the formation of two high static pressure strips in the diffuser and impeller. The local high static pressure at the exit redistributes the mass flow rate at the impeller outlet, forming two regions with high airflow velocity in the diffuser; this leads to the appearance of two high static pressure strips in the circumferential direction. With the increase in the pressure amplitude of the high static pressure at the diffuser exit, the oscillation amplitude of the circumferential pressure is intensified, and the pressure peaks of the two high static pressure strips increase. However, the circumferential positions of the two static pressure peaks practically remain constant. At large mass flow rates, the pressure reduction along the circumferential direction at the diffuser exit preclude the formation of two circumferential high static pressure strips in the diffuser and impeller.
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