The influence of two stacking lines, namely sweep and dihedral, has been investigated in a linear compressor cascade. Both types of blade considered are symmetric about midspan and consist of a straight central section with either swept or dihedral sections toward the endwalls. Two types of experiment have been carried out. First, a parametric study was performed by changing both the magnitude and the extent of the sweep or dihedral. In the case of swept blades, those with forward sweep (SWF), for which the stacking line is swept in the upstream direction toward the endwall, were found to have better performance than backward-swept blades. Subsequently, four sets of SWFs were compared. In the case of dihedral blades, it is well known that the dihedral is advantageous when the angle between the suction surface and the endwall is obtuse, i.e., positive dihedral. Thus, four sets of positive dihedral blades (DHP) were compared. In both SWF and DHP blades, those configurations that have better efficiency than straight blades were determined. Second, detailed three-dimensional measurements inside the blade passage were performed in the cases that showed the best performance in the parametric study. Both SWF and DHP showed significant effects on the flowfield. In the SWF case, a vortex, which has the opposite sense to the passage vortex, was observed in the forward portion inside the blade passage. This vortex supplies high-energy fluid to the endwall region and reduces the corner stall. The secondary flow is greatly reduced. In the DHP, the blade loading was reduced at the endwall and increased at the midspan. Reduction of the corner stall and the secondary flow was also observed.

In this paper we present the results of a detailed experimental study of the development of small rotating stall, as it appears in a one stage axial compressor. Stationary hot-wire probes are used to measure the variation of amplitude and propagation speed of the disturbances caused by small stall. Measurements near the rotor blade surface with rotating probes provide additional information on the nature of the phenomenon. The development of the cell pattern for different operating conditions is studied. The different character from what is known as “big stall” is demonstrated.

No abstract

The influence of two stacking lines, namely sweep and dihedral, has been investigated in a linear compressor cascade. Both types of blades considered are symmetrical about midspan and consist of a straight central section with either swept or dihedral sections towards the endwalls. Two types of experiments have been carried out. Firstly, a parametric study was performed by changing both the magnitude and the extent of the sweep or dihedral. In the case of swept blades, those with forward sweep (SWF), for which the stacking line is swept in the upstream direction towards the endwall, were found to have better performance than backward swept blades. Subsequently, four sets of SWFs were compared. In the case of dihedral blades, it is well-known that the dihedral is advantageous when the angle between the suction surface and the endwall is obtuse, i.e. positive dihedral. Thus, four sets of positive dihedral blades (DHP) were compared. In both SWF and DHP blades, those configurations which have better efficiency than straight blades were determined. Secondly, detailed three-dimensional measurements inside the blade passage were performed in the cases which showed the best performance in the parametric study. Both SWF and DHP showed significant effects on the flowfield. In the SWF case, a vortex, which has the opposite sense to the passage vortex, was observed in the forward portion inside the blade passage. This vortex supplies high-energy fluid to the endwall region and reduces the corner stall. The secondary flow is greatly reduced. In the DHP, the blade loading was reduced at the endwall and increased at the midspan. Also reduction of the corner stall and the secondary flow was observed.

The study of turbomachinery flow fields requires detailed experimental data. The rotating parts of turbomachines greatly limit the measurement techniques that can be used. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) appears to be a suitable tool to investigate the blade-to-blade flow in a rotor. The facility is a subsonic axial-flow compressor. The experimental apparatus enables the recording of a double-exposed photograph in a circumferential plane located at 85 percent of the blade height. The illumination plane has an axial direction and is provided by a pulsed ruby laser. The tracers used are submicron glycerine oil droplets. Data are processed by Young’s fringes method. Measurements were performed at 3000, 4500, and 6000 rpm with velocities in the range of 30 to 70 m/s. Steady operating conditions are chosen in such a way that the effect of radial velocity on PIV measurements can be neglected. Experimental problems encountered included homogeneous seeding of the flow field and laser light scattering from blade surfaces. The uncertainty affecting the velocity determination corresponds to 2 percent of the measured value. For a given set of operating conditions, 10 PIV pictures are recorded. The periodic flow field is approximated by averaging the experimental data point by point. Upstream and downstream velocity triangles are confirmed by measurements obtained from pressure probes. PIV measurement results were found to be similar to those of a blade-to-blade potential-flow calculation.