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The paper describes an advanced three-dimensional blading concept for highly loaded transonic compressor stators. The concept takes advantage of the aerodynamic effects of sweep and dihedral. To the knowledge of the authors this is the first approach reported in the open literature that combines those two basic types of lean in an engine-worthy aerofoil design. The paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the endwall effect of both features with special emphasis put on sweep. The advanced three-dimensional blading concept was applied to an Engine Section Stator (ESS) of an aero-engine fan. In order to demonstrate how three-dimensional flow can be controlled, numerical analysis of the flow structure in a conventional and an advanced stator configuration was performed using a three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver. The numerical analysis showed the advanced blade improving both radial loading distribution and the three-dimensional endwall boundary layer development. In particular, a strong hub corner stall could be largely alleviated. High-speed rig testing of the advanced ESS confirmed the concept and showed good qualitative agreement between measurement and prediction. The work presented was closely linked to the development of the BR710 engine on which the advanced ESS is in service today.

This paper presents experimental investigations on a large-scale low-speed compressor facility with four repeating stages equipped with CDA-profiles (Controlled Diffusion Airfoils). Two different builds were investigated. Both builds used identical rotors, but had stators configured either in cantilevered or in shrouded form. Traverse measurements of total pressure and flow angle at six axial locations (IGV, two rotor and three stator exit planes) were performed between 1% and 99% annulus height and across two blade pitches. Circumferentially mass-averaged radial profiles were used in a through-flow code for reconstruction analysis of the measurements. In addition to the traverse measurements surface static pressures on stage 3 rotor and stator were measured. The effect of the “free-end” configuration on an embedded stage of this multistage compressor is described and compared to the shrouded configuration. The objective of this study was to investigate the differences of these two configurations and especially the effects caused by the hub clearance vortex in the cantilevered case. The entire set of measurements and through-flow analysis was performed at two operating points of the compressor i.e. at peak efficiency and near stall condition. Thus also the effects of the hub clearance vortex which influences the stall margin of the compressor are described. The analysis of the results shows slightly higher pressure rise coefficients for shrouded stators, but slightly higher stall margin in the cantilevered case. This is due to a stabilizing effect of the hub clearance vortex (cleans up separation on hub) in the cantilevered configuration because its direction is opposite to the secondary flow in the passage.

The paper describes an advanced 3D blading concept for highly-loaded transonic compressor stators. The concept takes advantage of the aerodynamic effects of sweep and dihedral. To the knowledge of the authors this is the first approach reported in open literature that combines those two basic types of lean in an engine-worthy aerofoil design. The paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the endwall effect of both features with special emphasis put on sweep. The advanced 3D blading concept was applied to an Engine Section Stator (ESS) of an aero-engine fan. In order to demonstrate how three-dimensional flow can be controlled, numerical analysis of the flow structure in a conventional and an advanced stator configuration was performed using a 3D-Navier-Stokes solver. The numerical analysis showed the advanced blade improving the radial loading distribution as well as the three-dimensional endwall boundary layer development. In particular a strong hub corner stall could be largely alleviated. High-speed rig testing of the advanced ESS confirmed the concept and showed good qualitative agreement between measurement and prediction. The work presented was closely linked to the development the BR710 engine on which the advanced ESS is in service today.

The performance of an axial compressor with either shrouded or cantilevered stators has been analyzed. The two configurations have been compared both at design and near stall operating conditions, with the aid of CFD and experimental measurements. Results show that shrouded or cantilevered stators impact differently on the overall performance of the tested compressor. A higher stall margin occurs with the cantilevered build, while the work coefficient and the efficiency of the shrouded build at design conditions are higher. An overall comparison of the shrouded and cantilevered design concepts has been carried out, not only in aerodynamic but also in economic terms.