Inter-Compressor Annular S-duct Simulations using the Lattice Boltzmann Method

Abstract

The present study focuses on the analysis of an annular S-duct, with or without surrounding compressor stages, using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) implemented within the ProLB solver. Comparisons are made between the LBM results, RANS computations and experimental measurements on a representative S-duct taken from the European project AIDA. Several cases of increasing complexity are considered where the different rows surrounding the duct are gradually included in the computations. The goal is to evaluate the capability of the LBM to recover the aerodynamic behaviour and the total pressure loss evolution within the Duct. The case where the upstream stator row or the full Low Pressure Compressor (LPC) stage are integrated show an increase in total pressure loss as expected by the literature and also a more developed flow field with complex flow features that contribute to the loss generation.