The Present Challenge of Transonic Compressor Blade Design

Hergt, Alexander; Klinner, Joachim; Wellner, Jens; Willert, Christian; Grund, Sebastian; Steinert, W.; Beversdorff, Manfred

doi:10.1115/1.4043329

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…However, all major unsteady phenomena were predicted just in a narrow mass flow range near the stability limit for the large tip clearance cases (Gap 2 and Gap 3). It has been reported that induced vortex, 20 vortex breakdown, 24 self-induced unsteadiness 31 or fluctuation of shock wave 32 could be the source of unsteady flow behavior in axial compressor stages. In this section, necessary condition for the inception of the unsteadiness in the tip region of the low-reaction rotor will be discussed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of tip clearance dimension on unsteadiness in a low-reaction aspirated transonic compressor rotor

Zhu

Cai

Wang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G:

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A three-dimensional, multi-passage unsteady numerical study was conducted to enhance the understanding of unsteady flow phenomena in the tip region of highly loaded compressors. The first-stage rotor of a three-stage transonic low-reaction compressor was chosen as the computational model. Three different tip clearance sizes were calculated to demonstrate the effect of the tip clearance dimension on the unsteadiness in the rotor tip region. It was found that the unsteadiness existed at the vicinity of the stall point when the tip clearance size was larger than the design value. The unsteadiness in the tip region appeared as a “multi-passage structure” in the nine-passage unsteady simulation and it propagated along the circumferential direction. Tip leakage vortex breakdown was the source of unsteady flow behavior. Besides, special attention was paid to the difference between the conventional transonic rotor and the low-reaction rotor. The scale of the flow separation downstream of the shock wave was controllable for the low-reaction rotor even at near-stall conditions. The boundary layer would reattach to the blade surface due to local axial acceleration. Finally, attempts were made to study the stall mechanism of the low-reaction rotor.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of tip clearance dimension on unsteadiness in a low-reaction aspirated transonic compressor rotor

Zhu

Cai

Wang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G:

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“…Finally, the last source of uncertainty relates to the effects the unsteady flow might have on the measured steady performance. This is especially relevant when comparing these results to CFD-(U)RANS simulations that have been shown to not capture the nature and extent of these effects for the given application [2]. This discrepancy is recognized, though the comparison is performed because RANS remains the automatic choice for design purposes, as done for the design of the TCTA.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Experimental Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of an inherently unsteady shock structure that impacts the entire flow field, its potential strong interaction with the boundary layer, and cascade-specific operating conditions, such as choking at unique incidences [1], are just some of the possible sources of significant discrepancies that (U)RANS users need to be aware of. In practice, designers are forced to apply undesirably high design margins, as explained in recent work [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Current Gap between Design Optimization and Experiments for Transonic Compressor Blades

Munoz Lopez,

Hergt,

Ockenfels

et al. 2023

IJTPP

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The successful design of compressor blades through numerical optimization relies on accurate CFD-RANS solvers that are able to capture the general performance of a given design candidate. However, this is a difficult task to achieve in transonic flow conditions, where the flow is dominated by inherently unsteady shock effects. In order to assess the current gap between numerics and experiments, the DLR has tested the recently optimized Transonic Cascade TEAMAero at the transonic cascade wind tunnel. The tests were performed at a Mach number of 1.2 and with inflow angles between 145 and 147°. The results indicate satisfactory agreement across the expected working range, over which the cascade losses were consistently predicted within a 3–6% error. However, some key differences are observed in the details of the wake and in the performance near the endpoints of the working range. This comparison helps validate the design process but also informs its constraints based on the limitations of CFD-RANS solvers.

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“…Currently, researchers are focused on improving the performance of centrifugal compressors by optimizing blade geometry parameters such as camber, thickness, angle, and profile shape, which directly impact their aerodynamic characteristics [4]. A well-designed blade geometry can significantly enhance the efficiency of a centrifugal compressor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation on Aerodynamic Performance of a Centrifugal Compressor with Leaned and Bowed 3D Blades

Li,

Kong,

Shao

et al. 2024

Processes

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The application of centrifugal compressors is extensive in industries such as aerospace and energy. The blade is the primary factor affecting the aerodynamic performance of compressors. In this paper, the aerodynamic performance of a centrifugal compressor with leaned and bowed 3D blades is investigated. The spanwise section profiles of the blade in the circumferential direction are deflected at different angles, resulting in four compressors with distinct leaned and bowed 3D blades based on the original model. There is a significant change in isentropic efficiency of the modified models under design conditions. Specifically, models 1, 3, and 4 experienced an increase of 0.97%, 1.04%, and 0.79%, respectively, while model 2 experienced a decrease of 0.70%. The profile of the blade tip and 50% spanwise section are shifted towards the suction surface, resulting in a geometric structure where the blade is concave towards the pressure surface. This structure gradually lifts the flow from the blade root to the blade tip downstream to the outlet area of the flow channel, reducing the load on the trailing edge of the blade and making the flow more closely aligned with the blade. At the same time, the larger radial velocity gradient near the blade tip suppresses the backflow on the shroud side, making the flow at the impeller outlet more stable. The outlet velocity of the impeller is more evenly distributed along the spanwise and circumferential directions, which improves the flow at the inlet of the diffuser and enhances the efficiency of the diffuser. Due to the high spanwise height of the leading edge of the blade, this bowed blade structure has little effect on the spanwise curvature upstream of the blade, resulting in negligible influence on the flow of the upstream channel.

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The Present Challenge of Transonic Compressor Blade Design

Cited by 17 publications

References 30 publications

Effect of tip clearance dimension on unsteadiness in a low-reaction aspirated transonic compressor rotor

Effect of tip clearance dimension on unsteadiness in a low-reaction aspirated transonic compressor rotor

The Current Gap between Design Optimization and Experiments for Transonic Compressor Blades

Investigation on Aerodynamic Performance of a Centrifugal Compressor with Leaned and Bowed 3D Blades

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