Topological analysis of plasma flow control on corner separation in a highly loaded compressor cascade

In this paper, flow behavior and topology structure in a highly loaded compressor cascade with and without plasma aerodynamic actuation （PAA） are investigated. Streamline pattern, total pressure loss coefficient, outlet flow angle and topological analysis are considered to study the effect and mechanism of the plasma flow control on corner separation. Results presented include the boundary layer flow behavior, effects of three types of PAA on separated flows and performance parameters, topology structures and sequences of singular points with and without PAA. Two separation lines, reversed flow and backflow exist on the suction surface. The cross flow on the endwall is an important element for the comer separation. PAA can reduce the undertuming and overturning as well as the total pressure loss, leading to an overall increase of flow turning and enhancement of aerodynamic performance. PAA can change the topology structure, sequences of singular points and their corresponding separation lines. Types II and III PAA are much more efficient in controlling comer separation and enhancing aerodynamic performances than type I.

Effects of Plasma Aerodynamic Actuation on Corner Separation in a Highly Loaded Compressor Cascade

This paper reports experimental results on the effects of plasma aerodynamic actua- tion （PAA） on corner separation control in a highly loaded, low speed, linear compressor cascade. Total pressure loss coefficient distribution was adopted to evaluate the corner separation control effect in wind tunnel experiments. Results of pressure measurements and particle image velocime- try （PIV） show that the control effect of pitch-wise PAA on the endwall is much better than that of stream-wise PAA on the suction surface. When both the pitch-wise PAA on the endwall and stream-wise PAA on the suction surface are turned on simultaneously, the control effect is the best among all three PAA types. The mechanisms of nanosecond discharge and microsecond discharge PAA are different in corner separation control. The control effect of microsecond discharge PAA turns out better with the increase of discharge voltage and duty cycle. Compared with microsec- ond discharge PAA, nanosecond discharge PAA is more effective in preventing corner separation when the freestream velocity increases. Frequency is one of the most important parameters in plasma flow control. The optimum excitation frequency of microsecond discharge PAA is 500 Hz, which is different from the frequency corresponding to the case with a Strouhal number of unity.

Effects of Vortex Generator Jet on Corner Separation/Stall in High-Turning Compressor Cascade

The effects of the vortex generator jet(VGJ)attached at the endwall on the corner separation/stall control are investigated by numerical simulation in a high-turning linear compressor cascade. The results show that the corner separation could be reduced significantly, which results in a wider operation range as well as a more uniform exit flow angle and total pressure profile. At the near-stall operation point, the maximum relative reduction of the total pressure loss is up to 32.5%,, whereas the jet mass ratio is less than 0.4%,. Based on the analysis of the detailed flow structure, three principal effects of the VGJ on the endwall cross flow and corner separation are identified. One is to increase the tangential velocity component opposite to cross flow, thus inhibiting the endwall secondary flow near the jet exit. The second is to suppress the pitchwise extension of the passage vortex as an air fence. The third is to sweep the low energy fluids towards the mainstream on the up-washed side and to transport the mainstream fluids to the endwall to reenergize the boundary layer on the down-washed side.

Investigation of control effects of end-wall selfadaptive jet on three-dimensional corner separation of a highly loaded compressor cascade

To overcome the limitations posed by three-dimensional corner separation,this paper proposes a novel flow control technology known as passive End-Wall(EW)self-adaptive jet.Two single EW slotted schemes(EWS1 and EWS2),alongside a combined(COM)scheme featuring double EW slots,were investigated.The results reveal that the EW slot,driven by pressure differentials between the pressure and suction sides,can generate an adaptive jet with escalating velocity as the operational load increases.This high-speed jet effectively re-excites the local low-energy fluid,thereby mitigating the corner separation.Notably,the EWS1 slot,positioned near the blade leading edge,exhibits relatively low jet velocities at negative incidence angles,causing jet separation and exacerbating the corner separation.Besides,the EWS2 slot is close to the blade trailing edge,resulting in massive low-energy fluid accumulating and separating before the slot outlet at positive incidence angles.In contrast,the COM scheme emerges as the most effective solution for comprehensive corner separation control.It can significantly reduce the total pressure loss and improve the static pressure coefficient for the ORI blade at 0°-4° incidence angles,while causing minimal negative impact on the aerodynamic performance at negative incidence angles.Therefore,the corner stall is delayed,and the available incidence angle range is broadened from -10°--2°to -10°-4°.This holds substantial promise for advancing the aerodynamic performance,operational stability,and load capacity of future highly loaded compressors.

Experimental study of corner separation and unsteady characteristics in linear compressor cascades with and without sweeping jet actuator

Sweeping jet actuator(SJA)has been widely applied for activeflow control in openflows.In this paper,the SJA character in compressor cascade and its performance for separation control in innerflows are discussed.Time-averaged and transientflowfield measurement,together with visualization methods are utilized.It is found that endwall effects are important for both SJA behaviors and SJA performance for separation control in compressor cascades.There is a maximum of 12.7%total pressure loss reduction with SJA placed near the separation position,close to the endwall and under appropriateflowrate.The characteristic frequencies in theflowfield contribute to the capture of influence regions of vortices and excitation jets.Two concentrated shedding vortices and SJA jets impact region helped to judge that SJA energizes low momentumfluids in a large region and matches the high loss core well.To be concrete,theflow separation control mechanism of SJA lies on the interruption of the blade suction surface boundary layer development and the restriction of the lifting of the boundary layer from end-wall towards blade suction surface.

Numerical Study of Co-flow Jet Control on Corner Separation in Compressor Cascade

The design objectives of modern aircraft engines include high load capacity,efficiency,and stability.With increasing loads,the phenomenon of corner separation in compressors intensifies,affecting engine performance and stability.Therefore,the adoption of appropriate flow control technology holds significant academic and engineering significance.This study employs the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)method to investigate the effects and mechanisms of active/passive Co-flow Jet(CFJ)control,implemented by introducing full-height and partial height jet slots between the suction surface and end wall of a compressor cascade.The results indicate that passive CFJ control significantly reduces the impact of corner separation at small incidence,with partial-height control further enhancing the effectiveness.The introduction of active CFJ enables separation control at large incidence,improving blade performance under different operating conditions.Active control achieves this by reducing the scale of corner separation vortices,effectively reducing the size of the separation region and enhancing blade performance.

Numerical investigation on the mechanism of impeller hub corner separation flow and induced energy loss in the bulb tubular pump

Impeller hub corner separation flow(IHCS)has a significant influence on energy conversion of the bulb tubular pump,and its unsteady characteristics are investigated with CFD-based method.The generation mechanism and power loss characteristics of IHCS are investigated by the entropy production method and pressure fluctuation analysis.The main cause can be attributed to the large transverse pressure gradient near the hub at the trailing edge of the impeller,which is aggravated by the circumferential movement trend and the diffuser reverse flow,while the IHCS is significantly weakened with increased flow rate.The undesirable flow behavior is more likely to cause a significant increase in energy loss near the hub region compared to that in the rim region.The relative vortex stretching induced by the velocity gradient is the main cause of the horn-like vortex(HLV),and its intensity and resulting energy loss tend to decrease along the vortex trajectory.The HLV changes the dominant frequency of the pressure fluctuations in the nearby flow field,the value of which increases from 1fr(the blade passing frequency)to 2fr with increased amplitude,mainly due to the lower pressure regions on the impeller suction surface(SS)and HLV vortex core.Due to the effect of rotor-stator interaction(RSI),the HLVs generated between two adjacent impeller blades are cut into several sections by the diffuser vanes and propagate and dissipate along the mainstream direction.

Influence of Cavity Leakage flow on Corner Separation in a Shrouded Stator Cascade

The impacts of the cavity leakage flow on the shrouded stator aerodynamic performance were investigated by modelling the annular cascade mainstream with the seal cavity flow path based on the validated numerical method.Meanwhile,the interactions between the cavity leakage and the mainstream were also determined in the current study.The development of hub corner separation under the action of leakage was discussed and the total pressure loss coefficient as well as the entropy-based loss coefficient was employed to evaluate the performance changes at different seal clearances and cavity rotational speeds.The results show that the cavity leakage flow induces a new vortex near the blade leading edge and plays an important role in the development of passage vortex and the size of concentrated shedding vortex.By increasing the seal clearance with more cavity leakage flow rate,an increase in the pitchwise extent of the separation region under 15%span is significant and the total pressure loss in the separation core increases.In addition,with the increase of cavity rotating speed,the starting point of corner separation moves backward,reducing the size and depth of the hub corner separation.The mainstream loss reduction in combination with the entropy increase in the seal cavity causes the entropy-based loss coefficient to perform a trend of decreasing first and then increasing with the cavity speed.

Numerical study of corner separation in a linear compressor cascade using various turbulence models

Three-dimensional corner separation is a common phenomenon that significantly affects compressor performance. Turbulence model is still a weakness for RANS method on predicting corner separation flow accurately. In the present study, numerical study of corner separation in a linear highly loaded prescribed velocity distribution （PVD） compressor cascade has been investigated using seven frequently used turbulence models. The seven turbulence models include Spalart Allmaras model, standard k-e model, realizable k-e model, standard k-to model, shear stress transport k co model, v2-fmodel and Reynolds stress model. The results of these turbulence models have been compared and analyzed in detail with available experimental data. It is found the standard k-1： model, realizable k-e model, v2-f model and Reynolds stress model can provide reasonable results for predicting three dimensional corner separation in the compressor cascade. The Spalart-Allmaras model, standard k-to model and shear stress transport k-w model overesti- mate corner separation region at incidence of 0°. The turbulence characteristics are discussed and turbulence anisotropy is observed to be stronger in the corner separating region.

Modified k-ω model using kinematic vorticity for corner separation in compressor cascades

A new method of modifying the conventional k-w turbulence model for comer separation is proposed in this paper. The production term in the w equation is modified using kinematic vorticity considering fluid rotation and deformation in complex geometric boundary conditions. The corner separation flow in linear compressor cascades is calculated using the original k-w model, the modified k-w model and the Reynolds stress model （RSM）. The numerical results of the modified model are compared with the available experimental data, as well as the corresponding results of the original k-w model and RSM. In terms of accuracy, the modified model, which significantly improves the performance of the original k-w model for predicting comer separation, is quite competitive with the RSM. However, the modified model, which has considerably lower computational cost is more robust than the RSM.

Temporal Behaviour of a Corner Separation in a Radial Vaned Diffuser of a Centrifugal Compressor Operating near Surge

The temporal behaviour of a flow separation in the hub-suction side comer of a transonic diffuser is studied thanks to unsteady numerical simulations based on the phase-lagged approach. The validity of the numerical re- sults is confn＇med by comparison with experimental unsteady pressure measurements. An analysis of the instan- taneous skin-friction pattern and particles trajectories is presented. It highlights the topology of the separation and its temporal behaviour. The major result is that, despite of a highly time-dependent core flow, the separation is found to be a ＂fixed unsteady separation＂ characterized by a fixed location of the main saddle of the separation but an extent of the stall region modulated by the pressure waves induced by the impeller-diffuser interaction.

Numerical Study of Dual Sweeping Jet Actuators for Corner Separation Control in Compressor Cascade

Unsteady behaviors are important issues in flow control of turbomachinery.Pulsed excitation or suction is widely investigated in compressor cascades.This paper presents a discussion on the unsteady flow control realized by dual sweeping jet actuator(SJA)located on the blade suction surface.The unsteady numerical simulations were utilized to study the effect of applying dual SJAs on controlling the corner separation.With the numerical results,the following conclusions could be drawn with current compressor cascade.A maximum total pressure loss coefficient reduction of 6.8%was obtained.The analysis of the flow field pointed out that the regulation mechanisms of the corner separation were different with each SJA.The SJA ahead achieved an interruption of the suction side boundary layer development and the rear SJA enhanced the interaction and entrainment between the excitation stream and the secondary flows.Meanwhile,the different unsteadiness structures of the flow field frequency spectrum compared with single SJA cases were identified.The first peak frequency corresponded to the difference of the two SJAs and the rest frequencies could be regulated to a base frequency and its harmonic frequencies.

Parameter study on numerical simulation of corner separation in LMFA-NACA65 linear compressor cascade

Large-eddy simulation（LES） is compared with experiment and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes（RANS）, and LES is shown to be superior to RANS in reproducing corner separation in the LMFA-NACA65 linear compressor cascade, in terms of surface limiting streamlines,blade pressure coefficient, total pressure losses and blade suction side boundary layer profiles. However, LES is too expensive to conduct an influencing parameter study of the corner separation.RANS approach, despite over-predicting the corner separation, gives reasonable descriptions of the corner separated flow, and is thus selected to conduct a parametric study in this paper. Two kinds of influencing parameters on corner separation, numerical and physical parameters, are analyzed and discussed： second order spatial scheme is necessary for a RANS simulation; incidence angle and inflow boundary layer thickness are found to show the most significant influences on the corner separation among the parameters studied; unsteady RANS with the imposed inflow unsteadiness（inflow angle varying sinusoidally with fluctuating amplitude of 0.92°） does not show any non-linear effect on the corner separation.

Corner Separations around a NACA65 Blade in a Decelerating Flow (Experimental Investigations by Five-Hole Probe and PIV)

In order to examine the fundamental characteristics of corner separation in a decelerating cascade flow,the experimental apparatus was made and separations around a NACA65 blade in a decelerating channel flow were examined.Two-dimensional calculations show that the NACA65 cascade flow that has 45 deg.of turning,1.24 of solidity and 17 deg.of stagger angle is equivalent to the channel flow that has 14 deg.of stagger angle in terms of pitchwise blade force.Experimental investigation by five-hole probe shows that the accumulations of low energy fluid can be seen around the corner part and the overturning flow due to the secondary flow exists.And,as the periodicity of the blade wake in a pitchwise direction is comparably good,the wake of this channel flow is similar to the wake of the cascade flow for two pitch portion.PIV measurement results shows that a vortex pattern can be seen in the momentary streamline on the suction surface of the blade and in the averaged streamline on the perpendicular to both the suction surface and the endwall.

Influence of Endwall Air Injection with Discrete Holes on Corner Separation of a Compressor Cascade

The aim of this study is to reveal the influence mechanism of endwall air injection with distributed holes on the corner separation of a highly loaded compressor cascade,so as to promote the application of injection in aero-engines.Single-hole and double-hole endwall injection schemes featuring different axial locations,pitchwise locations,injection mass rates and injection directions,were designed and investigated.Results showed that the corner separation was eliminated by endwall injection;the optimal single-hole injection scheme achieved an endwall loss coefficient reduction of 29.7%,with injection coefficient as low as 0.48%.The optimal axial location of single-hole endwall injection was at 82%axial chord,being the center of corner separation.However,as injection hole was located at upstream of it,endwall injection resulted in severer corner separation.The mid-span flow field was deteriorated after endwall injection,which was due to 3D flow effects,i.e.,AVDR(axial velocity density ratio)effect and low-momentum fluid spanwise migration effect.The optimal injection was achieved at low injection angle and from close to the suction surface on pitchwise.Double-hole injection exhibited inferior performance compared with single-hole,which was due to the interaction of the two injection streams and mixing of injection streams with the bulk stream.

Flow Field Improvement by Bowed Stator Stages in a Compressor with Different Axial Gaps Under Near Stall Condition

The outlet flow fields of a low-speed repeating-stage compressor with bowed stator stages are measured with five-hole probe under the near stall condition when the rotor/stator axial gap varies. The performances of the straight stator stages are investigated and compared to those of the bowed stator stages. The results show that using bowed stator stages could alleviate the flow separation at both upper and low corners of the suction surface and the endwalls, and decrease the losses along the flow passage as well as the outlet flow angle. As the rotor/stator axial gap decreases, although the diffusion capacity of the compressor increases obviously, the outlet flow field in the straight stator stages deteriorates quickly. By contrast, little changes occur in the bowed stator stages, indicating that as the rotor/stator axial gap decreases, improved performance is achieved in the bowed stator stages.

In uence of Endwall Boundary Layer Suction on the Flow Fields of a Critically Loaded Di usion Cascade

Boundary layer suction is an e ective method used to delay separations in axial compressors. Most studies on bound?ary layer suction have focused on improving the performance of compressors,whereas few studies investigated the influence on details of the flow fields,especially vortexes in compressors. CFD method is validated with experi?mental data firstly. Three single?slot and one double?slot endwall boundary layer suction schemes are designed and investigated. In addition to the investigation of aerodynamic performance of the cascades with and without suction,variations in corner open separation,passage vortex,and concentration shedding vortex,which are rarely seen for the flow controlled blades in published literatures,are analyzed. Then,flow models,which are the ultimate aim,of both baseline and aspirated cascades are established. Results show that single?slot endwall suction scheme adjacent to the suction surface can e ectively remove the corner open separation. With suction mass flow rate of 0.85%,the overall loss coe cient and endwall loss coe cient of the cascade are reduced by 25.2% and 48.6%,respectively. Besides,this scheme increases the static pressure rise coe cient of the cascade by 3.2% and the flow turning angle of up to 3.3° at 90% span. The concentration shedding vortex decreases,whereas the passage vortex increases. For single?slot suction schemes near the middle pitchwise of the passage,the concentration shedding vortex increases and the passage vortex is divided into two smaller passage vortexes,which converge into a single?passage vortex near the trailing edge section of the cascade. For the double?slot suction scheme,triple?passage vortexes are presented in the blade passage. Some new vortex structures are discovered,and the novel flow models of aspirated compressor cascade are proposed,which are important to improve the design of multi?stage aspirated compressors.

Prediction of Hub Corner Stall Characteristics of a Highly Loaded Low Speed Single Stage Fan

In this paper a numerical investigation has been presented on the stall mechanism of a highly loaded Single Stage Low Speed Fan designed for the research test facility to be installed at North Western Polytechnic University (NWPU) Xi’an, China. The results presented are for the design point, near stall and just stall operating conditions at design speed. Design point studies have been found to be an indicative of stall area. Unsteady method of domain scaling has been used to compute the results at near stall and just stall conditions. It has been found that unlike the conventional tip leakage flow of the rotor, stator hub section is mainly responsible for the stall of the fan. The flow mechanism has been discussed with correlation to the design variables and previous investigations. Commercial CFD code NUMECA FINE/Turbo has been used for computations; results have been compared with results obtained from commercial CFD code ANSYS-CFX. The loss prediction of latter code is conservative than the former. The stall mechanism predicted by both codes is analogous.

A three-dimensional inverse method based on moving no-slip boundary for profiled end wall design

How to utilize existing flow control mechanisms to make profiled end wall design more flexible,efficient,and physical is a meaningful challenge.This study presents a three-dimensional inverse method for profiled end wall design to achieve the application of flow control mechanisms.The predetermined pressure distribution on the end wall is reached by modifying the end wall geometry during flow field calculation.A motion velocity model is derived from the normal momentum equation of the moving no-slip boundary to modify the end wall geometry.A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)solver based on the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations(SIMPLE)algorithm is adopted to simulate the flow field.Based on the mechanism understanding obtained through numerical optimization results,this study adopts the inverse method to redesign an optimized end wall in a compressor cascade.The results indicate that the redesigned end wall exhibits better loss reduction,reducing the overall total pressure loss by 5.5%,whereas the optimized end wall reduces it by 3%.The inverse method allows the imposition of desired influences on the end wall flow without constructing a database,making it highly flexible,efficient,and physical.

Flow Analysis of Tandem Blades as the Outlet Vane of a Highly Loaded Compressor

A tandem blade configuration is a significant flow control method that delays the onset of flow separation.This study numerically investigates the effects of diffusion factor and percentage pitch on the flow structure of tandem blades.Diffusion factors vary from 0.328 to 0.484.Percentage pitches change from 0.80 to 0.92.Results show that the loss coefficient increases with diffusion factor and decreases with percentage pitch.There is a hub-corner stall of the forward blade in all cases.Gap flow determines the rear blade corner separation.Varying the percentage pitch and diffusion factor changes the momentum distribution of the gap flow.Corner separation of the rear blade is inhibited as low-momentum gap fluids are involved in the passage vortex along with the hub-corner stall of the forward blade.Increasing diffusion factor causes a change in incidence at the leading edge of the rear blade,resulting in a variation at the corner separation of the rear blade.A tandem blade is compared with the reference outlet vane.The performance of the tandem blade is superior to that of the reference outlet vane in all incidences,with a 26.35%reduction in the loss coefficient and a 7.89%enhancement in the pressurization at the designed incidence.Tandem blades stall at positive incidence because of the hub-corner stall of the forward blade.The intensity of the gap flow increases with incidence,preventing corner separation of the rear blade at positive incidences.