Aerodynamic Analysis and Three-Dimensional Redesign of a Multi-Stage Axial Flow Compressor

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 4; p. 296
• Main Authors: Ning, Tao, Gu, Chun-Wei, Ni, Wei-Dou, Li, Xiao-Tang, Liu, Tai-Qiu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 01.04.2016
• Subjects: axial compressor; bow; multi-stage; re-camber; re-solidity; stator
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en9040296

This paper describes the introduction of three-dimension (3-D) blade designs into a 5-stage axial compressor with multi-stage computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods. Prior to a redesign, a validation study is conducted for the overall performance and flow details based on full-scale test data, proving that the multi-stage CFD applied is a relatively reliable tool for the analysis of the follow-up redesign. Furthermore, at the near stall point, the aerodynamic analysis demonstrates that significant separation exists in the last stator, leading to the aerodynamic redesign, which is the focus of the last stator. Multi-stage CFD methods are applied throughout the three-dimensional redesign process for the last stator to explore their aerodynamic improvement potential. An unconventional asymmetric bow configuration incorporated with leading edge re-camber and re-solidity is employed to reduce the high loss region dominated by the mainstream. The final redesigned version produces a 13% increase in the stall margin while maintaining the efficiency at the design point.