The control of tip leakage flow through the clearance gap between the moving and stationary components of rotating machines is still a high-leverage area for improvement of stability and performance of aircraft engines. Losses in the form of flow separation, stall, and reduced rotor work efficiency are results of the tip leakage vortex (TLV) generated by interaction of the main flow and the tip leakage jet induced by the blade pressure difference. The effects are more detrimental in transonic compressors due to the interaction of shock TLV. It has been previously shown that the use of slots and grooves in the casing over tip of the compressor blades, known as casing treatment, can substantially increase the stable flow range and therefore the safety of the system but generally with some efficiency penalties. This paper presents a numerical parametric study of tip clearance coupled with casing treatment for a transonic axial-flow compressor NASA Rotor 37. Compressor characteristics have been compared to the experimental results for smooth casing with a 0.356 mm tip clearance and show fairly good agreement. Casing treatments were found to be an effective means of reducing the negative effects of tip gap flow and vortex, resulting in improved performance and stability. The present work provides guidelines for improvement of steady-state performance of the transonic axial-flow compressors and improvement of the stable operating range of the system.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
transonic flow, flow separation, flow instability, rotors, jets, vortices, aerodynamics, confined flow
Topics:
Blades, Clearances (Engineering), Compressors, Flow (Dynamics), Pressure, Rotors, Stability, Vortices, NASA
1.
Smith
,
G. D. J.
, and
Cumpsty
,
N. A.
,
1984
, “
Flow Phenomena in Compressor Casing Treatment
,”
ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
,
106
, pp.
532
–
541
.
2.
Wisler
,
D. C.
,
1985
, “
Loss Reduction in Axial Flow Compressors through Low-Speed Model Testing
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
107
, pp.
354
–
363
.
3.
Suder
,
K. L.
, and
Celestina
,
M. L.
,
1996
, “
Experimental and Computational Investigation of the Tip Clearance Flow in a Transonic Axial Compressor Rotor
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
118
, pp.
218
–
229
.
4.
Adamczyk
,
J. J.
,
Celestina
,
M. L.
, and
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1993
, “
The Role of Tip Clearance in High-Speed Fan stall
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
115
, pp.
28
–
39
.
5.
Prince, D. C., Jr., Wisler, D. D. and Hivers, D. E., 1974, “Study of Casing treatment stall Margin Improvement,” NASA CR-134552.
6.
Takata
,
H.
, and
Tsukuda
,
Y.
,
1977
, “
Stall Margin Improvement by Casing Treatment—Its Mechanism and Effectiveness
,”
ASME J. Eng. Power
,
99
, pp.
121
–
133
.
7.
Goto, A., and Katsumata, T., 1998, “Turbomachine,” United State Patent Application, U.S. Serial No. 5,707,206, 1998.
8.
Barnett, M., Graf, M., Raw, J. A., Sharma, O., and Sprout, W. D., 2003, “Casing Treatment for a Fluid Compressor,” United State Patent Application, U.S. Serial No. 6,619,909, 2003.
9.
Koff, C. S., Nikkanen, J. P., and Mazzawy, R. S., 1994, “Rotor Case Treatment,” United State Patent Application, U.S. Serial No. 5,308,225, 1994.
10.
Suder
,
K. L.
,
Hathaway
,
M. D.
,
Thorp
,
S. A.
,
Strazisar
,
A. J.
, and
Bright
,
M. B.
,
2001
, “
Compressor Stability Enhancement Using Discrete Tip Injection
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
123
, pp.
14
–
23
.
11.
Crook
,
A. J.
,
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
Tan
,
C. S.
, and
Adamczyk
,
J. J.
,
1993
, “
Numerical Simulation of Compressor Endwall and Casing Treatment Flow Phenomena
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
115
, pp.
501
–
511
.
12.
Thompson
,
D. W.
,
King
,
P. I.
, and
Rabe
,
D. C.
,
1998
, “
Experimental Investigation of Stepped Tip Gap Effects on the Performance of a Transonic Axial-Flow Compressor Rotor
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
120
, pp.
477
–
486
.
13.
Thompson, D. W., King, P. I., Hah, C., and Rabe, D. C., 1998, “Experimental and Computational Investigation of Stepped Tip Gap Effects on the Flowfield of a Transonic Axial-Flow Compressor Rotor,” ASME paper no. 98-GT-90.
14.
Yang, H., 2003, “Unsteady Flow Simulation of a Transonic Compressor Coupled with Casing Treatment,” The Eleventh Annual Conference of the CFD Society of Canada, May 2003, Vancouver, Canada.
15.
Dunham, J., 1998, “CFD Validation for Propulsion System Components,” AGARD Advisory Report 355, ISBN 92-836-1075-X.
16.
Beheshti, B. H., Teixeira, J. A., Ivey, P. C., Farhanieh, B., and Ghorbanian, K., 2003, “Study of Small Scale Casing Treatment on the Performance of Axial Transonic Compressors,” IMechE Conference, London, UK.
17.
Anderson, D. A., Tannehill, J. C., and Pletcher, R. H., 1984, “Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Computational Methods in Mechanics and Thermal Sciences,” Taylor and Francis, Bristol, PA.
18.
Cebeci, T., and Smith, A. M. O., 1974, “Anaylsis of Turbulent Boundary Layers,” Academic Press, New York.
19.
Dalbert, P., and Wiss, D. H., 1995, “Numerical Transonic Flow Field Prediction for NASA Compressor Rotor 37,” ASME paper no. 95-GT-326.
20.
Chima, R. V., 1996, “Calculation of Tip Clearance Effects in a Transonic Compressor Rotor,” ASME paper no. 96-GT-114.
21.
Arnone, A., Carnevale, E., and Marconcini, M., 1997, “Grid Dependency Study for the NASA Rotor 37 Compressor Blade,” ASME paper no. 97-GT-384.
22.
Weigl
,
H. J.
,
Paduano
,
J. D.
,
Frechette
,
J. D.
,
Epstein
,
A. H.
,
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
Bright
,
M. M.
, and
Strazisar
,
A. J.
,
1998
, “
Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall and Surge in a Transonic Single-Stage Axial Compressor
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
120
, pp.
625
–
636
.
23.
Suder, K. L., 1996, “Blockage Development in a Transonic, Axial Compressor Rotor,” ASME paper no. 96-GT-394.
Copyright © 2004
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.