Influence of the Different Design Parameters to the Centrifugal Compressor Tip Clearance Loss

In this paper the effect of the tip clearance was studied with six different centrifugal compressors and data available in literature. The changes in the overall performance of the compressor stage were examined. The aim was to study the influence of the different design parameters to the tip clearance loss. It was evident by the previous studies that the sensitivity of the centrifugal compressor to the tip clearance loss varies with different designs. However, for the designer it is important to know the effect of the tip clearance loss in order to initially evaluate the quality of different designs. Analysis of the data demonstrated that no clear correlation between the sensitivity of the tip clearance loss and the specific speed, the diffusion ratio, the blade number and the ratio of blade heights exists.