Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds

A transonic centrifugal compressor with a ruled-impeller (that is, impeller blades are generated by a set of points swept by a moving straight line) was used as the baseline, and the impeller blades were redesigned using non-ruled surfaces (referred to as the ‘free-form impeller’) in this study to r...

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Main Authors: Zi-liang Li, Xin-gen Lu, Ge Han, Jun-qiang Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-12-01
Series:Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19942060.2022.2111364
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author Zi-liang Li
Xin-gen Lu
Ge Han
Jun-qiang Zhu
author_facet Zi-liang Li
Xin-gen Lu
Ge Han
Jun-qiang Zhu
author_sort Zi-liang Li
collection DOAJ
description A transonic centrifugal compressor with a ruled-impeller (that is, impeller blades are generated by a set of points swept by a moving straight line) was used as the baseline, and the impeller blades were redesigned using non-ruled surfaces (referred to as the ‘free-form impeller’) in this study to reveal the potential of this design approach to improve the performance of high-pressure-ratio centrifugal compressors. By using the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, the performance characteristic and the flow field inside the impeller and diffuser of the baseline compressor and the free-form one were comparatively analyzed in detail. The results show that the free-form impeller design can improve the performance of the compressor in many aspects no matter at design or off-design speeds. The barreled-sweep inducer can reduce the losses from the shock wave at design speed and extend the compressor stable operating range at off-design speeds. The positive compound-lean impeller blades can suppress the reverse flow at impeller outlet. The flow downstream of the free-form impeller was also improved due to a more uniform outlet flow field provided by it at. This study aims to provide a valuable reference for applying free-form design methods to future advanced centrifugal compressors.
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spelling doaj.art-401f8f619fd7495abbb6cf95d1d31e0b2022-12-22T03:47:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEngineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics1994-20601997-003X2022-12-011611739176010.1080/19942060.2022.2111364Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speedsZi-liang Li0Xin-gen Lu1Ge Han2Jun-qiang Zhu3Key Laboratory of Light-duty Gas-turbine/Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Light-duty Gas-turbine/Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Light-duty Gas-turbine/Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Light-duty Gas-turbine/Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaA transonic centrifugal compressor with a ruled-impeller (that is, impeller blades are generated by a set of points swept by a moving straight line) was used as the baseline, and the impeller blades were redesigned using non-ruled surfaces (referred to as the ‘free-form impeller’) in this study to reveal the potential of this design approach to improve the performance of high-pressure-ratio centrifugal compressors. By using the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, the performance characteristic and the flow field inside the impeller and diffuser of the baseline compressor and the free-form one were comparatively analyzed in detail. The results show that the free-form impeller design can improve the performance of the compressor in many aspects no matter at design or off-design speeds. The barreled-sweep inducer can reduce the losses from the shock wave at design speed and extend the compressor stable operating range at off-design speeds. The positive compound-lean impeller blades can suppress the reverse flow at impeller outlet. The flow downstream of the free-form impeller was also improved due to a more uniform outlet flow field provided by it at. This study aims to provide a valuable reference for applying free-form design methods to future advanced centrifugal compressors.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19942060.2022.2111364Transonic free-form impellerflow loss analysisleading edge sweepcompound-lean bladesecondary flowflow control
spellingShingle Zi-liang Li
Xin-gen Lu
Ge Han
Jun-qiang Zhu
Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics
Transonic free-form impeller
flow loss analysis
leading edge sweep
compound-lean blade
secondary flow
flow control
title Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
title_full Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
title_fullStr Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
title_full_unstemmed Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
title_short Investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free-form impeller at design and off-design speeds
title_sort investigation on flow mechanism of an advanced transonic centrifugal compressor with free form impeller at design and off design speeds
topic Transonic free-form impeller
flow loss analysis
leading edge sweep
compound-lean blade
secondary flow
flow control
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19942060.2022.2111364
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