Measuring Surface Pressure on Rotating Compressor Blades Using Pressure Sensitive Paint

Pressure sensitive paint (PSP) was used to measure pressure on the blades of a radial compressor with a 51 mm inlet diameter rotating at speeds up to 50 krpm using the so called lifetime method. A diode laser with a scanning-mirror system was used to illuminate the paint and the luminescent lifetime...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Markus Pastuhoff, Nils Tillmark, P. Henrik Alfredsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2016-03-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/3/344
Description
Summary:Pressure sensitive paint (PSP) was used to measure pressure on the blades of a radial compressor with a 51 mm inlet diameter rotating at speeds up to 50 krpm using the so called lifetime method. A diode laser with a scanning-mirror system was used to illuminate the paint and the luminescent lifetime was registered using a photo multiplier. With the described technique the surface-pressure fields were acquired for eight points in the compressor map, useful for general understanding of the flow field and for CFD validation. The PSP was of so called fast type, which makes it possible to observe pressure variations with frequencies up to several kHz. Through frequency spectrum analysis we were able to detect the pulsating flow frequency when the compressor was driven to surge.
ISSN:1424-8220