Title: Effects of stator clocking on unsteady rotor loading in a low-speed centrifugal compressor

Authors: Hua Jiang; Wu Qi Gong; Guang Xi

Addresses: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xian Ning Road No. 28, Xi'an, 710049, China; School of Energy, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, China ' School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xian Ning Road No. 28, Xi'an, 710049, China ' School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xian Ning Road No. 28, Xi'an, 710049, China

Abstract: This paper reports a numerical study on the effects of clocking between the inlet guide vane (IGV) and the stator (vaned diffuser) in a 1-1/2 stage low-speed centrifugal compressor. The unsteady flow field of the centrifugal compressor for different clocking configurations is investigated using a 3-dimantional unsteady viscous solver. The effects of stator clocking on the time-averaged pressure distribution and the unsteady pressure fluctuation on the rotor blade surface are discussed at a design operating point. The blade pressure forces are calculated and analysed, and the peak-to-peak amplitudes of the unsteady blade pressure forces are studied for different clocking configurations. It is found that the clocking effects on the time-averaged pressure distribution and the time-averaged pressure force of the rotor blades are very small at the operating point. However, the unsteady pressure fluctuation and the unsteady pressure force on the rotor blades are significantly influenced by the clocking of the stator blades. The maximal fluctuation amplitude of the unsteady loading can be reduced about 20% on the main blade and about 5% on the splitter blade with the IGV-stator clocking in the simulation.

Keywords: centrifugal compressors; rotor-stator interaction; clocking effect; pressure fluctuation; unsteady fluid flow; unsteady interaction; pressure distribution; turbomachinery; numerical simulation; stator clocking; unsteady rotor loading; low-speed compressors; blade pressure forces; rotor blades.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2013.055059

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2013 Vol.13 No.5, pp.312 - 321

Published online: 31 Oct 2013 *

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