Numerical Analysis of Fan Transonic Stall Flutter

Abstract

This paper describes numerical investigation of fan transonic stall flutter, especially focused on flutter bite. A transonic stall flutter occurs in high loaded condition at part rotating speed. A region of the transonic stall flutter occasionally protrudes to an operating line at narrow rotational speed range. This protrusion of flutter boundary is called flutter bite. In that case, it is necessary to re-design the blade for securing sufficient operating range. The re-design process might require some compromise on performance and/or weight, and takes long time. So it is important to understand the mechanism of the flutter bite. Two types of fan blade, one has a flutter bite and another dose not, are numerically studied with a 3D Navier Stokes CFD code. Numerical results show agreement with rig test results for the fans in qualitative sense. Detailed flow fields reveal that a detached shock wave and separation due to the shock boundary layer interaction play significant role for the flutter stability.