A Numerical Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Viscous Flow in a Transonic Compressor Rotor and Comparison With Experiment

Abstract

The numerical analysis of highly loaded transonic compressors continues to be of considerable interest. Although much progress has been made with inviscid analyses, viscous effects can be very significant, especially those associated with shock–boundary layer interactions. While inviscid analyses have been enhanced by the interactive inclusion of blade surf ace boundary layer calculations, it may be better in the long term to develop efficient algorithms to solve the full three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. Indeed, it seems that many phenomena of key interest, like tip clearance flows, may only be accessible to a Navier–Stokes solver. The present paper describes a computer program developed for solving the three-dimensional viscous compressible flow equations in turbomachine geometries. The code is applied to the study of the flowfield in an axial-flow transonic compressor rotor with an attempt to resolve the tip clearance flow. The predicted flow is compared with laser anemometry measurements and good agreement is found.