Performance deterioration of axial compressor rotor due to uniform and non-uniform surface roughness

Abstract

Surface roughness is a significant source of performance loss in gas turbine engines. The fan and compressor, being the initial components of the gas turbine engine, are more prone to surface roughness effects due to the ingestion of debris at low atmospheric conditions. This paper attempts to numerically study the impact of uniform and non-uniform surface roughness on axial compressor rotor performance. NASA rotor 37 is used as the validation test case for the numerical methodology, and the results show a good match between the experimental and computational fluid dynamics data. Detailed flow field analysis indicates that there is a reduction in rough blade performance and the overall flow turning that reduces the work done by the rotor. The location sensitivity studies shock location is the major contributor to the overall loss in the performance. Also, the study of non-uniform roughness on blade performance shows that roughness on the leading edge is the major contributor to the loss as compared to the trailing edge and so does roughness on the shroud as compared to the roughness on the hub. An interesting observation is that for the given configuration and roughness height, near the shroud, the role of the tip vortex is more pronounced than the role of surface roughness on the performance.