Effects of fusion height of tip winglet on the clearance flow in a compressor cascade

Abstract

The leakage flow generated by rotor clearance seriously affects efficiency and stability of a compressor. In order to reduce the effect of leakage flow, the tip winglet has been applied at the tip of a transonic compressor cascade. Numerical simulation has been used to investigate the influence of tip winglets with different fusion heights on the flow field structure. Furthermore, the effect of winglets was analyzed under different clearance heights and incidence angles. Results reveal that the winglet can weaken the kinetic energy of the leakage flow. The development of the leakage vortex along the pitchwise is suppressed, and the total pressure loss is decreased near the tip. The increase in the tip separation vortex scale leads to a remarkable decrease in the leakage flow rate. With the increase in fusion height, the scale of tip separation vortex decreases gradually, and the suppression effect on the leakage flow rate is weakened. The optimal scheme can reduce the loss by 3.3% and leakage flow rate by 13.4%. The suppression effect of the winglet on flow loss increases gradually with the increase in incidence angle. Moreover, the suppression effect of the winglet on leakage flow and flow loss increases first and then decreases with the increase in tip clearance.

Keywords

tip winglet clearance flow leakage vortex numerical simulation compressor cascade

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Suder

Celestina

. Experimental and computational investigation of the tip clearance flow in a transonic axial compressor rotor. J Turbomach 1996; 118: 218–229.

Taylor

Miller

. Competing 3D mechanisms in compressor flows. J Turbomach 2017; 21: 1–10.

Puterbaugh

Copenhaver

. Flow field unsteadiness in the tip region of a transonic compressor rotor. J Fluid Eng-t ASME 1997; 119: 122–128.

Zhang

Wang

Liu

, et al. Mechanism of affecting the axial rotor stability and performance with center offset degrees of axial skewed slots. Pro Meche Part G: J Aerospace Eng 2020; 234: 330–341.

Wang

Huang

. Improvements of performance and stability of a single-stage transonic axial compressor using a combined flow control approach. Aerosp Sci Technol 2019; 86: 283–295.

Mao

Liu

Tang

. Control of tip leakage flow in axial flow compressor cascade by suction on the blade tip. J Appl Fluid Mech 2018; 11: 137–149.

Zhao

, et al. Numerical investigation of flow separation control on a highly loaded compressor cascade by plasma aerodynamic actuation. Chin J Aeronaut 2012; 25: 349–360.

Khaleghi

Dehkordi

Tousi

. Role of Tip Injection in desensitizing the compressor to the tip clearance size. Aerosp Sci Technol 2016; 52: 10–17.

Ouyang

. Influence of axial skewed slots on the rotating instability of a low-speed axial compressor. Pro Meche Part G: J Aerospace Eng 2021; 235: 385–401.

10.

Jung

Jeon

Jung

, et al. Effects of recessed blade tips on stall margin in a transonic axial compressor. Aerosp Sci Technol 2016; 54: 41–48.

11.

, et al. Stability enhancement using a new hybrid casing treatment in an axial flow compressor. Aerosp Sci Technol 2018; 85: 305–319.

12.

Jiang

Chen

, et al. Treatment and optimization of casing and blade tip for aerodynamic control of tip leakage flow in a turbine cascade. Aerosp Sci Technol 2019; 37: 704–713.

13.

Key

Arts

. Comparison of turbine tip leakage flow for flat tip and squealer tip geometries at high-speed conditions. J Turbomach 2006; 128: 213–220.

14.

Wbitcomb

. A Design Approach and Selected Wind-Tunnel Results at High Subsonic Speeds for Wing-Tip Mounted Winglets. WA, US: Report. Report no. TN D-8260, 1976. NASA, Aerodynamics Technical.

15.

Nobari

MRH

Mirzaee

Nosratollahi

. Improvement of wind turbine performance using a novel tip plate structure. Energ Convers Manage 2016; 123: 592–609.

16.

Watanabe

Nigim

Koyama

. The effects of propeller tip vane on flow-field behaviour. Exp Fluids 1997; 23: 410–417.

17.

Coull

Atkins

Hodson

. Winglets for improved aerothermal performance of high pressure turbines. J Turbomach 2014; 136: 1–11: 091007.

18.

Yaras

MI.

Sjolander

. Measurements of the effects of winglets on tip-leakage losses in a linear turbine cascade. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Air Breathing Engines, Nottingham, UK, 1–6 September 1991, pp. 127–135. paper no. ISABE-1991-7011.

19.

Zhong

Han

Sun

. The influence of suction-side winglet on tip leakage flow in compressor cascade. In: ASME conference on Turbine Technical, British Columbia, Canada. 6–10 June 2011. GT-2011-46054.

20.

Zhong

Han

, et al. Effect of tip geometry and tip clearance on aerodynamic performance of a linear compressor cascade. Chin J Aeronaut 2013; 26: 583–593.

21.

Han

Zhong

. Effect of blade tip winglet on the performance of a highly loaded transonic compressor rotor. Chin J Aeronaut 2016; 29: 653–661.

22.

Han

Guo

Zhong

. Influence of tip winglet combined with tip groove on the leakage flow of compressor cascade. J Eng Thermophys 2019; 40: 1268–1274.

23.

Niu

Liu

Shi

, et al. Investigation of blade tip winglet effects on transonic rotor of low flow rate compressor. J Propul Technol 2017; 38: 2522–2531.

24.

Shivaramaiah

Nagpurwala

Varpe

, et al. Effect of rotor tip winglet on the performance and stability of a transonic axial compressor. In: ASME conference on Gas Turbine, Bangalore, India, 7–8 December 2017. GT-2017-4686.

25.

Roache

. Quantification of uncertainty in computational fluid dynamics. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 1997; 29: 123–160.

26.

Zhong

. Experiment on effect of pressure side winglet on aerodynamic performance of compressor cascade at different inlet mach number. J Harbin Inst Technology 2020; 52: 76–84.