Numerical simulations of instability inception and development in high-speed multi-stage axial-flow compressors

摘要

A 3D nonlinear compressible dynamic model has been developed to predict instability inception in high-speed multistage axial-flow compressors. Flow in the blade-free region is calculated using 3D unsteady Euler equations, while each individual blade row is represented by a distributed body force to model blade pressure loss and flow turning. The capabilities of a computational model are demonstrated in this paper by comparing model simulations with measured instability inception data of high-speed multistage axial-flow compressors. The results suggest that the 3D calculation is essential to predict the instability inception of high-speed multistage compressors especially for the case when short length scale disturbances play an important role during the stall inception process.