The Effect of Variable Stator on Performance of a Highly Loaded Tandem Axial Flow Compressor Stage

Increasing the aerodynamic load on compressor blades helps to obtain a higher pressure ratio in lower rotational speeds. Considering the high aerodynamic load effects and structural concerns in the design process, it is possible to obtain higher pressure ratios compared to conventional compressors. However, it must be noted that imposing higher aerodynamic loads results in higher loss coemcients and deteriorates the overall performance. To avoid the loss increase, the boundary layer quality must be studied carefully over the blade suction surface. Employment of advanced shaped airfoils （like CDAs）, slotted blades or other boundary layer control methods has helped the de- signers to use higher aerodynamic loads on compressor blades. Tandem cascade is a passive boundary layer control method, which is based on using the flow momentum to control the boundary layer on the suction surface and also to avoid the probable separation caused by higher aerodynamic loads. In fact, the front pressure side flow momentum helps to compensate the positive pressure gradient over the aft blade＇s suction side. Also, in compari- son to the single blade stators, tandem variable stators have more degrees of freedom, and this issue increases the possibility of finding enhanced conditions in the compressor off-design performance. In the current study, a 3D design procedure for an axial flow tandem compressor stage has been applied to design a highly loaded stage. Following, this design is numerically investigated using a CFD code and the stage characteristic map is reported. Also, the effect of various stator stagger angles on the compressor performance and especially on the compressor surge margin has been discussed. To validate the CFD method, another known compressor stage is presented and its performance is numerically investigated and the results are compared with available experimental results.