Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flow in a Centrifugal Compressor Volute

This paper presents the experimental and numerical investigation of an outward volute of rectangular cross section. The investigation is carried out at the level of stage performance, volute performance, and detailed flow field study at selected peripheral positions for various operating points. The objective of the investigation was to gain further knowledge about the flow structure and loss mechanism in the volute. Simultaneously with the experimental investigation, a numerical simulation of the flow in the volute was carried out. A three-dimensional Euler code was used in which a wall friction term and a tuned artificial dissipation term account for viscous effects. A reasonable agreement between the experimental and numerical results is observed. As a result a good and detailed knowledge about the pressure recovery and loss mechanism in the volute is obtained. [S0889-504X(00)00301-9]