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Temporal behaviour of a corner separation in a radial vaned diffuser of a centrifugal compressor operating near surge

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Abstract

The temporal behaviour of a flow separation in the hub-suction side corner of a transonic diffuser is studied thanks to unsteady numerical simulations based on the phase-lagged approach. The validity of the numerical results is confirmed by comparison with experimental unsteady pressure measurements. An analysis of the instantaneous skin-friction pattern and particles trajectories is presented. It highlights the topology of the separation and its temporal behaviour. The major result is that, despite of a highly time-dependent core flow, the separation is found to be a “fixed unsteady separation” characterized by a fixed location of the main saddle of the separation but an extent of the stall region modulated by the pressure waves induced by the impeller-diffuser interaction.

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Abbreviations

N1 :

Number of blades in the impeller

N2 :

Number of blades in the radial vaned diffuser

Ω [rad/s]:

Rotation speed of the impeller

T1 :

Temporal period of the flow in the impeller

T2 :

Temporal period of the flow in the diffuser

T0[K]:

Total temperature

p0 [Pa]:

Total pressure

P:

Static pressure

\(\vec v\) :

Flow velocity vector

\(\dot m\left[ {kg/s} \right]\) :

Massflow

Cp :

Static pressure recovery coefficient of the diffuser

K:

Total pressure loss coefficient of the diffuser

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Marsan, A., Trébinjac, I., Coste, S. et al. Temporal behaviour of a corner separation in a radial vaned diffuser of a centrifugal compressor operating near surge. J. Therm. Sci. 22, 555–564 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-013-0662-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-013-0662-6

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