Aerodynamic design and numerical simulation of mixed-axial flow multi-stage compressor

  Objectives  The performance of a gas turbine engine can be determined by the performance of the compressor. As one of the core components of a gas turbine engine, the design of the compressor is of critical importance in the design of the engine overall.

  Methods  A mixed flow compressor, a compressor between the axial flow compressor and centrifugal compressor, offers the high flow capacity and high efficiency of axial compressors, as well as the high pressure rate of centrifugal compressors. The design of a mixed-axial flow compressor and the choice of design parameters are based on the results of the S2 through flow aerodynamic design program and the general arbitrary curved blade design method for axial, centrifugal/mixed compressors. Numerical simulation software is used to simulate the 3D flow field of the mixed flow compressor.

  Results  The results show that the performance of a multistage mixed-axial flow compressor reaches the design target, achieving a pressure ratio of 4.3 and an adiabatic efficiency of 88%.

  Conclusions   Despite these results, the remaining difficulties in design of such a compressor are as follows:1. the flow in the stator at the mixed flow stage is difficult to control due to the high inlet Mach number; and 2. the matching of flow incidences between the axial-flow stage and mixed-flow stage still requires a large amount of work.