STUDY OF HIGH SPEED FLOW BEHAVIOR THROUGH AXIAL COMPRESSOR CASCADE BLADES

The present work focuses on understanding the behavior of high speed flow (supersonic) through the compressor cascade at different Angle of Attacks (AOA). Flow behavior plays a vital role in compressor overall performance. For the present work, two main parameters of fluid flow, Velocity and Static Pressure are considered for performing flow analysis. To increase the pressure raise per stage, blade speed has to be increased. But in our study, blade speed is kept constant and the effect of angle of attack was analyzed to determine the raise in static pressure. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach was employed to perform flow analysis. When analyzed, it was found that a Normal Shock Wave is formed. Upon increasing the AOA, the amount of reduction in velocity and raise in static pressure occurred. Further increase in AOA resulted in normal shock wave to move towards the leading edge of the compressor blade. It was found at 20 degree AOA the pressure raise was reduced because of flow separation leading to blade stall. The raise in static pressure was mainly due to the shock diffusion.