Influences of meridional flowpath on the performance of swept blade in an axial compressor stage

A series of numerical simulations were conducted in both a 1.5 stage axial compressor model and a simplified planar cascade model. The cases with different blade sweep schemes in the cascade model were simulated with free-slip endwalls to minimize the influence of endwall 3-D (three-dimensional) flows. The results obtained in the cascade model were discussed at first for getting a clear insight into the effects of blade sweep without other influences. And then the simulation results of the 1.5 stage compressor model were discussed accordingly. The discussions focused on the influences of different meridional flowpath designs, i.e. constant mid radius (CMR) design, constant outer radius (COR) design and constant inner radius (CIR) design, on the performance of the swept blade. The results showed that the most critical effect produced by blade sweep was attributed to the redistribution of local mass-flow-rate in blade spanwise direction. The change of meridional flowpath did not change the mass-flow-rate redistribution behaviors. However, the trends for local mass-flow-rate redistribution in compressor stage model showed some discrepancies compared with the results shown in the planar cascade model. ©, 2015, BUAA Press. All right reserved.