Flow Mechanism for Stall Margin Improvement via Axial Slot Casing Treatment on a Transonic Axial Compressor

Axial slot CTs were designed and applied on Rotor 67 to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the improvement of the stall margin. Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes was applied in addition to steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes to simulate the flow field of the rotor. The results show that aerodynamic performance and the rotor stability were improved. Stall margin improvement (SMI) improved by 26.85% after the CT covering 50% of the axial tip chord was applied, whereas peak efficiency (PE) decreased the least. The main reason for the rotor stall in the solid casing is the blockage caused by tip leakage flow. After axial slot CTs were applied, the tip leakage flow in the front part of the chord was obviously reduced, and the majority of the blockages in the tip region were removed. The absolute value of the axial momentum before 45% axial chord in CT_50 was reduced by 50%, whereas the maximum tangential momentum value of CT_50 was decreased by 70% relative to the solid casing. CT_50 configuration was located across the shock wave; thus, it can fully utilize the pressure gradient to bleed and remove the blockage region, and the across flow is considerably depressed.