Modeling Internal Flow Using Two Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics with Compressor Inlet Distortion

The study of gas turbine engine components has been essential for improving engine design. An important area of research is the performance of a compressor with non-uniform inflow, termed distortion. This is a complex problem, often poorly understood, as a distorted flow field entering the compressor will change the compressor's flow physics, leading to an upstream influence acting on the approaching flow field. Understanding how this distortion will change the flow field and effect the compressor is a matter of safety, efficiency, and overall engine performance.

The work presented in this thesis considers a steady, two-dimensional, non-uniform flow field through a single axial compressor rotor. In this flow field, axial and circumferential directions were resolved using computational fluid dynamics. The results obtained indicated a significant influence from the compressor rotor on the approaching distorted flow field. This effect was found to be highly dependent on the rotor speed. As a result, the rotor upstream influence and the rotor speed are highly coupled. The rotor influences the flow upstream of it while the upstream flow influences the rotor performance. These results stipulate the two phenomena must be studied together.