The Effects of Wake Mixing on Compressor Aerodynamics

Abstract

A methodology based on wake mixing has been developed that enables more accurate predictions of compressor airfoil pressure distributions when the airfoil is operating downstream of an airfoil row that has strong wakes. The methodology has an impact on throughflow analysis, on airfoil-to-airfoil flow analysis, and on the interpretation of experimental data. It is demonstrated that the flow in the endwall region is particularly sensitive to mixing due to the strong wakes caused by the secondary flow and corner separation that commonly occur in this region. It is also demonstrated that wake mixing can have a strong impact on both airfoil incidence and deviation as well as on loading. Differences of up to 13 deg and 30 percent in loading are demonstrated.