Reconstructing Compressor Nonuniform Circumferential Flow Field From Spatially Undersampled Data—Part 2: Practical Application for Experiments

Abstract

In the previous part of the paper, a novel method to reconstruct the compressor nonuniform circumferential flow field using spatially undersampled data points is developed. In this part of the paper, the method is applied to two compressor research articles to further demonstrate the potential of the novel method in resolving the important flow features associated with these circumferential nonuniformities. In the first experiment, the static pressure field at the leading edge of a vaned diffuser in a high-speed centrifugal compressor is reconstructed using pressure readings from nine static pressure taps placed on the hub of the diffuser. The magnitude and phase information for the first three dominant wavelets are characterized. Additionally, the method shows significant advantages over the traditional averaging methods for calculating repeatable mean values of the static pressure. While using the multi-wavelet approximation method, the errors in the mean static pressure with one dropout measurement are 70% less than the pitchwise-averaging method. In the second experiment, the full annulus total pressure field downstream of Stator 2 in a three-stage axial compressor is reconstructed from a small segment of data representing 20% coverage of the annulus. Results show very good agreement between the reconstructed total pressure profile and the experiment at a variety of spanwise locations from near hub to near shroud. The features associated with blade row interactions accounting for passage-to-passage variations are resolved in the reconstructed total pressure profile.