An Experimental Study of Vane Clocking Effects on Embedded Compressor Stage Performance

Abstract

Previous research has shown that vane clocking, the circumferential indexing of adjacent vane rows with similar vane counts, can be an effective means to increase stage performance, reduce discrete frequency noise, and/or reduce the unsteady blade forces that can lead to high cycle fatigue. The objective of this research was to experimentally investigate the effects of vane clocking in an embedded compressor stage, focusing on stage performance. Experiments were performed in the intermediate-speed Purdue three-stage compressor, which consists of an IGV followed by three stages. The IGV, Stator 1, and Stator 2 vane rows have identical vane counts, and the effects of vane clocking were studied on Stage 2. Much effort went into refining performance measurements to enable the detection of small changes in stage efficiency associated with vane clocking. At design loading, the change in stage efficiency between the maximum and minimum efficiency clocking configurations was 0.27 points. The maximum efficiency clocking configuration positioned the Stator 1 wake at the Stator 2 leading edge. This condition produced a shallower and thinner Stator 2 wake compared with the clocking configuration that located the wake in the middle of the Stator 2 passage. At high loading, the change in Stage 2 efficiency associated with vane clocking effects increased to 1.07 points; however, the maximum efficiency clocking configuration was the case where the Stator 1 wake passed through the middle of the downstream vane passage. Thus, impingement of the upstream vane wake on the downstream vane leading edge resulted in the best performance at design point but provided the lowest efficiency at an off-design condition.