Influence of the inclined leading edge diffuser vanes on the aerodynamic performance of a transonic centrifugal compressor

Ali Zamiri, Byung Ju Lee, Jin Taek Chung

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Three-dimensional, compressible, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved to investigate the influence of the inclined leading edge diffuser vanes on the flow field and performance of a transonic centrifugal compressor with a high compression ratio. Diffuser vanes with leading edge inclined at different angles (10 different cases) were numerically modeled to investigate the effects that the inclined leading edge of the diffuser vane had on the diffuser pressure recovery and total pressure loss characteristics of the compressor. Diffuser vanes with an inclined leading edge reduce the interaction between the impeller discharge flow and the leading edge of the diffuser, which results in a reduced separation inside the diffuser passages. A maximum diffuser pressure recovery coefficient of 0.7185, was observed at a 30-degree inclination angle from hub-to-shroud. Moreover, in the case of inclination angles greater than 60 degrees for both hub-to-shroud and shroud-to-hub, there is a significant reduction in the pressure recovery, efficiency and pressure ratio.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)5557-5568
    Number of pages12
    JournalJournal of Mechanical Science and Technology
    Volume31
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017 Nov 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This researchwasupportedbyBasicSienceRsearch Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry ofEducation (2013R1A1A2 013701), and by the Korea University Grant.

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2017, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

    Keywords

    • Aerodynamic performance
    • Centrifugal compressor
    • Computational fluid dynamics
    • Inclined leading edge
    • Vaned diffuser

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Mechanics of Materials
    • Mechanical Engineering

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