IGV-Rotor Interaction Analysis in a Transonic Compressor Using the Navier-Stokes Equations

A recently developed, time-accurate multigrid viscous solver has been extended to handle quasi-three-dimensional effects and applied to the first stage of a modern transonic compressor. Interest is focused on the inlet guide vane (IGV)-rotor interaction where strong sources of unsteadiness are to be expected. Several calculations have been performed to predict the stage operating characteristics. Flow structures at various mass flow rates, from choke to near stall, are presented and discussed. Comparisons between unsteady and steady pitch-averaged results are also included in order to obtain indications about the capabilities of steady, multi-row analyses.