A Computation and Comparison With Measurements of Transonic Flow in an Axial Compressor Stage With Shock and Boundary Layer Interaction

The flow field within a transonic axial flow compressor stage has been computed using a three-dimensional time-marching technique. Limited viscous effects are considered by including a calculation of the blade surface boundary layers. The boundary layer calculation forms an integral part of the whole computation scheme, which consists of, respectively: (i) inviscid Mach number calculations, (ii) blade surface boundary layer displacement thickness calculations, (iii) inviscid Mach number calculations with mass flow adjustment (based on the calculated displacement thicknesses) on the blade surfaces. The boundary layer computation is done by using integral calculation methods and has specifically been developed to account for a shock and boundary layer interaction (should one exist). Comparisons are made with measured results obtained with an advanced laser velocimeter. The calculated Mach number contours are in extremely good agreement with the experimental results. It is concluded that the calculation technique is a useful tool in the design of transonic axial flow turbomachines.