Investigation on the effects of blade leading-edge protuberances on the aerodynamic performance of an axial transonic compressor

Authors

Siddharth Patkar  - Chair of Aeroengine Design, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg, Germany
Majid Asli - Chair of Aeroengine Design, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg, Germany
Klaus Höschler - Chair of Aeroengine Design, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg, Germany

Abstract

Leading-edge protuberances inspired by humpback whales have been proven to be effective in delaying dynamic stall and post-stall regime of two-dimensional airfoils while causing a performance penalty in the pre-stall regime. Basically, this leading-edge modification acts as a vortex generator to split the separation region over the blade into multiple smaller regions. In this work, different sinusoidal wavy leading shapes are applied to a transonic compressor rotor blade row to evaluate the technique’s effectiveness from a compressor performance point of view. The compressor characteristic maps have been compared to the baseline case, which shows how the compressor pressure ratio and efficiency are affected by the leading-edge modifications. The compressor stability margin has also been studied, and a detailed discussion of the flow over the compressor blades is provided.