A Survey of Stall Propagation—Experiment and Theory

The experimental literature on stall propagation is summarized in terms of an idealized compressor which possesses properties typical of the bulk of published data. The published analyses are examined and all are shown to have one fundamental restriction or another which makes them unable to predict all of the relevant features of stall propagation—most notably the number of stall cells. A relatively simple mathematical model is constructed which offers the possibility of a complete prediction.