Influence of Blade Tip Surface Roughness On the Performance of a Single Stage Axial Flow Compressor
Abstract Numerical investigations are carried out in a single-stage subsonic axial flow compressor to unravel the influence of blade tip surface roughness on the tip leakage flow characteristics and hence the compressor performance. The studies were carried out at different tip clearance of 0.38?, 0.77?, 1.15? and 1.54? and blade tip surface roughness of 0.31? and 0.62?. The tip clearance of 0.38? with blade tip surface roughness of 0.62? resulted in the highest stall margin and pressure rise of 20.3% and 4.3%, respectively. The compressor blade loading was found to be improved by 5.9% after incorporating the blade tip surface roughness. The iso-surfaces of vorticity contour plotted using the Q-criterion showed the reduction in strength of the tip leakage vortex. The tip leakage trajectory was found to be shifted towards the suction surface of the blade for the blade tip with surface roughness. This positive alteration in the tip leakage flow structure led to the improved performance for the blade tip with surface roughness.