Phd Defense - G. Legras

Analysis of casing treatment concepts for axial compressors

Delivered by Ecole Centrale de Lyon
Speciality: Mechanics

April 11, 2011 - CERFACS

This thesis work, conducted as part of a CIFRE agreement between Snecma, CERFACS and LMFA, deals with the context of improving performance and extending the operating range of axial compressors fitted turbojets. One of the main difficulties in this approach is the flow control in the rotor tip region, which can cause the loss of the system stability (surge and rotating stall). A promising technology known to bring substantial stability is the casing treatment. This passive control device consists of slots of complex geometry within the rotor casing. In order to improve its design, the thesis aimed specifically at improving the understanding of their mechanisms through a numerical approach using the CFD code elsA developed by ONERA and CERFACS, with steady and unsteady approaches. This work focused on three main axes. The first concerns the development of a numerical tool to support the understanding of casing treatment mechanisms and the diagnosis of their efficiency. The principle of the tool, which is an extension of the model originally proposed by Shabbir and Adamczyk, is based on an assessment of the contributions of the terms of the steady and unsteady Navier-Stokes equations on a control volume taken in the flow. In practice, this permits to quantify the forces applied to the fluid. The second axis deals with the analysis of the flow mechanisms induced by axisymetric casing treatments in two axial compressors : one subsonic with a cylindrical casing (CREATE) and the other transonic with a conical casing (NASA Rotor 37). The findings of this study indicate that this type of geometry is characterized by its bleeding effect. This mechanism is further amplified by a complex phenomenon of interaction between grooves, tip leakage vortex and the proximity to the pressure side of the adjacent blade. This part has also dwelt on the groove’s response to unsteady upstream stator wakes. The results showed that the slots are able to damp fluctuations of adverse pressure gradient. The third area concerns the analysis of the flow mechanisms induced by non-axisymmetric casing treatment through the numerical study of a transonic compressor with cylindrical casing (CBUUA). The mechanism leading to an enhancement of the stability results in slots ability to limit the migration in the circumferential direction of the tip leakage vortex. The results show that this type of geometry is characterized by its effect of re-injection of fluid that comes re-energize the near casing flow.

S. Moreau	Professor - University of Sherbrooke (Canada)	Referee
R. Fortes Patella	Professor - Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble-LEGI	Referee
C. Blanchard-Ghilardi	Engineer, Snecma	Member
P. Ferrand	Research director, LMFA-CNRS	Member
N. Gourdain	Researcher - CERFACS	Member
I. Trebinjac	Assistant professor, Ecole Centrale de Lyon-LMFA	Advisor

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