Effects of probe support on the stall characteristics of a low-speed axial compressor

In order to investigate the effects of probe support on the stall characteristics of micro compressors, an experiment was carried out on a large-scale low-speed research compressor according to the principle of geometric similarity. A cylindrical probe support intruding to 50% blade span was mounted at 50% chord upstream from the rotor blade leading edge. The static pressure rise characteristic of the compressor is measured, with and without the probe support respectively. The dynamic compressor behavior from pre-stall to full stall was also measured. The results indicate that the stability margin of the compressor is lowered after installing the probe support. The stall inception is aroused by modal wave disturbances. The disturbances developed into two stall cells smoothly before installing the probe support, while the disturbances first developed into a single stall cell then splitting into two stall cells after installing the probe support. The presence of probe support lowers the initial intensity of the rotating stall of the compressor, while it doesn’t alter the intensity of the rotation stall after the compressor enters into full stall.