Effects of the radial blade loading distribution and B parameter on the type of flow instability in a low-speed axial compressor

Previous studies showed that an axisymmetric hub-initiated disturbance defined as partial surge may initiate the stall of a transonic compressor; to reveal the instability evolution under full-span incompressible flow for different levels of hub loading and B parameter, an experimental investigation is conducted on a single-stage low-speed compressor. Experimental results show that under a uniform inflow condition without inlet flow distortion, a modal-type stall inception dominates in this low-speed compressor. When an inlet screen introducing hub distortion is used to increase the hub loading, a compressor stall is initiated by a modal wave, but large disturbances are present in the hub region before the compressor stall, which become stronger as the hub loading increases. Under high hub loading and large B parameter (implemented by adding hub distortion through an inlet screen and enlarging the outlet plenum volume, respectively), a compressor stall is triggered by an axisymmetric hub-initiated disturbance, which is much different from the modal-like disturbances. The beginning of this axisymmetric disturbance may be captured over 800 rotor revolutions prior to the onset of stall, and the amplitude grows with time. The disturbance is hub-initiated because the disturbance signal at the hub is detected much earlier than that at the tip; meanwhile, the frequency of this axisymmetric disturbance changes with the length of the inlet duct. The characteristics of instability evolution in the low-speed compressor are also compared with those in a transonic compressor.