Effects of tip clearance grids on the simulations of three-dimensional flow fields in a low speed compressor rotor

The 3-D flow fields of a low-speed axial compressor rotor with a tip clearance were calculated. Compared with experimental results, effects of the tip grid-matching and the grid quality on numerical results were investigated. The result shows the requirement of the gird-matching between the tip clearance and the rotor passage for simulations of flow details in the tip clearance, and the sensitivity of the second-order difference scheme to the grid quality. In addition, it was revealed that the pressure rise characteristics did not exactly reflect the effect of grid numbers on numerical results.