Study on Rain Absorption Performance and Flow Field of Transonic Compressor under Different Working Conditions

Taking a four-stage transonic compressor as the research object, the Lagrange particle tracking method was used to simulate the multiphase flow by considering the particle fragmentation, collision and evaporation models, and the influence of different inlet conditions (raindrop diameter, velocity, temperature and flow rate) on the compressor’s performance and stable working range was studied. The results show that inlet rain absorption can weaken the clearance leakage vortex make the shock wave move downstream, thus increasing the inlet flow rate, resulting in a decrease in stability margin and the highest efficiency point moving in the direction of flow increase. With the decrease in raindrop diameter, the pressure ratio and wet compression efficiency increase, and the stability margin decreases. With the increase in inlet raindrop velocity, the degree of pneumatic breakage increases and the raindrop diameter becomes smaller, which leads to the decrease in pressure ratio and efficiency. The influence of the mass flow rate of imported raindrops on the stable working range is significant. When the mass flow rate of imported raindrops accounts for 5% of the design flow, the stable working range can be reduced by more than half. Rain absorption increases the reaction force of the compressor and increases the load of the rotor blade.