Comparison of measured and calculated flow properties after the rotating cascades of a three-stage axial-flow compressor.

Abstract

This work was undertaken to check the feasibility of obtaining the velocity profiles downstream of the rotors of turbomachines by measuring only the radial distributions of total temperature, total pressure, and absolute flow angle and using these data to calculate the flow velocities by the non-isentropic radial equilibrium equation such that the measured flow rate is matched. Curvature effects are ignored in this analysis. The velocities calculated by this method are compared with those obtained by measurements with flow probes and hot-wire anemometers. The tests were conducted on a 3-stage axial flow compressor of the Turbo-Propulsion Laboratory at the Naval Postgraduate School. Measurements were made over the entire operating range of the compressor at a fixed rotor speed of about 1200 rpm.