NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF FLOW IN A CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSOR

With the use of the domestic software suite of computational hydrodynamics FlowVision based on application of the method of control volumes, numerical simulation of air composition and delivery by a centrifugal compressor employed for supercharging a piston engine has been carried out. The head-fl ow characteristics of the compressor, as well as the 3D fi elds of fl ow velocity and pressure distributions in the elements of the compressor fl ow passage, including the interblade channels of the impeller, have been obtained for various regimes. In the regimes of diminished air fl ow rate, surging phenomena are identifi ed, characterized by a return fl ow. The application of the technique of numerical experiment will make it possible from here on to carry out design optimization of the compressor fl ow passage profi le and thus to improve its basic characteristics — the degree of pressure increase, compressed air fl ow rate, and the effi ciency — as well as to reduce the costs of the development and production of compressors.
   
Author:  Yu. A. Grishin and V. N. Bakulin
Keywords:  computational hydrodynamics, method of control volumes, FlowVision suite, centrifugal compressor, head-fl ow branches, velocity and pressure fields
Page:  1274