Numerical Study on the Influence of Small Inlet Distortion on the Aerodynamic Performance of the Compressor

A numerical simulation method was used to study the influence of small inlet distortion intensity caused by radial intake on the aerodynamic performance of axial flow compressor. Results show that the radial intake mode can cause a maximum total pressure distortion intensity of 1.50% at the inlet of the axial flow compressor, and reduce the stall margin and peak efficiency of the axial flow compressor by 1.64% and 0.66% respectively. During the rotor throttling process, the total pressure distortion intensity at the inlet becomes smaller, but the influence on the aerodynamic performance of the axial flow compressor becomes greater. The small inlet distortion caused by radial intake makes the inflow velocity in the blade tip region decrease, which weakens the influence of the inflow on the blade tip leakage flow, so that the tip leakage vortex spirally breaks in advance during the rotor throttling process, resulting in the deterioration of flow capacity in the tip region, and the flow loss in the tip region increases, thus reducing the aerodynamic performance of the rotor.