Impact of Wavy Leading Edge Radial Coverage on Aerodynamic Performance in a Single-Stage Axial Compressor

In response to the lack of studies examining the radial coverage of wavy leading edge in compressor stator blades, this paper conducts a parametric design of the wavy leading edge for compressor stator blades based on a single-stage axial compressor. Through single-objective optimization, we first obtained the optimal full-coverage wavy leading edge configuration that maximizes peak efficiency improvement, achieving a 0.93% increase compared to the original configuration. Second, based on full-coverage configuration, three wavy leading edge configurations with different radial coverage ranges (55–100%, 70–100%, and 85–100%) are designed and compared. Numerical calculations show that under the peak efficiency condition, the configuration with the wavy leading edge radial coverage ranging from 70 to 100% of the blade span further increases the peak efficiency by 0.3% compared with the full-coverage configuration. Flow field analysis reveals that the wavy leading edge configuration with a smaller radial coverage has limited ability to improve airflow separation in the stator passage, while the configuration with a larger radial coverage introduces additional flow losses at the middle blade span of the stator passage. Therefore, an appropriate radial coverage of the wavy leading edge should be selected according to the characteristics of airflow separation.