Preliminary design of a three-stage low-speed research compressor using tandem vanes

This paper presents the preliminary design of a three and a half stage low-speed research compressor using tandem vanes. Initially, the compressor was configured as a 1.5-stage compressor and finally extended to a repeating 3.5-multistage machine. Thus, focus is set on the multistage performance of the compressor. In particular, differences in performance of the first stage between the 1.5-stage and the 3.5-stage compressor are discussed. The design of this novel rig is aimed at investigation of fundamental steady and unsteady flow phenomena in tandem blade rows in a multistage compressor environment. The approach has been taken to develop a low-speed compressor test rig particularly suitable for tandem blade row configurations, as this can perfectly be used to relate aspects of fundamental fluid physics found in cascades to those flow phenomena found in rotating machines. In the future, various parameters influencing loss generation and flow structures in tandem rows will be considered. This paper summarizes the preliminary aerodynamic as well as mechanical design of the fundamental research and new concepts compressor (FRANCC) at the Institute of Turbomachinery and Flight Propulsion of the Technical University of Munich.