Numerical Study on the Effects of Blade Lean on High-Pressure Centrifugal Impeller Performance

Blade lean and sweep are additional degrees of freedom for the three dimensional blade design. When compared to blade sweep, the influence of blade lean on the performance is not extensively described in the public literature. The effects of blade lean on the aerodynamic performance of a high-pressure ratio centrifugal impeller were investigated using a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) approach. For total of 15 variations of blade lean given at the impeller inlet and outlet, while blade angles at the impeller inlet and outlet were unchanged, numerical solutions of the impeller with a vaneless diffuser were obtained at the design speed from a maximum choke flow to a minimum flow available. Compressor performance maps were generated to compare overall characteristics, and details of internal flow structure at 5 different quasi-orthogonal planes were investigated to see the effects of blade lean on the development of secondary flows. It was found that a positive lean at the impeller exit shroud helps mitigate the wake region to contribute to more uniform flows, resulting in an increase of the impeller pressure and efficiency. A negative lean at the impeller exit causes a limited head rise due to a reduced blade loading on the shroud. A negative inlet lean at the shroud provided the worst performance.