Numerical and Experimental Findings of a Highly-Loaded Aspirated Cascade

Comparisons between numerical predictions and experimental tests of a type of highly loaded aspirated compressor cascade are presented. The cascade profile features low solidity and low profile loss with applied blade and end-wall suction control. The cascade mid-span profile design was generated using multi-objective CFD optimization. Two successive levels of modeling were used to obtain the airfoil numerical predictions: the Euler/coupled-boundary layer solver, MISES, and RANS based CFD, executed in FLUENT and with mesh generation conducted in ICEM. A low-speed aspirated cascade rig was designed and built to allow for testing of the aspirated blade design at conditions approaching engine representative Reynolds numbers and inlet turbulence intensity levels. Both numerical and experimental results validated the aspirated cascade design concept. The results also showed evidence of a ‘soft’ failure mode for the aspirated blade when a reduced or zero suction level is applied.