A Numerical Model of the Onset of Stall Flutter in Cascades

In this paper, we present a computational fluid dynamic model of the unsteady flow associated with the onset of stall flutter in turbomachinery cascades. The unsteady flow is modeled using the laminar Navier-Stokes equations. We assume that the unsteadiness in the flow is a small harmonic disturbance about the mean or steady flow. Therefore, the unsteady flow is governed by a small-disturbance form of the Navier-Stokes equations. These linear variable coefficient equations are discretized on a deforming computational grid and solved efficiently using a multiple-grid Lax-Wendroff scheme. A number of numerical examples are presented which demonstrate the destabilizing influence of viscosity on the aeroelastic stability of airfoils in cascade, especially for torsional modes of blade vibration.