The nonuniformity of the flow field induced by a nonaxisymmetric volute significantly degrades the stability of a turbocharger centrifugal compressor. In this paper, a nonaxisymmetric vaned diffuser is investigated as a nonaxisymmetric flow control method using both three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiment. The numerical study first focuses on the relationship between the flow field and the static pressure distortion, and the steady CFD results indicate that the positive static pressure gradient in the rotating direction facilitates flow separation in the vaned diffuser and induces a nonuniform flow field. A nonaxisymmetric flow control method with variable stagger and solidity of the vaned diffuser is developed to suppress the flow separation, and the guideline of the method suggests narrowing flow passages where the flow separates or closing diffuser vanes upstream of flow separations. Steady CFD also presents the flow field of the investigated turbocharger centrifugal compressor with volute, and flow separation is found in the flow passages near the volute tongue. Under the guidance of the nonaxisymmetric flow control method, several nonaxisymmetric vaned diffusers are designed to make the flow field uniform, which are believed to be beneficial for compressor stability. Finally, an experiment is carried out to validate the positive effects of the nonaxisymmetric vaned diffuser for stability improvement. The test data show that Non-AxisVD (with a nonaxisymmetric vaned diffuser) extends the stable flow range (SFR) of the compressor by 26% compared with the AxisVD (with an axisymmetric vaned diffuser), at the cost of acceptable decreases in the maximum total pressure ratio and peak efficiency.
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April 2018
Research-Article
Stability Improvement of a Turbocharger Centrifugal Compressor by a Nonaxisymmetric Vaned Diffuser
Xinqian Zheng,
Xinqian Zheng
Turbomachinery Laboratory,
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
e-mail: zhengxq@tsinghua.edu.cn
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
e-mail: zhengxq@tsinghua.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
Zhenzhong Sun,
Zhenzhong Sun
Turbomachinery Laboratory,
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Tomoki Kawakubo,
Tomoki Kawakubo
Corporate Research & Development,
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
Search for other works by this author on:
Hideaki Tamaki
Hideaki Tamaki
Corporate Research & Development,
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
Search for other works by this author on:
Xinqian Zheng
Turbomachinery Laboratory,
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
e-mail: zhengxq@tsinghua.edu.cn
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
e-mail: zhengxq@tsinghua.edu.cn
Zhenzhong Sun
Turbomachinery Laboratory,
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
State Key Laboratory of Automotive
Safety and Energy,
Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
Tomoki Kawakubo
Corporate Research & Development,
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
Hideaki Tamaki
Corporate Research & Development,
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
IHI Corporation,
Yokohama 235-8501, Japan
1Corresponding author.
Manuscript received May 6, 2016; final manuscript received December 2, 2017; published online February 13, 2018. Assoc. Editor: Nicole L. Key.
J. Turbomach. Apr 2018, 140(4): 041007 (13 pages)
Published Online: February 13, 2018
Article history
Received:
May 6, 2016
Revised:
December 2, 2017
Citation
Zheng, X., Sun, Z., Kawakubo, T., and Tamaki, H. (February 13, 2018). "Stability Improvement of a Turbocharger Centrifugal Compressor by a Nonaxisymmetric Vaned Diffuser." ASME. J. Turbomach. April 2018; 140(4): 041007. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4038875
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