| Abstract | An experimental investigation of the flow in centrifugal impellers has been in progress in the Engine Laboratory since 1963. It has become clear that the detachment of flow from the blade surfaces is one of the major influences on the poor distribution and stability of flow in the impeller channels. After a general exploration of this flow detachment, reported in Lab. Memo. NRC-ENG-62 (Ref. 1), it was concluded that slotted blades were the most promising means of delaying instability and flow detachment as flow-rate through the impeller was reduced.
Qualitative experiments on three sets of blading, with and without slots, were then carried out in an actual rotating impeller on the Low Speed Centrifugal Compressor Rig. The flow patterns, stability characteristics and stall mechanisms were illustrated and discussed in detail in NRC-ENG-69 (Ref. 3).
Following that programme, a complete set of Pressure rise/Flow characteristics was obtained for a slightly extended family of blading on the same Low Speed Rig. These characteristics are presented, and their implications discussed, in the present Memo.
The Low Speed Centrifugal Compressor (LSCC) Rig has since been dismantled. |
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