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Copyright 0 1998 by ASME All Right Resened Printed. in U.SA

A FAMILY OF DESIGNS FOR ASPIRATED COMPRESSORS

Jack L. Kerrebrock, Mark Drela, All A. Merchant, Brian J. Schuler
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge Massachusetts 02138 USA
11111111111111 1111111111

ABSTRACT NOMENCLATURE
The performance of compressors can be enhanced by the CD Dissipation coefficient
judicious removal of the viscous boundary layer fluid from the Cf Skin friction coefficient
flow path. Removal of the boundary layer fluid just prior to or CT Turbulent shear stress coefficient
in a region of rapid pressure rise, either at shock impingement or • Boundary layer displacement shape parameter (SVC°
more generally at the point of rapid pressure rise on the suction Hk Kinematic shape parameter
surface of the blade, can give significant increases in the diffu- fit Boundary layer kinetic energy shape parameter (9 5M)
sion and therefore increase the work done per stage for a given H** Density defect shape paramenter
blade speed. It also provides a thermodynamic benefit by re- th Mass flow
moving the high-entropy fluid from the flow path. Design stud- Me Boundary layer edge Mach number
ies have been done using quasi 3-D viscous and 3-D Euler com- Map Tip Mach number
putational tools on a family of fan stages of varying tip speed Ut Boundary layer edge velocity
that take advantage of such viscous fluid removal. One stage in Us Slip velocity (u/14.)
this family is a low tip speed fan stage designed to produce a vw Wall velocity
pressure ratio of 1.5 at a tip speed of 700 ft/sec. Fan noise reduc- 6* Boundary layer displacement thickness
tions resulting from the decrease in tangential Mach number, tn Streamline displacement
without sacrificing total pressure ratio, could make this design Boundary layer momentum thickness
attractive for the fan of medium-bypass ratio engines. Another 0* Boundary layer kinetic energy thickness
stage in the family would produce a total pressure ratio of 2.0 at Pe Edge density
a tip speed of 1000 ft/sec and could be very attractive as a fan Pw Wall density
stage on a lower bypass ratio engine or as a first stage of a low
speed core compressor. The final stage in the family would 1.0 INTRODUCTION
achieve a pressure ratio of more than 3.0 at a tip speed of 1500 The concept of aspirated compressors was discussed in
ft/sec and could be very attractive as a first stage of a core com- Kerrebrock a al. (1997) which addressed the thermodynamic
pressor, or as a fan for a military engine. A design for the suction effects on engine performance, described an experiment that ex-
passages to deal with the fluid removal has been completed for plored the effects of boundary layer removal at the shock-im-
an experimental version of the 1.5 pressure ratio design. A tip pingement location on the suction surface of transonic compres-
shroud allows bleeding of the tip surface boundary layer from sor blades, and presented some preliminary designs of compres-
the rotor, and carries the fluid removed from the blade surfaces sor stages designed to take advantage of the benefits of bound-
through the tip. One of these stages will be tested in the MIT ary layer removal. The overall conclusion of these investigations
B lowdown Compressor, serving a dual purpose: as a validation was that very substantial increases in stage pressure ratio should
of the computational design process and as a test of the concept be attainable with feasible amounts of now removal. In prin-
of aspirated compressors. ciple, an increase in efficiency might also be realizable due to

Presented at the international Gas Turbine & Aeroenglne Congress & Exhibition
Stockholm, Sweden — June 2–June 5,1998
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 the removal of high entropy fluid from the flow path. The ex-
periment showed that boundary layer removal from a fraction of
the rotor blades had a beneficial effect on the work capacity of
those blades.
These results clearly indicated a need to further refine the
designs to take advantage of boundary layer removal at critical
points and a need for experimental evaluation of a full stage with
boundary layer control at all locations where viscous effects limit
its pressure rise. This paper reports design studies for a family of
stages that cover a range of tip speeds from 700 to 1500 feet per
second and pressure ratios from 1.5 to over 3. The experiment is
in progress but not yet ready for reporting.
For carrying out the design studies to be reported here, the
first requisite was for a design system capable of accurately mod-
eling the boundary layer response to changes in blade shape and
to suction, and at the same time fast and flexible enough to en-
able the rapid design iterations required to arrive at a satisfac-
tory blade geometry. This remains an intuitive process, as we do
not have a formal inverse computational procedure capable of
producing an optimum design for a given set of constraints and
criteria. The procedure used is explained in detail below. We be-
lieve the design results to be presented show its efficacy. In brief,
it consists of a quasi 3-D design system consisting of MISES
(Youngren, 1991) combined with a streamline-curvature approach
to the axisymmetric flow, supplemented by a fully 3-D transonic
Euler solver, FELISA (Peraire etal., 1993), that properly repre-
sents the streamwise vorticity. MISES models with some preci-
sion the interaction between the boundary and the transonic pas-
sage flow that plays a dominant role in controlling the boundary
layer evolution on the blades.
Control of the boundary layers on rotor blades requires han-
dling of the bled flow in the rotating blades. In the work de-
scribed in Kerrebrock et al. (1997), the design constraints that
derive from this requirement were not addressed since the focus
was on the effect of suction on the flow. In the design studies
presented here, it was considered important to address this issue.
Case A
M(s)
Strongly attached
A02
OB(s)
Case B
Nearly separated
A02
510 52
li7
Figure 1: Effect of suction on boundary layer growth.
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But to narrow the scope of the system problem, the design stud-
ies have been limited to fan stages. This dictates a bled flow
handling system that is self-pumping, to avoid the need for a
suction pump, and this in turn has dictated that the bled flow be
taken outward in the rotating blades rather than inward as was
hypothesized in Kerrebrock etal. The rotors are assumed to be
tip-shrouded for two reasons. One is that the tip shroud provides
an effective way to carry the bled flow out of the rotating sys-
tem. The other is that it eliminates the need for dealing with a tip
leakage vortex and makes possible boundary layer control on
the tip surface. At the present level of conceptual development,
this is an essential ingredient of the aspirated fan design con-
cept. It need not be such for compressor stages in the higher
pressure portions of an engine since the higher pressure gives
more flexibility for handling the bled flow in those stages.
In the following, we discuss the aerodynamic design of the
stages in some detail and the design of the bled-flow system at
the conceptual level. Because of its central importance to aspi-
rated compressors, we begin with a discussion of the effects of
fluid removal on the development of the boundary layer.
2.0 EFFECTS OF BOUNDARY LAYER SUCTION
The effectiveness of boundary layer control via suction is
examined from the von Karman integral momentum equation.
de . 0 r
(I)
us 2 e ue ds Pelle
In Figure 1, suction (negative p,..v s.) is applied over a short inter-
val .51 s2 , and the boundary layer then develops downstream as
usual. Relative to the case without suction. the momentum thick-
ness decrease 2092 just behind the suction region is
52 v
48, =! Psd
y s —cPa c c, (2)
peue Pe",
where Co = thl pair,,,c is the suction coefficient which measures
the mass flow removed by the suction. An alternative fluid-re-
moval method to the flush slot implied in Figure I is a forward-
facing scoop which draws in the lower part of the boundary layer
and thus also gives a reduction in the momentum thickness. In
this case the fluid is removed at a nonzero velocity so that p eura9
is somewhat less than in, although this distinction is not impor-
tant for the present discussion.
Whatever the origin of the initial momentum thickness de-
crease 492, the downstream boundary layer development is af-
fected to varying degrees, depending on the flow situation. Two
limiting cases are:
A) Strongly-attached flow:
a
ds — 2

0(s):-
, 82+ is 4ds
c (3 )
3.2
48(3):= 602
B) Nearly-separated flow:
dB t„ T , La\ 61 due
Ile ds
42+ 12 _ mil 1 dis ds
OWE 02 exp
()82 (4)
Js2 )u, ds
48(s)s 602 tip 42+ H - Mi)i- S
d ds]
S2 ue ds
Equation (3) makes the assumption that turbulent C1 depends
weakly on Re° , and H does not change much. The exponential
factor in Eq. (3) will change with 02 since li(s) will change, but
this factor remains large. The significant distinction here is that
in the attached-flow case A, 40 2 persists mostly without change
downstream as indicated in Figure 1, while in the nearly-sepa-
rated flow case B it is "magnified" by the exponential factor,
which in applications can easily exceed 10 near the trailing edge.
Thus a large amount of control over the downstream boundary
layer thickness can be exercised by removing only a very small
amount of mass flow in the appropriate location. In the strongly-
attached flow case A, the change is not magnified and suction is
counterproductive since the AO (loss) decrease is more than off-
set by pumping power required. Case A also puts an upper limit
on the desired amount of suction in any situation, since once the
flow is firmly attached, increasing suction further will have little
effect on the flow.
For the greatest control authority with the least amount of
mass removal, the best location to apply suction is at the start of
a strong pressure-recovery region, since the exponential magni-
fication is then the greatest over the downstream part of the flow.
Of course, some degree of control is still obtained at different
Figure 2: Compressor cascade with and without suction. Inlet Mach number and flow angle are imposed.
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locations. This feature is important in that the "optimum" loca-
tion is likely to change with different operating conditions (e.g.
with different shock locations). Control is still possible, although
somewhat more suction mass flow may be required to achieve a
given effect.
To illustrate these points, Figure 2 shows a compressor cas-
cade with high turning at supersonic relative inlet Mach number
with and without suction, but with identical blade shapes in both
cases. With suction the boundary layer remains attached. whereas
without suction the boundary layer separates immediately after
the shock. The overall loss 0) increases by a factor of 3 and the
viscous loss increases by a factor of 10. The suction mass flow is
2% of the total mass flow. The effects of streamline curvature
have been neglected in this calculation.
3.0 DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The family of fan stages presented in this paper were de-
signed using a quasi 3-D design system consisting of an
axisymmetric solver coupled in an iterative manner with a blade-
to-blade solver. A final evaluation of the design was performed
with a three-dimensional Euler solver.
3.1 Quasi 3-D Design System
A steady flow-field in a compressor (relative frame) or a
stator can be conveniently represented by axisymmetric
streamsurfaces which can be unwrapped/mapped onto a cascade
plane. The flow field can be calculated by an axisymmetric solver
which provides the streamsurfaces and flow conditions as inputs
for a blade-to-blade solver in the cascade plane. Several blade-
to-blade solutions corresponding to streamsurfaces at different
radii can be calculated to build up a description of the 3-D flow
field.
The quasi 3-D design system used here consisted of an
axisymmetric solver MTFLOW and blade-to-blade solver MISES
developed by Drela and Giles (1987) and Youngren (1991). In
both solvers, the inviscid equations are discretized on a stream-
line grid and strongly coupled with a two-equation integral bound-
ary formulation via the displacement thickness concept. The fully-
 Figure 3: Typical axisymmetric solution.

coupled system of non-linear equations is solved simultaneously

by a global Newton-Raphson method. Blockage due to blade
thickness and blade boundary layers, and other losses such as
shocks, can be prescribed along streamlines in the axisymmetric
solver MTFLOW. The effects of rotation and variations in
streamsurface thickness and radius are included in the blade-to-
blade solver. No empirical loss correlations were used in the cal-
culations. Figure 3 shows a typical axisymmetric grid and solu-
tion.pressure contours.
The blade-to-blade solver MISES allows inverse design
wherein the blade surface is perturbed to match a prescribed pres-
sure distribution. This feature was used extensively to carry out
the detailed blade geometry design for the different fan stages
presented in this paper. The grid used in the blade-to-blade cal-
culations has 25 streamlines and 120 normal lines (120 x 25 grid
points).

3.2 3-D Inviscid Analysis

Figure 4: 3 0 Euler unstructered grid and solution example.
-
In the quasi 3-D system, a simpler representation of the 3-D
flow field is traded off for speed and ease of computation. This
is very convenient for design and parametric studies, but once a Si Modelling Suction
satisfactory blade geometry is achieved from the quasi 3-1) sys- The effect of suction on the growth of the blade boundary
tern, it is essential to evaluate it in a fully 3-D environment. Be- layer was calculated in the blade-to-blade solver MISES. The
cause boundary layer suction is an integral part of the design and approach used to model the effects of suction was relatively
results in a well attached boundary layer over the blade, an in- simple and was a logical extension to the existing integral bound-
viscid calculation was deemed to be an adequate check on the ary layer formulation in MISES. A schematic of the suction re-
design. gion is shown in Figure 5. The suction mass flux is applied as a
An extension of the 3-D unstructured grid code FELISA 'parabolic function at the discrete grid points on the blade surface
(Peraire et al., 1993) was used to calculate three-dimensional between the limits s i and s2.
flow solutions for the fan designs. FELISA is a finite-element Three aspects of the boundary layer formulation have to be
based code which solves the conservative Euler equations in a modified to model the effect of suction. Accounting for the suc-
rotor/stator-relative frame on unstructured tetrahedral grids. The tion mass flux leads to additional terms in the integral momen-
equations are spatially discretized by an approximate variational tum (1) and kinetic energy equations (5),
formulation with explicit addition of a matrix form of artificial
viscosity. The solution is advanced in time using a multi-stage did* 0 ti
time-stepping scheme. The flow field is calculated in one blade )
+(2H "+ H *(I m— =
ds z,ds
passage with periodic boundary conditions. The extensions added (5 )

to FELISA allowed calculations in the rotating relative frame.

An unstructured grid, with 75,000 nodes and 350,000 tetrahe- (2CD H *Ea +
Pelle 2 Peue
dra, and sample flow solution for a rotor passage of one of the
fan stages is shown in Figure 4. The closure relations for skin friction and dissipation, which are

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Figure 5: Schematic of the suction region.
functions of Hk (kinematic shape parameter 3*/9) and Re s (mo-
mentum thickness Reynolds number peuk eikte) are derived from
an assumed family of velocity profiles (Drela and Giles, 1987).
A numerical study using a finite-difference boundary layer code
showed that closure relations for a laminar boundary layer were
not significantly affected by suction. However, for a turbulent
boundary layer, the effect of suction was observed in the inner
layer due to changes in skin friction and in the outer layer from
changes in pressure gradient due to streamline curvature near
the suction slot. From these observations, a parametric correc-
tion to the skin friction correlation was derived:
P
Cf = Cf, 2!w u,. (6)
Peue
Here, Cf, is the skin friction coefficient without suction, pHyl
peue is the transpiration term, and Us is a slip velocity. The effect
of suction on the outer layer is captured through the yiscous-
inviscid coupling condition described below. The total dissipa-
tion in a turbulent boundary layer can also be separated into con-
tributions from the inner and outer layer
Cr
• CD = + Cr (1— U, ) (7)
2
where CD is the dissipation coefficient, C1 is the skin friction
coefficient (without suction) and C T is a lagged turbulent shear
stress coefficient. The corrected skin friction from Eq. (6) can be
substituted in the above equation to give the dissipation relation
which accounts for suction
Cr y 2
Us (a)
2 2 pee
Finally, the viscous-inviscid coupling condition is modified to
include the suction mass flux primarily to satisfy continuity. The
new coupling condition is
An =15 *+ pw v,„ds (9)
Peue 0
where An is the displacement of the inviscid surface streamline.
A detailed description of the boundary layer formulation with
suction and comparisons with experimental data can be found in
Merchant, 1996).
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3.4 Design Iteration
Figure 6 shows the flow chart for a typical design iteration.
The first step is to determine a suitable hub contour, primarily
the hub slope across the rotor and stator, and calculate the
axisymmetric flow with swirl distribution and inlet conditions
prescribed to meet the required pressure rise. The axisymmetric
calculation is inviscid and blockage due to annulus boundary .
layer and tip clearance is neglected because the annulus bound-
ary layer will be bled in the experiment and the rotor will be
shrouded to eliminate tip clearance effects. Blade-to-blade solu-
tions, typically seven or eight, are then calculated on the
axisymmetric stream surfaces. The design of the blade geometry
is started at the hub section since the flow field is subsonic and
relatively less sensitive to changes in the blade shape. The 3-D
blade geometry is then grown from the initial hub section by
designing and stacking blade sections at increasing radii using
earlier sections as starting points.
The individual blade sections are designed in two steps: a
first cut inviscid design which gives the desired turning and pres-
sure rise, and a second more detailed design to minimize shock
losses (if any) and to give an acceptable boundary layer behav-
ior over the blade. Starting initially from any reasonable blade
section, a suitable inviscid pressure distribution is specified via
inverse design. Other parameters such as camber, maximum thick-
ness, and stagger angle may also change to meet the pressure
rise requirement. Next, the boundary layer effects are included
along with suction and the blade shape is refined to give an ac-
ceptable boundary layer growth. The suction mass flow, loca-
tion of the suction slot, and section characteristics such as lead-
ing edge radius and trailing edge thickness are simultaneously
tweaked to give the best overall performance. Once the first pass
of the design from hub to tip is complete, the losses and block-
age due to the blades is supplied to the axisymmetric solver and
the solution reconverged. New streamsurfaces are extracted and
used to reconverge the blade-to-blade solutions, and minor cor-
MTFLOW
Axisymmetric
Design
Loop
MISES
Blade to blade
Analysis
FELISA
3D Euler
Figure 6: Design/analysis flowchart.
 rections to the blade shapes, mainly cosmetic, are added to ac- TABLE 1: STAGE DESIGN FEATURES
count for changes in the flow field due to the new streamsurfaces.
PR = 1.5 PR = 2 Pit = 3.5
After a satisfactory quasi 3-D solution is achieved, the dif-
ferent blade sections are stacked along the geometric centroids Tip Tang. Mach No. 0.70 I 1.5
of the sections to give the 3-D blade geometry. Small deviations Tip Speed U (ft/s) 750 1000 1500
are added to the stacking location to iron out any kinks in the Axial Mach 0.65 0.67 0.68
blade geometry, especially the leading and trailing edges. A 3-D Suction Mass % 0.5 1.0 3.0
inviscid calculation of the blade is compared to inviscid quasi 3- Max. Diffusion Factor 0.56 0.75 0.78
o solutions. If any significant three-dimensional effects are ob- Rotor Tip Solidity 1.4 1.5 1.8
served in the solution then the blade geometry is modified again Stage Efficiency 0.94 0.92 0.87
in the quasi 3-D design procedure. Designs of high-speed and Blade Loading, 4H/U2t1, 0.86 0.72 0.61
medium-speed stages are preliminary and in the quasi 3-0 de-
sign phase. The low-speed design has been completed and com-
pared with a 3-D inviscid calculation. The shock location and is beneficial because the shock impinges the next blade section
pressure rise in the quasi 3-D calculation was in good agreement close to the maximum thickness location which is the most suit-
with the 3-0 calculation. able location for the suction slot. Another interesting feature
which has been used in these designs is a finite thickness diverg-
4.0 FAMILY OF FAN DESIGNS ing trailing edge (Benne and Gregg, 1989). Close to the trailing
The design procedure outlined above was used to design a edge, instead of merging the pressure and suction surface allow-
family of three fan stages producing pressure ratios of 1.5, 2, ing the loading to approach zero, the pressure surface is allowed
and 3.5 at tip speeds of 0.7, 1, and 1.5, respectively. The unusu- to diverge from the suction surface leading to a finite trailing
ally high demand on the work produced by these stages for a edge thickness. This increases the loading on the pressure sur-
given tip speed has led to unconventional designs with many face with little or no adverse impact on the pressure distribution
distinguishing features. on the suction surface.
As the blade boundary layer can negotiate stronger adverse Some important features of the fan stages are presented in
pressure gradients with suction, greater freedom is available in Table I. The best location of the suction slot was at the start of
designing the blade sections as a result the blades can be made the pressure recovery region for the subsonic blade sections and
significantly thicker near mid-chord. This is beneficial as it pro- immediately after the passage shock on the transonic/supersonic
vides greater structural depth as well as sufficient room to ac- blade sections. On the blade surface, this placed the slot at ap-
commodate channels to remove the bled boundary layer. Larger proximately 40 percent of chord, with small variations of ±0.5
turning angles, or camber, can also be achieved Without separa- percent of chord from section to section. The length of the suc-
tion. Blade solidity can be decreased resulting in fewer blades tion slot was fixed to 2 percent of chord to localize the suction
or higher aspect ratio, whichever is feasible. The blades also have over two to three grid points.
relatively blunt leading edges which decreases the sensitivity of
the flow to changes in inlet flow angle. The blunt leading edge 4.1 Low-Speed Stage: Pressure Ratio = 1.5, Man = 0.7
also results in a detached shock in the supersonic sections. This This stage is presented as a front fan suitable for medium-

1.6 1.6 A_TIP

HAM • 0.6860 1ACH2 • 0.6192 naCIII • 0.9470 98Cm2 • 0.6426
21/80 • 0.7235 82/80 • 0.6560 PuPO • 0.5614 1.2/P0 • 0.7491
1.4 • 0.6630 1.4 51.01.1 • 1.0595 MP? • 0.1221
51.021 51.022 • -0.6853
.2/1.1 • 0.9066 re • 1.260.100 P2/P1 • 1.3345 112 • 2.260.100
w • 0.0589 44 • 0.0538 w • 0.0294 V. • 0.0151
1.2 1.2

1.0 1.0
Mis MiS
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
El
0.2 0.2

0.0 00

Figure 7: Rotor isentropic Mach number distribution. Pressure ratio = 1.5, Mop = 0.7.

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 1.6 „,„, 5_1108 1.6 LT IP
NAC711 • 1.1500 RAM • 0.7175 41101 • 0.0917 mR2m2 • 0.5003
PI/10 • 0. 1411 MPG • 0.4764 PI/PC • 0.59611 P2/170 • 0.7502
1.4 31.0,1 • 1.3121 IL0P2 • 0.01011 1.4 SLOPI • 0.0027 SLOP2 • 0.02S6
P2/Pi • 1.4003 'II • 2.140*I09 P2/PI • 1.2211 ME •1.830-1e
1.2
• • 0.0552 ip4 • 0.02110
1.2 • • 0.0245 ., • 0.0227

1.0 1.0
MIS MIS
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 00

Figure 8: Stator isentropic Mach number distribution. Pressure ratio =1.5, M ap = 0.7.

bypass ratio engines. Figures 7 and 8 show the surface pressure
distribution on the rotor and stator hub and tip sections for this
low-speed stage. The flow over the rotor hub profile is mildly
supersonic but no shocks are present. Suction was not used on
this section because the boundary layer is well attached and do-
ing so would increase viscous losses due to higher skin friction.
The rotor tip section has a weak oblique shock and suction was
applied immediately after the shock. The suction mass flow re-
quired by the rotor is 0.2% of the inlet mass flow.
The relative inlet Mach number at the stator hub is super -
sonic and this is the most highly loaded section in the design.
The turning required to return the flow to axial conditions is 53 ° .
The shock on this section is relatively stronger than the rotor tip.
The stator tip section is less highly loaded. The suction mass
flow required by the stator is 0.2% of the inlet mass flow (ne-
glecting the mass removed at the rotor) and the maximum diffu -
sion factor, occurring at hub, is 0.56.
Figure 9 shows the growth of boundary layer parameters on
the suction surface of the rotor tip section, and the behavior on
the stator hub is similar to that shown. M ' is the meridional arc
length along the blade -to-blade streamsurface. The boundary lay-
ers on the rotor tip and stator hub are most highly loaded. The
shape parameter Ilk (8*/8) distribution shows a sudden increase
near the shock, which is where the boundary layer would sepa-
rate in the absence of suction. The dashed line on the left plot is
(8* - ni/peu), indicating that suction is small relative to the
boundary layer thickness. Figure 10 shows the pressure contours
at the rotor tip and stator hub.
4.2 Medium-Speed Stage: Pressure Ratio = 2, Mo o = 1
This stage is presented as a front fan suitable for low -bypass
ratio engines or as a stage in low speed core compressor. The
surface pressure distribution on the rotor and stator hub and tip
sections are shown in Figure 11, The flow over the rotor hub
profile is supersonic with a mild oblique shock. Suction was not
required on this section because the boundary layer is well at-

0.0080 4.0
TOP

0.0084
3.0
5*

0.0048 HK
2.0
0.0032

1 .0
0.0016

0 0000 00
-006 0.0 0.06 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42 0.06 0.0 0.06 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42
M' M'

Figure 9: Rotor tip suction surface boundary layer growth.The dashed line on the plot Is (.5* -
Pressure ratio =1.5, Mnp = 0.7.

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 Figure 10: Rotor tip and stator hub pressure contours. Pressure ratio = 1.5, Mlip = 0.7.

tached. The inlet Mach number at the rotor tip section is super-
sonic. The shock is relatively strong and mild precompression is
used to weaken the shock strength. The diffusioh factor at the tip
is 0.65. The suction mass flow required by the rotor is 1% of the
inlet mass flow.
The relative inlet Mach number at the stator hub is super-
sonic and once again is the most highly loaded section in this
stage. The turning required to return the flow to axial conditions
is 61°. The shock on this section is relatively stronger than the
rotor tip and precompression is used to decrease the shock
strength. The stator tip section is less highly loaded. The suction
mass flow required by the stator is 1% of the inlet mass flow
(neglecting the mass removed at the rotor) and the maximum
diffusion factor, occurring at hub, is 0.75.
Figures 12 and 13 show the growth of boundary layer pa-
rameters on the suction surface of the rotor tip section, and the

1.6 1.6
ORM • 0.1730 041•2 • 0.7135 00[141 • 1.2023 55CH2 • 0.5116
PI/Pa • 0.1006 P2/20 • 0.7202 P1/111 • 0.0111 92/P0 • 0.7595
1.4 SLOP1 • 0.1)10 SLOP2 • -0.7770 1.4 SLOPS • LIM 5LOP2 • 0.3154
PUPI • 1.163) PC • 1.050•101 P2/111 • 1.110, 2.170.100
• • 0.0118 m, • 0.0177 • • 0.0617 .4 • 0.0131
1.2 1.2

1.0 1.0
MIS
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 00

1.6 1.6 5_71P

Wm! • 1.2200 111101 • 0.0005 mcm • 0.1730 101,2 • 0.0075
PI/P0 • 0.0017 P21P0 • 0.1000 P0/Pa • 0.6085 P2/P0 • 0.11151
1.4 510111 • 14320 SLOP2 • .0.0050 1.4 HOPI - 1.1000 SLOP/ • 0.0411
PleP1 • 2.0152 R1 • 2.140.104 P2/111 0.05011 It • 2.110.100
my •0.0000 • • 0.0110 • 0.0175
1.2 1.2 ••

1.0 1.0
MIS MIS
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2
0.0 00

Figure 11: Rotor and stator isentropic Mach number distribution. Pressure ratio = 2, M N, = 1.

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 0.016
TOP
0.014
8'
0.012

0.010

0.008

0.006

0.004

0.002

0.000
-0.06 0.0 0.06 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42
M'
Figure 12: Rotor tip suction surface displacement and
momentum thickness. Pressure ratio = 2, Mt, = 1.

behavior on the stator hub is similar to that shown. The boundary

layer on this stage is more highly stressed than the low-speed
stage. The shape parameter on the suction surface increases rap-
idly downstream of the slot and the effect of diverging trailing
edge is observed in the shape parameter decrease on the pressure
surface. Figure 14 shows the pressure contours at the rotor tip
and stator hub.
4.3 High Speed Stage: Pressure Ratio = 3.5, Mfin = 1.5
- to the thickness of the section. The maximum diffusion factor.
This final stage in the family is presented as a suitable stage
in a low speed core compressor, or as a fan for a military engine.
The surface pressure distribution on the rotor tip and stator hub
sections are shown in Figure 15. The rotor tip section has an inlet
5.0
4.0
3.0
HK
2.0
Figure 14: Rotor tip and stator hub pressure contours.
Pressure ratio = 2, M rip = 1.
relative Mach number of 1.54 with a fairly strong passage shock.
Precompression not only weakens the passage shock but also adds
occurring at the tip, is 0.75 and the suction mass flow required
by the rotor is 3% of the inlet mass flow.
The relative inlet Mach number at the stator hub is super-
sonic and once again is the most highly loaded section in this
stage. The turning required to return the flow to axial conditions
is 67°. The suction mass flow required by the stator is 3% of the
inlet mass flow (neglecting the mass removed at the rotor) and
the maximum diffusion factor, occurring at hub, is 0.78.
Figure 16 shows the growth of boundary layer parameters
on the suction surface of the rotor tip section, and the behavior
on the stator hub is similar to that shown. The boundary layer on
this stage similar to the medium-speed stage, but there is a no-
ticeable increase in the suction mass flow over the other two
stages. The effect of diverging trailing is seen in the shape pa-
rameter decrease on the pressure surface. Figure 17 shows the
pressure contours at the rotor tip and stator hub.

1.0 5.0 IMPLEMENTATION OF BOUNDARY LAYER REMOVAL

0.0
-006 0.0 0.06 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42
M'
Figure 13: Rotor tip suction surface kinematic shape
parameter. Pressure ratio = 2, !skip = 1.
As indicated in the Intoduction, the requirements for removal
of the flow bled from the boundary layer are an integral pan of
the design of an aspirated compressor. After careful consider-
ation of a number of design concepts, the scheme illustrated in
Figure 18 has been selected for the fan rotor to be constructed
and tested at MIT.
A continuous suction slot or scoop will connect to three sepa-

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 2.0 1 .6 RISES LAM
.5000 40002 • 0.5466 moll • 14529 KA6mt • 0.0053
1.8 0.2670 17/90 • 0.7690 91/90 • 0.0961 P2/60 • 0.9006
• 2.0000 51332 • 1.0590 51.01.1 • 2.4050 SIM • 0.0502
• 2.9923 RE • 3.000.103 P20.1 • ;.7105 RE • 0100.00 1
1.6 04 A.
• 0. VIII • 0.000 • 0.0662 • 0.0155
1.4
mi 1.2
1.0
0.8 0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2 0.2

0.0 00

Figure 15: Rotor tip and stator hub isentropic Mach number distribution. Pressure ratio = 3.5, M ilo = 1.5.

rate removal passages within the blade, all carrying their respec-
tive bleed flows to the tip of the rotor blade. The tip shroud will
be continuous peripherally and integral to the blades. Removal
of the suction flow through the tip of the rotor makes the suction
system self-pumping. The three suction channels will pierce the
tip shroud where an orifice will regulate the amount of suction
provided by any given channel. Design calculations indicate that
with the blade sections described above there is sufficient flow
area to handle as much as three times the flow required.
The flow bled from the rotor will pass into the clearance
space formed by the tip shroud and its seals, from where it can
be dumped overboard or carried to another point in the engine
for use as cooling air.
For the stator the arrangement is analogous but somewhat
flexible, since the higher static pressure at that point in the fan
will allow the bled flow to be carried to points in the engine
where the pressure is above the inlet pressure.
In order to ensure that it does not limit the pressure ratio of
the stage, the casing boundary layer must be removed before
entering the rotor, through a bleed slot immediately in front of
the tip shroud. The required boundary layer removal is approxi-
mately one percent of the total mass flow. The stator hub may
also require boundary layer removal at its entrance. Since the
flow into the stator near the hub is supersonic, a shock surface
interacts with the hub boundary layer.
5.1 Implementation in the Blowdown Compressor
The details of implementation of an aspirated stage for an
engine are beyond the scope of this paper, however a design has
been evolved for testing an aspirated stage in the MIT B lowdown
Compressor. It is shown schematically in Figure 19. The facility
has been described in Kerrebrock et al. (1997). For the present
purposes is is sufficient that the flow is transient, from a supply
tank to a dump tank that is initially evacuated. Thus, the three
bleed flows, from the endwall, rotor and stator can be separately
carried to the dump tank, along with the main flow. The rotor

0.020 5.0
TOP
0.016 4.0

0.012 3.0
HK

0.008 2.0

0.004 1.0

0.000 0.0
-006 0.0 0.06 OM 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42 -006 0.0 0.06 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.30 0.36 0.42
M ' M'

Figure 16: Rotor tip suction surface boundary layer growth. Pressure ratio = 3.5, MN, = 1.5.

10

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Figure 17: Rotor tip and stator hub pressure contours.
Pressure ratio = 3.5, Mto = 1.5.
and stator will be fabricated with integral blades (and shroud in
the case of the rotor), the suction passages being machined out
of the suction surfaces of the blades and closed out by attached
covers on each blade.
6.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS
If their performance is successfully confirmed experimen-
tally, the family of compressor stage designs described here will
provide a basis for design of compressors with about twice the
work per stage of present designs, at any particular tip speed. It
is clear that to realize this level of performance, the limiting vis-
cous effects must be controlled at all points in the flow path. We
believe that the designs described here have this capability. How-
ever this can only be established by experiments, which are in
process.
Further, only design point behavior has been treated here. While
computations may be able to shed some light on the off-design be-
havior of aspirated stages, again experiments will be required to
establish their performance over the full range of conditions.
7.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by the Air Force Office of Sci-
entific Research F49620-96-1-0266, Mark Glauser, and by Al-
lied Signal Engines, Dr. Arun Sehra.
II
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Figure 18: Schematic of inlet and rotor suction systems,
showing tip shroud and multiple suction passages in blades.
To Dump
Tank
To Throttle --.
and Dump Tank
Figure 19: Schematic of inlet and rotor suction system to
be tested in the MIT Blowdown Compressor.
8.0 REFERENCES
Drela, M., Giles, M.B., 1987, "Viscous-Inviscid Analysis of
Transonic and Low Reynolds Number Airfoils," AIAA Journal,
Vol. 25, No. 10, pp. 1347-1355.
Henne, P.A., Gregg, RD., 1989, "New Airfoil Design Con-
cept," AIAA-89-220 I CP.
Kerrebrock, IL., Reijnen, D.P., Ziminsky. W.S.. Smilg, L.M..
1997, "Aspirated Compressors", ASME Paper 97-GT-525, Or-
lando, Fl.
Merchant, A.A., 1996, "Design and Analysis of Supercritical
Airfoils with Boundary Layer Suction," M.S. Thesis, MIT.
Peraire, J., Peiro, J., Morgan, K., 1993, "Multigrid Solution
of the 3D Compressible Euler Equations on Unstructured Tetra-
hedral Grids," Int. J. for Num. Meth. in Eng.. Vol. 36, pp. 1029-
1044.
Youngren, H.H., 1991, "Analysis and Design of Transonic
Cascades with Splitter Vanes," Report No. 203, MIT Gas Tur-
bine Laboratory, Cambridge, MA.