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Copyright 1998 by ASME All Rights Reserved Printed in USA

r)
A REVIEW OF RECENT RESEARCH ON CONTRA-ROTATING
AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSOR STAGE
P.B. Sharma and A. Adekoya
Delhi College of Engineering,
Kashmere Gate, Delhi 110006. India.
111 111 1111c1R1 1A1111111111

ABSTRACT rotation concept (rotation of two rotors in the opposite

direction without any stator) has emerged with a view to
Aero compressor technology has seen a significant achieve higher- pressure rise per unit axial length by
advancement during the last two decades. Research on elimination of the stator, besides its suitability (in increasing
Rotor-Stator stage has focused on improvements in the the operating range) for rotating stall/surge suppression.
design as well as off-design performance. Work has also Utilisation of the contra-rotation concept applied to a gas
been carried out to improve the clearance losses, stage turbine driven aircraft propellers has been reported in the
loading as well as the stability of the operation. In this early forties by Taylor (1941), Bourdon (1942), and Fairhurst
connection, the work on end-bend rotor-stator and variable (1944). In these studies, contra rotation of two adjacent
geometry stators is specially significant. These efforts have propellers was observed to provide an improved flow through
however, yielded marginal improvements as far as the the slip-stream, which resulted in more efficient conversion of
capability of the stage to produce pressure rise and its engine power into thrust, The contra-rotation concept for
through-flow capacity are concerned. The interest in contra- obtaining high pressure rise and an increased throughflow '
rotation has emerged with a view to achieve considerable capacity in a single stage axial flow fan was first reported in
high pressure rise per stage besides its effects on stability of the fifties.
the stage to rotating stall/surge suppression. Contra-rotation Lynam and Hawes (1946) investigated the performance
concept has already found its acceptability in the of a contra-rotating axial flow fan and reported that the
development of future fuel efficient gas turbine plants and performance of axial fan/compressor shows a significant
aero engines. improvement when the second rotor rotates in the opposite
This paper presents a review of the experimental and direction. It was observed that a contra fan stage provided a
theoretical investigations on the aero-dynamic and aero- much higher pressure rise and mass flow at a higher .
acoustic performance of the contra-rotating . pressure stage. efficiency. Young (1952) in his work reported that a contra
The areas of future work on contra-rotation are also outlined. rotor stage delivers higher pressure rise and provides high
through-flow capacity. Studies on off-design and stalling
NO behaviour of the contra rotors were however not reported in
DR Diffusion ratio, W2/W1 N2/N1 Speed ratio these early works. The contra rotors in the work of Young
P, Total pressure R-R Rotor-rotor stage were rotated at the same speed. Ozgur (1961) reported the
R-S
. Rotor-stator stage Rh/R, Hub-tip ratio inevitable losses, instabilities and loss of efficiency in
Urn Mean blade velocity V, Mean axial velocity conventional axial flow pumps due to the presence of whirl in
CD. Mean flow coefficient, Valt1,,, water leaving the runner under off-design operation. He
Subscript proposed the use of a rotating guide vane to offset this whirl.
0 Upstream of first rotor 1 First rotor inlet This in effect corresponded to the second rotor rotating in the
2 First rotor exit 3 Second rotor exit opposite direction. Sabel and Sabatuik (1957) employed
Design First rotor contra rotating rotors to avoid the necessity for any inlet
RR Contra stage Stall guide vanes or stator to achieve an adequate pressure ratio
sc Solid casing tc Treated casing in a supersonic compressor stage. However, a major
mechanical failure which destroyed their compressor led to
INTRODUCTION the termination of the work without any further
accomplishment. The development of a multistage
Over the years, overall improvement of the performance compressor employing the contra concept has also been
of an axial flow compressor has been achieved through attempted by Miller and Chappel (1972). A five stage axial
different active control and monitoring techniques besides flow compressor employing pairs of contra rotating rotors
modifications in the aerodynamic design. These efforts have and rotating stators was developed for use in an industrial
however yielded marginal improvements in terms of the stage gas turbine, The contra-rotation of stators was provided
pressure rise and its throughflow capacity. Interest in contra- through the rotation of the outer casing to which the stators

Presented at the International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress & Exhibition
Birmingham, UK — June 10-13, 1996
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 were fixed. In this work the overall compressor characteristics
showed a poor stalling and -surging behaviour. The
complexity of obtaining high speed contra rotation in
multistage arrangements so far has restricted further
development.
Newton (1985) and Saunder and Glassman (1985) have
reviewed the latest trends towards the development of fuel
efficient gas turbine engines utilising a single stage contra-
rotation in high bypass turbo fans. An un-ducted fan
developed by General Electric was targeted to provide a high
bypass ratio of about 40 thus resulting in an improvement in
propulsive efficiency and fuel saving up to about 30%
(Baldeo,1987). The un-ducted fan utilises a pair of contra-
rotating un-ducted fan rotors for achieving high bypass ratio.
Research has also been carried out on a ducted contra-
rotating fan to provide a bypass ratio of about 12-14 which
would result to fuel saving of about 25% (Newton,1985). The
futuristic development of higher thrust engine is considered
important in the context of desirable reduction in specific fuel
consumption and increase in propulsive efficiency. Utilisation
of contra-rotation in combination with the existing rotor-stator
stages has been suggested as a fruitful development in this
direction. Improved propulsion system, in which the jet is
assisted by contra-rotating fan propellers installed at the rear,
popularly called Unducted Fan, UDF have been developed.
The contra fan in such a case is employed as a pusher
arrangement. Research has also been carried out on ducted
contra-rotating stage, which could be installed at the rear of
an engine. In both these configurations the contra-fan
provides a much increased bypass ratio besides a significant
improvement in propulsive efficiency.
This paper presents a review of the aerodynamic and
aeroacoustic aspect of performance of a ducted single stage
contra-rotating axial flow compressor. The effects of major
factors such as speed ratio of the two contra-rotors, hub-tip
ratio, inlet distortion and casing treatment are discussed.
AERODYNAMIC ASPECT - EXPERIMENTAL
INVESTIGATION
The test rig used in the study under review is shown in
Fig.1. It consists of a pair of contra-rotating rotors, forming a
single contra-stage. The contra-rotating rotors are mounted
on two separate solid co-axial shafts using double tapered
couplings for ease of installation. The two rotor shafts,
independently driven by two separate motors, are capable of
rotating in opposite directions in a speed range of 0-3000
rpm. The air discharged from the first rotor enters directly
into the second rotor (rotating in the opposite direction) and is
finally discharged into the atmosphere through a disc throttle
installed at the delivery duct. The axial spacing between the
rotors is varied by adopting the rotor dics of different axial
widths. The design parameters of the test compressor are
given Table 1.
Effect of Speed Ratio
One of the earliest investigations on the effect of speed
ratio on contra rotating stage was first reported by Nagano
(1971). He demonstrated that by suitably adjusting the speed
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of- the second rotor, it is possible to reduce the stall
propagating speed to nearly zero: The work of Sharma et al
(1985) further confirmed Nagano's findings. Their results
have further- shown that the stalling behaviour of a contra
rotating axial compressor stage depends upon the speed
ratio of the two rotors. It was established that a significant
improvement in stall free range can be obtained by contra
rotating the second rotor. 50% faster than the first rotor.
Under such operating speed ratio, the first rotor was found to
exhibit a completely stall free operating characteristics.
Evidence of this is shown in Fig. 2a. The plot reveals the
contra-compressor characteristics in terms of inlet total to
exit -static pressure rise coefficient, tYts and mean flow
coefficient. The pressure rise coefficient is defined as;
P2 POP3 PO
PTS)R1 — and Pts)nsan =
y Du'
(I (
you
2 . m
'
The axial gap between the contra rotors for the above
test was of the order of 30% of first rotor chord. It may be
observed that, increasing the speed of the second rotor by
50% i.e. 1000-1500 rpm allows the first rotor to operate with
a near total stall free characteristics up to (D m = 0.12. The
suppression of stall in the first rotor enables the contra-stage
to exhibit a stall free. characteristics up to O m = 0.72 and
thereafter exhibiting a near flat characteristics up to O m =
0.59. This indicates that the stall on the first rotor is
suppressed due to the rotation of the second rotor in the
opposite direction. The manifestation of the stall cells on the
first rotor is denied in a contra stage when operated with a
speed ratio of 1.5:1. Propagation of stall cells would require
that the cells rotate in the direction of the second rotor, a
situation not conducive to the second rotor stall.
In the case of contra speed ratio of 1:1, 1000-1000 rpm
(Fig. 2b), the first rotor exhibits a stall free characteristic up
to cb„, = 0.45. The contra stage however stalled at O m = 0.57
and thereafter exhibited a deep stall characteristics. Rotation
of the first rotor faster than the second by 50% tends to
increase the loading on the first rotor and thus stalled earlier
than the second rotor. The only advantage with this speed
ratio, 0.66:1, is that, the stall point is shifted to a lower flow
coefficient (Fig. 2c).
Rao (1988) also demonstrated the effect of speed ratio
on the performance of a contra-rotating fan stage. Result
from his work indicating different margins between the stall
line and operating line is shown in Fig. 3. It was observed
that when second fan runs at higher speed than the first fan,
maximum operating zones are extended to lower flow rates,
indicating that onset of even partial stall is delayed or
avoided, Fig. 3a. It was further observed that when the first
fan speed is higher than the second fan speed, the pressure
curves show a narrower operating range, i.e. early stall, Fig.
3b. This trend of characteristics exhibited was recently
explained by Roy et al (1992). They reported that keeping the
first fan speed constant and increasing the second fan speed,
the flow would be incident on the second rotor at high
positive incidence angle (Fig. 4a). This high positive
incidence angle was reported not to lead to separation or
stall. On the first rotor, the stall tendency (increasing
deviation), (Fig. 4b] is suppressed by the contra-rotating
 Table 1 Contra-sta e desi n Parameters
hub dia. 322mm
Tip dia. 486mm
Hub-tip ratio 0.667
Annulus area 0.104e
N2/N1 1:1 (1000-1000 rpm)
Om 0.70

1 &LOCO
I. •1311 ,0Lt C000‘iwg I. *0100. I
I. Miff 7. 110701-11
I. •ONO CEMOCO IIfl**

Fig. 1 Schematic view of the test compressor 0.0

erltv
0.6 • • T•nont
4 • 14.01141 alma./

0.2

R1 Rr Ra 00
0-0 01 02 03 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 03
Throttle . Closing
TS RSIT5
4 a Thr ottle Opining
Fig. 2c Contra compressor characteristic - effect of speed
ratio ( 1500-1000 rpm)
OAP
PARTIALLY
STALLED ME .
0.4
1. 026
■PR ESSU R e PA TIO —

OA Cul 64 53 0.4 ae 54 0.1 at: 2600

01.1
I • 0 IS 7/00
Fig. 2a Contra compressor characteristic - effect of speed
ratio ( 1000-1500 rpm) 2000

I .014
141:36000
16" /
ST
ROTOR
SPEED
1 - 010 - 1
i I t 1
3 4 5 6 7

MASS FLOW . kg i St r —.•

SECOND ROTOR SPEED: 1400 R.P. M.
NT PrPe .
• • Throttle Clot166 Fig. 3a 115,161
4 4 Yu Ono Cloalat

PARTIALLY
1- 022 - • STALLED
PRESS URERATI O---e•

1 • 0 15
400 2600
. 2200 2300
1 • 0 14 - 2000,/,
MOO 2N13 ROTOR
00 0.1 02 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.9 07 0.0 0.9 SPEED
CAY1 1. 0 10
3 5
Fig. 2b Contra compressor characteristic - effect of speed MASS FLOW , lig I set —5,
ratio ( 1000-1000 rpm)
Fig. 3b 115,161

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 second rotor. This they attributed to the fact that the second Effect of Blade design
rotor suction surface moves in opposite direction to the first
Further improvement of the contra-rotating stage have
rotor suction surface and thus the suction effect of the
also been examined through different set of blades, namely,
second rotor pulls the first rotor wake along with it in a
Diffusion Controlled Aerofoil section (twisted) and C-4
direction opposite to that of the first rotor motion and thus
Aerofoil section (untwisted). The blading parameters under
tending to suppress separation. Thus, when second rotor
review are given in Table 2. Analysis of results have shown
speeds are higher, even with flow throttling, unit total
that the DCA blade set provides a significant improvement in
pressure rise characteristics remain flat and stall is delayed
the overall performance of the contra-rotating stage.
to lower mass flow, Fig. 3b.
Table 2 Geometric detail of blades.
DCA-Twisted C-4 - Untwisted
Parameters Ft, Ro RI Ft',
No. of Blade 19 16 26 26
Blades Stagger 26.91 ° 47.66° 45° 45°
(hub) 45° 55°
Tip Clearance (mm) 1.0 1,0 1.0 1.0
Blade Camber - - 20° 20°
Blade Chord (mm) 65 65 45 45
Aspect Ratio 1.23 1.23 1.77 1.77
Pitch-Chord Ratio 1.03 1.22 1.08 1.08

Sharma (1986) observed that contra stage with C-4

blade set develops about 2.35 times higher pressure rise and
provide 80% improvement in the throughflow capacity as
compared to the rotor-stators stage, when operated at a
speed ratio of 1:1. While a contra stage with DCA blade set
provides up to 27% improvement in stall flow margin as
compared to rotor-stator stage having the same design point
performance. Figure 5 reveals the contra-compressor
characteristics across the first rotor and the contra stage with
the two sets of bladings. The DCA blade set shows a
significantly higher pressure rise throughout the operating
range.

Fig. 4a Typical velocity triangles at mean diameter of the

contra-rotating fans [16]
Na g

Lt • • earyt•ft0
• 0 . nutty)

Tr'
00

0.•

0 01 0.t 0.4 0.• 0.T 0.0 0.1 tt• 0.2

•400irpt1 Vtl. till•NGL(

TEL. TRL•Nalt (USING t•RTEWS RULE

OF ()Ennio,. )

Fig. 5 Contra compressor characteristics - effect of

Fig. 4b Modified velocity vectors from first fan exit [16]
blade design (1000-1000 rpm)

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 Effect of Inlet distortion
The discussion so far has been confined to the contra-
stage perforrnance with a uniform inlet flow condition. But
critical situations for compressor operation are often
associated with an inlet non-uniformity or distorted inlet flow
condition. Inlet distortion generally decreases the stall free
range as well as the pressure rise capability of the
compressor.
Sharma (1986) studied the effect of inlet distortion on the
performance of the contra-rotating stage. A 360° inlet
distortion screen was placed at the contra compressor intake
approximately 8 axial chords upstream front the leading edge
of the first rotor. The upstream turbulence introduced by the
mesh was approximately 2.8%, while with clean intake
conditions, the inlet flow has main stream turbulence
intensity of around 0.5%. Figure 6 shows the total pressure
loss obtained across the distortion screen at different flow
coefficients and Fig. 7 shows the contra compressor 1 hc .
characteristics. The C-4 blade set were employed. It can be Oases I

seen that, during the steady operating range, the stage Fig. 6 Total pressure loss across the distortion screen
performance for distorted inlet exhibits a deterioration for all
the speed ratios. It can also be seen that, with inlet gauze, a
negative hysteresis has been observed as the throttle is
opened for stall recovery. The negative hysteresis is however
not present in the clean inlet case. This implying that the
presence of an inlet gauze gives rise to such a hysteresis
effect. The existence of negative hysteresis implies two
values of deflection for the same value of incidence. Such a
hysteresis is highly undesirable as it would cause severe
dynamic loading problem for the rotor blading. The negative
hysteresis is however absent in the case of a contra-stage
with speed ratio of 1.5:1.
An examination of the results of the inlet distortion
effects on a contra-stage with DCA blade set, also confirms
the existence of inlet gauze has a pronounced effect on the
first rotor as well as the contra-stage performance. The
contra-stage pressure rise decreases but the stage stall point
is not significantly affected by inlet distortion. The existence
of inlet gauze at upstream however improves the • Ti1o/f11.1 0019
performance of the first rotor. es h, ih,,,,h,9112141 dislar

Pundhir et al (1992) have recently studied the effect of

90° extent Circumferential inlet distortion on a contra rotating 00
00 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.0 0,7 0,11 1
stage with DCA blade set. Results of their work reveals that Yirei
the stall margin deteriorated by 16.66%, 26.31% and 14.81% Fig. 7 Contra Compressor characteristics - effect of inlet
For the three speed ratios namely, 0.66, 1.0 and 1.5 distortion (1500-1500 rpm)
respectively. Also, stage pressure rise deteriorated by
12.14%, 14.96% and 10.65% respectively, due to the Table 3
presence of circumferential inlet distortion. Values for 90° inlet distortion
A comparison of the severity of the 90° and 360 ° Speed Clean inlet Distorted inlet
distorted inlet reveals that the performance of the contra- Om Kr Tis
ratio en. eir trs
stage with 360° distorted inlet deteriorates considerably. The 0.67 0.52 1.07 0.53 0.94
stall point however shows an improvement for the contra 1.0 . 0.57 1.47 0.60 1.25
stage with speed ratio of 1:1. Table 3 gives the total to static
1.5 0.54 1.97 0.55 1.76
pressure rise values at respective stall onset points.
Values for 360° inlet distortion
0.667 0.52 1.06 0.52 0.89
1.0 0.54 1.46 0.50 1.96
1.5 0.70 1.92 0.55 1.73

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 Effect of Casino treatment performance of the untreated case. The advantage of the
techni q ue is that, it returns the-fluid removed from near the
Improvements in the desi gn and off-desi gn performance
tip of the second rotor boundary layer into the main floor near
of a contra-sta ge have been examined emplo ying different
the trailin g edge of the first rotor.
casing treatments. Fi gure 8 shows the type of casin g
treatments under review. The treated casin g segment over
the rotor were made of aluminium castin g inside which a
wide groove was cut to accommodate the treatment liners.
Inside the liners different type of slot and grooves were
installed.
Sharma (1986,1990) studied the effect of these casin g i
treatments on the performance of a contra-sta ge. The results
demonstrated an improvement in stall/sur ge margin as well kase-4
.10u9 Gavle • Seat. stets I- ise-ai
as in the sta ge pressure rise, Table 4. The stall margin n.1.1 •1..
Stitt it ••••
improvement. SMI and sta ge pressure rise improvement. • 04114:

SPRI, in the table are defined as;

SMI = (4), („ ) - emoo /11,,;(w) ) x 100 and

SPRI = knot) - Tmoo pro„ ) ) x 100

For a contra sta ge operatin g with a speed ratio of 1:1,
Circumferential groove (CG) casin g treatment g rves the
highest stall margin improvement (14.5%), while the sta ge
H Slots
Dooth • lam
In ••••■ •-
4
CISCISSISCH•11164 Mont
141111 ■ • lam
pressure rise is reduced b y 8% as compared to the skewed • 4, 0'
slot (SS) casin g type. Similarly, for a contra sta ge operatin g
with a speed ratio of 1.5:1, Circumferential groove type of Fig . 8 Types of casin g treatment
casing treatment seems most suited, as it results in stall
margin improvement of around 9% and sta ge pressure rise •
'a 2003
improvement of about 6.5%. a 029 1900
Roy and Agrawal (1994) have recentl y studied the effect 0.84
casin g treatment throu gh recess vaned casin g , with the aim 0.79
•b 1
%-
r 1700
of removin g the casin g boundary layer from near the tip of 1 0.74 I %no
the second rotor and inject the flow back near the first rotor • 0.89 2 1500
tip so as to control the development of the casin g boundary g 0.84
layer. The injection location on the first rotor was chosen to 0.59 !
energise the boundary layer bein g developed across the first 034 it gog
rotor tip while the suction location was chosen to remove the 0.49 ptco
boundary layer before it is full y developed across the second -•-••• lett MEM. tlyetIlillat
0.44 -100D littbort Gan trnteamet
rotor tip. The recess vane was expected to contain the casin g ▪ 0-39 900
boundary layer throu gh a combined suction-injection a 0 .34 800
mechanism effected b y the prevailin g rear-to-front pressure 2.0 2.5 3.0 33 4.0 4.5 5.0
fl Pin. (W!)
ratio across the recess. The treatment works on the principle
7.92 9.92 11.92 13.92 15.92 17.92
of automatic suction and injection, due to the static pressure Nan Dirisimmillsod Iffs. (99•%/ ;,
gradient existing between the two axial stations. Straight
recessed vanes, arran ged in an annular arra y, surround the Fig. 9 Performance Enhancement b y Recess Vane Casin g
inner casing and are housed in an outer casin g. [18]
Flow near the casing , downstream of the unit was
scanned to get a measure of the boundary layers. At first, the Table 5
direct suction was tried b y removal of upto 4% of the flow Speed (1000-1000 rpm)
near casin g on the second rotor tip; The method showed Casing (I)„, is, Tisom itrsavais SMI% SPRI%
marginal improvement (Ro y et al.,1992) at desi g n point It S.0 0.62 0.30 0.76
was inferred that the contra-rotatin g unit imposes a stron ger C.G 0.53 fO.31 0.86 14.5 7.89
axial adverse pressure gradient, and hence, si g nificant S.S 0.595 0.25 0.87 4.03 10.52
boundary layer control would require larger than 4% flow AS 0.59 0.39 0.72 4.83 7.89
suction by an external device, impl ying a prohibitive loss of Seed
1 (1000-1500 rpm)
mass flow. The result of their work shown in Fi g . 9 exhibit a S.0 0.71 0.15 1.07
considerable improvement of the fan performance due to the
C.G 0.645 0.12 0.17 9.15 6.54
recess vane casin g treatment. For contra speed ratio of 1:1,
S.S 0.65 0.21 1.20 8.45 5.60
the fan characteristics shows a much hi gher surge marg in
and greater stable operating range when compared to the AS 0.67 0.20 1.01 5.92 8.41

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 AERODYNAMIC ASPECT - THEORETICAL Table 6
INVESTIGATIONS RhiRt 0m' P15 (d) 'P15 15) DRI, DR2,
Theoretical investigation of the performance of contra 0.667 0.554 1.14 1.415 0.69 0.71
stage fan was first reported by Nath (1969). He studied the 0.714 0.52 1.16 1.434 0.65 0.65
inverse problem for a non-free vortex blade design with the
assumption of radial equilibrium for steady, incompressible,
--- Timm y
inviscid and asymmetric flow. Results obtained were
compared with the corresponding results from a similar size
• ••••• Experiment

axial fan with downstream guide vanes. It was found that the
values of total pressure rise coefficient, static pressure rise
coefficient and static efficiency of the contra-rotating fans
were almost twice those of the fan with downstream guide
vanes.
Adekoya (1995) studied the effect of speed ratio and 0.73 :
hub-tip ratio on the performance of a single stage contra-
rotating axial flow compressor, employing the streamline
‘41-0
curvature method. Results from this work show that a contra- 0.50 --
rotating stage for a speed combination of 1000-1000 rpm
produces a stall flow margin of about 1.67 times when 0.23 :
compared to a rotor-stator stage. It was also found that a
contra-stage with contra-speed combination of 1500-1000
rpm produces a pressure rise of about 1.93 times as 0.00
compared to that obtained for a rotor-stator stage. Results 0.40 0.60 0.50 _t 1.00
from this work were validated with experimental work (Pm
(Pundhir,1990), Fig 10a. Both the theory and experiment Fig. 10a Contra compressor characteristics - effect of
show a rising characteristics up to the stall onset points of speed ratio (comparison of theory and experiment)
0.554 and 0.562 respectively. Beyond 0.562 of experimental
stall point, a sudden drop in characteristics is evident. The
theory however does not predict the performance beyond the 1.30 -
stall point of 0.554. A close agreement between theory and •-•-•--• 0.667 huh-tip ratio
••••• 0.714 hub-tip r tio
experiment is evident (Table 5). The stall flow margin in the *
table is expressed as: 1.25
\t
Stall flow margin. SFM = (.:P m(d) - idlm(d) ) x 100
1.00
Table 5. Comparison of Theory and Experiment 12
1 r.f
T1540 (Dm(s) Peak Tit SFM 0.75
Theory 1.1415 0.554 1.415 20.1%
Expt. 1.161 0.562 1.441 19.7%
0.50
It was also found that an increase in the hub t'p ratio
from 0.667 to 0.714 i.e. a reduction of the blade height, 0.25
increases the stage pressure rise as well as the stall flow
margin, Fig. lob. It was observed that stall flow margin
increases by about 1.28 times and pressure rise at design 0.00 illIFITTIT4.,iF1111,41

0.40 A 0.110
.0.60 1.00
point rb,,, = 0.70, increases by about 1.02 times. For a contra-
911ot si
speed combination of 1000-1500 rpm, the stall flow margin
and pressure rise at design point increases by about 1.02 Fig. 10b Contra compressor characteristics - effect of
times and 1.01 times respectively. The performance hub-tip ratio
improvement due to increase in hub-tip ratio may be
attributed to the reduction in the loading due to the increased AEROACOUSTIC ASPECT - EXPERIMENTAL
aspect ratio of the blade. The characteristic trend obtained INVESTIGATION
may also be related to the extent of diffusion taking place The shedding of blade vortices from a rotating rotor row
across the rotors. Table 6 gives the diffusion ratio, obtained is known to be a source of generation of aerodynamic noise.
across the mid section of the rotors. These vortices when intercepted by a stationary blade row
(stator) in a compressor stage further increase the intensity
of noise. The level of noise is dependent on the number of
blade rows besides being variable with operating conditions

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 such as, pressure ratio, flow coefficient and operating speed.
Replacing the stationary blade row with a second rotor as in
the case of contra-rotating stage, the problem of noise is
further aggravated. In a contra-stage the blade vortices shed
by the first rotor are intercepted by the moving row and since
the second blade row is moving in opposite direction, the
blades of the second row receive the flow at a higher angle of
attack and a much higher relative velocity.
Sharma et at (1991) employing acoustic signature
analysis (real time FFT) examined various factors affecting
the aeroacoustic performance of a contra-rotating stage. It
was established that the speed ratio of the two rotors, axial
gap between them and pitch-chord ratio affect the
aeroacoustic performance of the contra-stage. In this work,
the sound pressure levels were measured using a sound
pressure level meter (SPLM). The signal from the SPLM were
analysed using FFT analyser. Frequency spectra so obtained
were used to determine the predominant frequencies for
different test case.
Effect of Speed ratio
Figure. 11 reveals the variation of SPL at three stations,
namely, far field upstream (I), in between the two rotor (II)
and far field downstream (III). The SPL values in these plot
refer to the net SPL measures after subtracting the
background noise from the drive motors etc.
At the compressor intake (station I), the SPL increases
as the speed ratio is increased. The locus of peak SPL points
at the inlet of the test machine for different speed
combinations is also shown in Fig. 11a.
A comparison of the extent of the SPL at these stations
shows that the sound pressure level, SPL is attenuated
toward the intake while it is amplified towards the exit. The
amplification of the noise level towards the compressor exit
varies with the contra-speed ratio, being the lowest (2 dB) for
1500-2250 rpm case. It is however worth mentioning that
while the contra stage shows a significant improvement in
aerodynamic performance for contra-speed ratio of 1.5, the
peak SPL values for this speed ratio are extremely high.
Effect of Axial Gap
The axial gap between the two blade rows significantly
influences the sound pressure levels for a rotor-stator as well
as a contra-stage as may be seen from Fig. 12. In a contra-
stage operating with a speed ratio of 1.5, an increase in axial
gap from 30% (small) to 170% (large) of the first rotor chord,
results in a reduction in peak SPL of 10 dB at the intake and
5 dB at the exit. This reduction in peak SPL for large gap
case is thought to have been linked with the detuning of blade
passing frequencies in a contra-stage when the two rotors are
placed far apart as may be seen from the spectrum results in
Fig. 13. For small axial gap case, the predominant frequency
of 1550 Hz at the exit for a contra-stage is close to the sum
of blade passing frequencies of the two rotors whereas for the
large axial gap case no such compounding of frequencies is
observed. It is thus evident that an increase in the axial gap
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while degrading the aerodynamic performance results in an
improvement in acoustic performance of the contra-stage.
Roy and Rao (1989) and Sharma.(1991) suggested that
an optimisation of the axial gap between the contra-rotors is
needed so as to establish the trade off between the
aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of the contra-
rotating stage. Recent work of Roy et at (1992) studied the
effect of axial gap on the noise aspect of a contra-rotating fan
unit and reported that an increase in the axial gap permits a
significant reduction in the source of noise of 8 to 10 dB for
an aerodynamic penalty of approximately 10% in fan
efficiency.
CONCLUSIONS
Recent research on contra-rotating axial compressor
stage has established that the contra-stage performance is
significantly affected by a number of parameters such as
speed ratio of the two rotors, axial gap between them, hub-tip
ratio and pitch-chord ratio.
An increase in the speed ratio provides an improvement
in aerodynamic performance but the aeroacoustic
performance is deteriorated. A trade off between
aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance can be made by
selecting a suitable axial gap. An increase in the hub-tip ratio
is also found to improve the aerodynamic performance of a
contra rotating stage. A contra-rotating stage having 0.714
hub-tip ratio produces a stage pressure of about 1.01 times
than that possible with the case 0.667 hub-tip ratio. The stall
flow margin also shows a considerable improvement for a
high hub-tip ratio stage.
In a contra-stage, difficulty arises in defining the
Reynolds number, as the relative flow velocities for the rotors
are significantly different. However, it may be appropriate to
postulate that for the same pressure rise development at the
design flow, a conventional rotor-stator may be considered as
operating at a speed equal to the square root of two times
that of the contra-rotating rotors, when the two rotors are
operated at equal speed. Based on this concept, the
Reynolds number for contra-rotating stage builds under the
review are higher than the critical value, lx 10 5. The presence
of negative hysteresis in some of the contra-stage
characteristics may therefore be due to mis-match pitch-
chord ratio.
On the theoretical investigation side, only a limited
research is currently reported, For optimal design of a contra-
stage, further investigations are desirable to examine the
effects of boundary layer interaction with the main streamflow
in the vicinity of casing walls. Studies on mixing of jet flow in
the annular gap between the contra-rotating blade rows will
further illustrate the flow mechanism from one rotor to
another.
On the whole, the review presented herein opens up the
avenues for further research on the parameters and other
related aspects.
 MIMS

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Fig. 12b Variation of SPL - effect of axial spacing

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