An advanced axial-slot casing treatment on a transonic compressor: A close look with computational fluid dynamics and experimental validation

The numerical and experimental investigation of non-axisymmetric casing treatments is complex compared to axisymmetric ones like circumferential grooves. Hence they are still rarely investigated, at least regarding combinations of numerical and experimental work on the same configuration. The casing treatment under investigation is capable of significantly broadening the operating range of a tip-critical transonic compressor. This is accomplished without an efficiency penalty at design conditions. It is demonstrated that the application of a casing treatment over the rotor might impose negative effects on the downstream stator that would have to be considered in future designs. Earlier work by the authors was focused on the experimental investigation, in particular of transient effects near stall. In this paper, RANS and URANS simulations are presented in detail. These are used to further study and explain the causes of the effects that were found experimentally. Additional experimental data are added where appropriate, continuing the validation of the numerical methods.