Mechanism analysis and uncertainty quantification of blade thickness deviation on rotor performance

The blade thickness distribution is an important geometric parameter of a compressor rotor blade. It determines the aerodynamic performance of a rotor, which should be carefully designed. However, the manufacturing inaccuracies cause the blade thickness distribution to deviate from the ideal design. These geometric deviations alter the flow field near the blade surface, which affects the aerodynamic performance of the rotor. Therefore, it is of great significance to quantitatively investigate the effects of blade thickness deviation on the aerodynamic performance. In this paper, the influence of blade thickness deviation on the flow field is analyzed based on a transonic compressor rotor, and an uncertainty quantification process is performed to study the effects of blade thickness deviation on the aerodynamic performance. Cases with different geometry features are checked in the current study using 3-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations. Results show that the blade thickness deviation leads to changes in the intensities of the expansion wave in the upper part of the blade suction and the passage shock wave, which affects the supercharging process of the rotor. The influence of thickness deviation on the strength of the tip leakage vortex changes the isentropic efficiency of the rotor. The results of the uncertainty quantitative analysis indicate that the linear correlation between the variation of rotor performance and the thickness deviation is strong when the machining accuracy is high, whereas the linear correlation between the two is weakened when the tolerance range is larger.