Large eddy simulation of a compressor cascade and the influence of spanwise domain

A controlled diffusion compressor cascade is studied using large eddy simulation (LES). The aim of this study is to assess the capability of LES to be used in an industrial context. The Reynolds number is approximately 700 000 based on chord length and inlet velocity. A ‘thin-slice’ representation of the cascade is used as the reference grid, and the influence of a narrow span is studied by comparison simulations with a domain that has a span five times larger than the thin-slice grid. While the instantaneous flow-fields of the thin-slice and wide-domain simulations are qualitatively similar, the thin-slice simulations suffer from flow confinement problems caused by the imposition of the narrow span. The non-unity axial velocity density ratio of the flow enforces the use of inviscid wall spanwise boundaries, which have a parasitic influence on the development of the flow in the thin-slice simulations. The resultant data obtained from the thin-slice simulations are therefore compromised and the computed loss estimation is considered unreliable. However, when comparing mean quantities such as surface pressure and boundary layer growth the narrow does give reasonable predictions. While the inviscid spanwise walls also affect the flow near the boundaries in the wide domain simulations, there is sufficient region of span from which reliable flow data and loss estimations can be obtained. For blade flows at off-design conditions, a span of 20 per cent of the blade chord is sufficient to give good agreement with experimental data. This incurs a computational cost that may be too high to incorporate parametric LES studies into the design cycle of turbomachinery components with current computers.