ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS CODE DEVELOPMENT FOR CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSORS

IN THIS PROJECT WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS CODE TO AIDE IN THE DESIGN OF HIGHLY LOADED HIGH MACH NUMBER CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSORS. AN ADVANCED CODE, RAMPANT 1.0, HAS ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED BY CREARE.X TO PERFORM COMPRESSIBLE FLOW SIMULATIONS IN A WIDE VARIETY OF GEOMETRIC CONFIGURATIONS. THE CODE EMPLOYS UNSTRUCTURED SOLUTION-ADAPTIVE MESHES WITH TETRAHEDRAL CELLS AND A FINITE VOLUME SECOND-ORDER ACCURATE PROCEDURE. IT IS CAPABLE OF FULL THREE-DIMENSIONAL VISCOUS CALCULATIONS. INTERACTIVE SETUP AND GRAPHICS ARE AVAILABLE. THIS CODE REPRESENTS THE STATE OF THE ART IN COMMERCIAL CODES FOR COMPRESSIBLE FLOWS. IN PHASE I, WE PROPOSE TO CONVERT THIS CODE TO ANALYZE HIGHLY LOADED HIGH MACH NUMBER CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSORS, INCLUDING MODIFICATIONS TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS. IN PHASE II, WE PROPOSE TO USE THIS CODE TO ANALYZE TWO PREVIOUSLY DESIGNED CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSORS AND THEIR DIFFUSER SYSTEMS. ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS IDENTIFIED IN PHASE I WILL ALSO BE PERFORMED.