Viscous three-dimensional calculations of transonic fan performance

A 3-D flow analysis code was used to compute the design speed operating line of a transonic fan rotor, and the results were compared with experimental data. The code is an explicit finite difference code with an algebraic turbulence model. The transonic fan, called rotor 67, was tested experimentally at NASA-Lewis with conventional aerodynamic probes and with user anemometry and was included as one of the AGARD test cases for the computation of internal flows. The experimental data are described. Maps of total pressure ratio and adiabatic efficiency versus mass flow were computed and are compared with the experimental maps, with good agreement. Detailed comparisons between calculations and experiment are made at two operating points, one near peak efficiency and the other near stall. Blade-to-blade contour plots are used to show the shock structure. Comparisons of circumferentially integrated flow quantities downstream of the rotor show spanwise distributions of several aerodynamic parameters. Calculated Mach number distributions are compared with laser anemometer data within the blade row and the wake to quantify the accuracy of the calculations. Particle traces are used to show the nature of secondary flow.