Investigation of inlet distortion effects on axial compressor performance based on streamline curvature method

In this paper, the effects of inlet flow distortion on performance maps and details of the flow field are investigated using the Streamline Curvature Method. The results are presented for both design and off-design conditions and compared with experimental data, which shows good agreement. The effects of inlet flow distortion are investigated by inlet total pressure variation in three different cases in the way that the average total pressure remains constant and equal to the design value. The results show that a relative increase in the total pressure at tip causes an increase in the pressure ratio and efficiency as well as a better performance in the choking region. Alternatively, a relative increase in the total pressure in hub causes opposite behavior and a better performance at the surging region.