Aerodynamic Analysis of Blade Stall Flutter Prediction for Transonic Compressor Using Energy Method

In this study, stall flutter onset prediction in a transonic compressor is carried out using the (uncoupled) energy method with Fourier transform. As the study is conducted computationally using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulations, the energy method was employed due to its higher computational efficiency by implementing the one-way FSI (Fluid Structure Interaction) model. The energy method is relatively uncommon for determining the aerodynamic damping and flutter prediction, specifically in blade stall conditions for the 3D blade passages. The NASA Rotor 67 was chosen for the validation of the study due to the availability of a wide range of experimental data. A flutter prediction analysis was performed computationally using CFD for the two-blade passages of the rotor in the peak efficiency and stall regions. Prior to this, the modal analysis on the prestressed blade was conducted, considering the centrifugal effects. The modal analysis provided accurate blade frequency and amplitude, which were the inputs of the flutter analysis. The first three modes of blade resonance were studied with a range of nodal diameters within near-peak efficiency and stall regions. The energy method implemented in this study for the flutter analysis was successfully able to predict the aerodynamic damping coefficients of the first three modes for a range of nodal diameters from the periodic-unsteady solution of the defined blade oscillation within the regions of interest (peak efficiency and stall point). The results of the study confirm the rotor blade’s stability within the near-peak region and, most importantly, the prediction of the flutter onset in the stall region. The study concluded that the computationally inexpensive and time-efficient energy method is capable of predicting the stall flutter onset. In the future, further validations of the energy method and investigations related to flow mechanism of stall flutter onset are planned.