Lessons Learned for Developing an Effective High-Speed Research Compressor Facility

Few universities in the world conduct experimental research on high-speed, high-power turbomachinery. The Purdue High-Speed Compressor Research Laboratory has a longstanding tradition of partnering with industry sponsors to perform high-TRL (technology readiness level) experiments on axial and radial compressors for aerospace applications. Early work in the laboratory with Professor Sanford Fleeter and Professor Patrick Lawless involved aeromechanics and the addition of a multistage axial compressor facility to support compressor performance studies. This work continues today under the guidance of Professor Nicole Key. While other universities may operate a single-stage transonic compressor or a low-speed multistage compressor, the Purdue 3-Stage (P3S) Axial Compressor Research Facility provides a unique environment to understand multistage effects at speeds where compressibility is important. Over the last two decades, several areas of important research within the gas-turbine engine industry have been explored: vane clocking, stall/surge inception, tip-leakage/stator-leakage (cavity leakage) flow characterization, and forced response, to name a few. This paper addresses the different configurations of the facility chronologically so that existing datasets can be matched with correct boundary conditions and provides an overview of the different upgrades in the facility as it has developed in preparation for the next generation of small-core compressor research.