A Method for Selection of Optimum Solidity in the Design of a Tandem Compressor Blade Row

In the current article, using the results of previous researches, a guideline has been developed to select a proper value for the solidity of a tandem blade row in an axial flow compressor stage. Next, a highly loaded tandem compressor stage has been designed using this guideline. Some other cases have been designed with different solidity values to verify the selected solidity value. Other geometrical parameters have been selected similarly in all cases. At the next stage, a three-dimensional numerical model is developed to predict the characteristic performance of each tandem stage. The model is validated with the experimental results of NASA Stage and Rotor 37, and the model s accuracy level is presented. Using a similar model, the performance of all cases has been derived, and the effect of solidity variation on the machine s overall performance has been discussed. Lastly, the effect of solidity variation on the tip leakage flow structure near the peak efficiency point is discussed for all cases.