The Effect of Trailing Edge Clearance in Suppressing Hub-Corner Stall

Hub corner is a high-loss area located within in the blade passages of turbomachinery. It is well known that flow separation and vortex development in this area directly affects, not only energy loss and efficiency, but also the stability of axial compressors. In this paper, a high diffusion factor cascade is used in order to analyze the vortex structure which causes the hub-corner stall in cascade. The trailing edge clearance method is proposed for controlling the hub-boundary layer and this is compared with full uniform clearance. Our research highlights that the trailing edge clearance suppress the radial development of the suction separation vortex (SSV) in the hub corner and restrains the concentrated separation vortex (CSV). The influence of trailing edge clearance parameters and its effect on control of hub-corner stall is discussed in detail. It is revealed that clearance height avoids flow separation and suppresses radial vortex development, while the clearance length resists the overturning that is caused by transverse pressure gradient and controls the development of CSV. As the radial vortex plays a dominant role in hub-corner stall, clearance height has a better effect in controlling hub-corner stall in comparison to length at the constant flow area.