Supercritical Airfoil Technology in Compressor Cascades: Comparison of Theoretical and Experimental Results

A shockless supercritical compressor blade designed with an inverse hodograph procedure has been tested in cascade. Comparisons of the measured performance results with those of a conventional cascade tested at the same design conditions are presented. The supercritical design is superior for this advanced application in terms of both reduced losses and increased incidence range. Results of the numerical simulation of the supercritical cascade test conditions using a transonic potential flow solution show good agreement between measured and computed velocity distributions. The ability to design, test, and analyze supercritical cascades is demonstrated through comparisons with detailed experimental results.