The tendency in the past has been to assume that when wakes or non-uniform total head profiles are fed into an axial compressor then substantially constant static pressure prevails at the entry, the variations in total head appearing as variations in velocity. This variation in velocity causes variation in incidence on the early stage blade rows and thus can give rise to excitation of blade vibration. This assumption is implicit, for instance, in References 1 and 2, but we think has been a common assumption by most of the people working in this field.Where the compressor is fed by a duct of substantially parallel walls for a reasonable length ahead, such an assumption appeared justifiable. Such a duct when given an air flow test with its outlet discharging, for instance, to atmosphere instead of to the compressor, then the distribution assumed would normally be obtained and in fact many surveys of such ducts have been represented in this fashion. The object of this note is to show that, in fact, this distribution will not normally occur when the compressor is present and we may normally expect much more nearly a constant velocity into the compressor with attendant static pressure distributions to match with the total head variations ahead of the intake, with of course, the attendant curved flow to support the static pressure gradients.

An experimental investigation to examine the influence of the vaned recess casing treatment on stall margin, operating efficiency and the flow field of a low speed axial flow fan with aerospace type blade loading is presented. Different geometrical designs of the vaned passages were examined. The best configuration resulted in a stall margin improvement of 67%, a significantly higher pressure rise in the stall region and insignificant change in peak efficiency. Detailed 3-D flow measurements in the endwall region and in the casing recess were carried out with a slanted hot-wire, providing some insight to the operation of the device. The results revealed that the stall margin improvement was largely due to the removal of flow from the blade tip to the recess, and the elimination of the growth of the stall region at the tip, which occurs at stall in the solid casing build.

The effect of applying a vaned recessed casing treatment to a single stage axial flow fan has been investigated. The influence of the axial position of the recess relative to the rotor leading edge and other geometrical modifications of the vane passage have been examined. Significant improvements in stall margin were observed without (in some builds) loss in peak efficiency. Slow and fast frequency response yawmeter probes have been used in the study to examine both the steady flow conditions and the unsteady flow caused by rotating stall.

The effect of applying a vaned recessed casing treatment to a single-stage axial flow fan has been investigated. The influences of the axial position of the recess relative to the rotor leading edge and other geometric modifications of the vane passage have been examined. Significant improvements in stall margin were observed without (in some builds) loss in peak efficiency. Slow and fast frequency response yawmeter probes have been used in the study to examine both the steady flow conditions and the unsteady flow caused by rotating stall.

An experimental investigation has been carried out on the influence of a vaned recessed casing treatment on the stall margin improvement of axial flow fans with different hub to tip ratio, with and without inlet distortion. The inlet distortion tests were conducted on a 0.5 hub to tip ratio fan and significant increases in the flow range with only small drops in operating efficiency were observed. The clean flow tests were conducted on higher hub to tip ratio fans (0.7 and 0.9). In each case the stage characteristic was compared with the results obtained with a solid casing. Significant increases in the flow range, with only modest or no loss in operating efficiency, were observed for optimum configurations at both diameter ratios.