This paper describes in detailed flow field in a centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser at off design point. Especially, we conducted both the experimental and numerical analysis in order to investigate the evolution process of a diffuser stall. At the stall point, the diffuser stall was initiated and rotated near the shroud side in the vaneless space. Furthermore, the diffuser stall was developed to a stage stall cell, as the mass flow was decreased. The developed stall cell was rotated within both the impeller and diffuser passages. The evolution process of the diffuser stall had three stall forms. First, the diffuser stall was rotating near the shroud side. Then, the diffuser stall shifted to the hub side and moved into the impeller passages. Finally, a stage stall was generated. From computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, a tornado-type vortex was generated first, near the hub side of the diffuser leading edge, when the diffuser stall was shifted to the hub side. Next, a throat area blockage was formed near the hub side because of the boundary layer separation in the vaneless space. Finally, the blockage within the diffuser passages expanded to the impeller passages and developed into a stage stall. From the pressure measurements along the impeller and diffuser passages, the magnitude of pressure fluctuation on the casing wall of the diffuser throat area also suddenly increased when the diffuser stall shifted to the hub side. Therefore, the evolution area of the diffuser stall was caused by the evolution of the blockage near the throat area of the diffuser passage.

In this study, the unsteady behavior of a diffuser rotating stall in a centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser was investigated through experiments and numerical analyses. From the casing static pressure measurements, it was determined that the diffuser stall propagated at 25% of impeller rotational speed in the vaneless space. The numerical results revealed the presence of a typical vortical structure on the diffuser’s leading edge. Under partial flow condition, a tornado-type vortex was generated on the diffuser’s leading edge. Furthermore, a longitudinal vortex at the shroud/suction surface corner (i.e., leading edge vortex (LEV)) was induced by the rolling-up flow on the diffuser suction surface. As the velocity was decreased, the development of the tornado-type vortex and LEV forms a substantial flow blockage within the diffuser passages. Furthermore, the diffuser stall cell was caused by the systematic vortical structure which consisted of the tornado-type vortex, LEV, and vortex in the throat area of diffuser passages. In addition to this, the developed LEV interacted with the next diffuser leading edge and formed the throat area blockage with the passage of time. Then, the tornado-type vortex and LEV developed by the throat area blockage and diffuser stall cell, which was caused by the systematic vortical structure, propagated to the succeeding diffuser vane. Therefore, the diffuser stall in the centrifugal compressor was caused by the evolution of the tornado-type vortex and LEV.

The evolution process of a diffuser rotating stall in a centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser was investigated by experimental and numerical analyses. From velocity measurements, it was found that the diffuser stall propagated near the shroud side in the vaneless space. As the mass flow decreased, a stage stall rotated within both the impeller and diffuser passages, instead of a diffuser stall. The evolution process of the diffuser stall had three stall forms. First, the diffuser stall, which was rotating on the shroud side, shifted to the hub side. Then, the diffuser stall moved into the impeller passages and evolved to a stage stall. From computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, a tornado-type vortex was generated first, near the hub side of the diffuser leading edge, when the diffuser stall was shifted to the hub side. Next, a throat area blockage was formed near the hub side because of the boundary layer separation in the vaneless space. Finally, the blockage within the diffuser passages expanded to the impeller passages and developed into a stage stall. From the pressure measurements along the impeller and diffuser passages, the magnitude of pressure fluctuation on the casing wall of the diffuser throat area also suddenly increased when the diffuser stall shifted to the hub side. Therefore, the evolution area of the diffuser stall was caused by the evolution of the blockage near the throat area of the diffuser passage.

The transition process from a diffuser rotating stall to a stage stall in a centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser was investigated by experimental and numerical analyses. From the velocity measurements, it was found that the rotating stall existed on the shroud side of the diffuser passage in the off-design flow condition. The numerical results revealed the typical vortical structure of the diffuser stall. The diffuser stall cell was caused by the systematic vortical structure which consisted of the tornado-type vortex, the longitudinal vortex at the shroud/suction surface corner (i.e., leading edge vortex (LEV)), and the vortex in the throat area of the diffuser passages. Furthermore, the stage stall, which rotated within both the impeller and diffuser passages, occurred instead of the diffuser stall as the mass flow rate was decreased. According to the velocity measurements at the diffuser inlet, the diffuser stall which rotated on the shroud side was shifted to the hub side. Then, the diffuser stall moved into the impeller passages and formed the stage stall. Therefore, the stage stall was caused by the development of the diffuser stall, which transferred from the shroud side to the hub side in the vaneless space and expanded to the impeller passages.

The characteristics of a diffuser rotating stall and the evolution of a vortex generated on the diffuser leading edge (i.e., leading-edge vortex (LEV)) in a centrifugal compressor were investigated using experiments and numerical analyses. The experimental results showed that both impeller and diffuser rotating stalls occurred at 55 and 25 Hz during off-design flow operation. Both the stall cells existed only on the shroud side of the flow passages, which is in close proximity to the source location of the LEV. The numerical results showed that the LEV is a combination of a separated vortex near the leading edge and the extended tip-leakage flow from the impeller. In the partial flow operation, the LEV develops as the velocity decreases in the diffuser passages and forms a huge flow blockage within the diffuser passages. Therefore, the LEV may be considered to be one of the causes of diffuser stall in the centrifugal compressor.