Effects of Probe Support on the Flow Field of a Low-Speed Axial Compressor

This paper presents an investigation on the effect of probe support on the flow field of an axial compressor. The experiment is carried out in a large-scale low-speed research compressor. A cylindrical probe support intruding to 50% blade span was installed at 50% chord upstream from the rotor leading edge. The region from 5 degrees to 32 degrees off the probe support in the direction of rotation at the rotor outlet was measured with a 5-hole probe and a high-response total pressure probe. The experiment is performed at both near-design and near-stall points. The measuring results of 5-hole probe and high-response total pressure probe indicate that the probe blockage effect is different at different blade spans. The wake of the probe support weakens the leakage vortex intensity at the tip region, leading to greater total pressure rise. At near-design condition, the presence of probe support has a negative effect on the region from 75% to 92% span, while improves the flow field below 75% span. At near stall condition, the probe support has a negative effect on the region from 70% to 90% span, and almost has no influence on the flow field below 70% span.