A comparative experimental analysis of two unsteady flow control methods in a highly loaded compressor cascade

A comparative experimental analysis is performed on pulsed suction (PS) and pulsed blowing (PB) used to control flow separations in a highly loaded compressor cascade. The effectiveness of the control methods is assessed via oil-flow visualization and steady and unsteady pressure measurements. Firstly, the control effect of the PS is evaluated by comparing the conventional steady continuous suction (SCS). A more efficient control effect is achieved by the PS compared to the SCS. Additionally, in order to further explore the potentials of the PS and PB and gain some insight into their controlling mechanisms, some important excitation parameters including excitation location, momentum coefficient and frequency are comparatively investigated in detail. It is found that the PS and PB are both able to improve the cascade performance by effectively suppressing the passage vortex. With the excitation location moving downstream, the almost opposite change trends for the PS and PB on the total pressure loss and energy efficiency are shown. The PS has an advantage over the PB in improving the cascade performance at the same average excitation momentum. But there is a slighter change of the losses for the PB cases at different excitation frequencies relative to the PS ones, indicating that the PB is more insensitive to the excitation frequency. Based on the optimal excitation parameters, the total pressure loss coefficients for the PS and PB are reduced by 11.3% and 10.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the PS and PB is also corroborated at a larger incidence angle.