Design and analysis of a five stage axial flow compressor

The objective of this paper is to devise a feasible method for designing and analyzing a multistage axial flow compressor, specifically a five-stage axial flow compressor. With the aid of a few design requirements, namely, mass flow rate, RPM, inlet diameter and required pressure rise, an accurate model is generated. The design methodology is based on the principles of the mean line design, as well as the free vortex theory. Incorporating the aerothermodynamics relations, MATLAB scripts are generated which allow stage by stage data as well as individual blade data for each stage to be found. Once the thermodynamic parameters including pressures, temperatures, and densities for the each stage, as well as the annular dimensions and air angles for each blade are found using the MATLAB scripts, the NACA 65 series airfoil is employed to form these blades. Furthermore, other integral parameters, such as blade solidity and aspect ratio are selected after a profound literature review, which in turn allows us to determine the number of rotor and stator blades per stage. After the availability of all the necessary data, the final geometry is formed using CATIA. The first stage is redesigned using ANSYS/BladeModeler, since the maximum stagnation pressure rise occurs over the first stage, only the first stage is analyzed using ANSYS CFX to validate the theoretical results and hence the viability of the design.