Adaptive feedback control of stability in an axial compressor with circumferential inlet distortion

The adaptive feedback control of stability with circumferential inlet distortion has been experimentally investigated in a low-speed, axial compressor. The flat-baffles with different span heights are used to simulate different distorted inflow cases. Compared with auto-correlation and root-mean-square analysis, cross-correlation analysis used to predict early stall warning does not depend on the distortion position. Hence, the cross-correlation coefficient was used to monitor the stable status of the compressor and provide the feedback signal in the active control strategy when suffering from different distortions. Based on the stall margin improvement of tip air injection obtained under different distorted inflow cases and the sensitivity analysis of cross-correlation coefficients to injected momentum ratios, tip air injection was adopted as the actuator for adaptive feedback control. The digital signal processing controller was designed and applied to achieve adaptive feedback control in distorted inflow conditions. The results show that the adaptive feedback control of air injection nearly achieves the same stall margin improvement as steady air injection under different distortion intensities with a reduced injection mass flow. Thus, the proposed adaptive feedback control method is ideal for the engine operation with circumferential distorted inflow, which frequently occurs in flight.