REDUCED DIAMETER CENTRIFUGAL IMPELLER DIFFUSER INVESTIGATION

THIS INVESTIGATION EVALUATES A MULTI-ROW STRAIGHT CHANNEL DIFFUSER, A MULTI-ROW CASCADE (AIRFOIL) DIFFUSER, AND A MULTI-ROW DIFFUSER WITH A BEND TO AXIAL, IN ORDER TO CHOOSE THE BEST COMPONENTS NEEDED TO MEET AIRCRAFT RESTRICTED DIAMETER DESIGN REQUIREMENTS. THE SYSTEMATIC DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TEST INCLUDES COMPARISON TO BACKGROUND DATA SETS, AND DETAILED TRAVERSE AND LASER MEASUREMENTS AS WARRENTED. IT IS EXPECTED THAT A DEFINITIVE PREFERENCE FOR THE CHANNEL OR CASCADE DIFFUSER WILL RESULT, THAT BASIC DATA ON RATE OF DIFFUSION WILL BE OBTAINED, THAT ENHANCEMENTS ON THE BEND TO AIXAL WILL BE INTRODUCED IN THE FORM OF FLOW CONTROL, AND THAT THESE TESTS WILL PAVE THE WAY TOWARDS DEFINING OPTIMUM AIRCRAFT ENGINE COMPACT DIFFUSER SYSTEMS. TESTING WILL BE CONDUCTED IN A WELL CALIBRATED, SMALL-SCALE COMPRESSORSTAGE WITH INLET MACH NUMBERS OF ABOUT 1.1.