Pressure losses and flow field distortion induced by tip clearance of centrifugal and axial compressors.

The flow field near the tip of compressor rotor blades is distorted by leakage through the tip clearance and the performance of the compressor is deteriorated. The literature regarding the tip clearance of compressor blades consists of computational fluid mechanics and experimental studies on the flow field and the pressure loss. Empirical equations expressing the pressure loss and the efficiency drop are varied. They relate to the lift coefficient in different ways, such as proportional to CL, CL1.5, CL2, or the sum of two terms, depending upon the ways of understanding the mechanics of pressure losses. These methods are examined and compared. Also, a brief discussion is made on the optimum value of the tip clearance.