Three-Stage Low Pressure Compressor Modernization by Means of Optimization Methods

Low pressure compressor operation has some features. Firstly, the LPC stages work with cold air. For this reason there is transonic or subsonic flow in LPC. Secondly, the flow in LPC has complex spatial structure. Blade geometry of LPC is described by a large number of parameters. For this reason, it is difficult to pick up optimal combination of parameters manually. The solution of this problem is the usage of optimization methods to find the optimal combination of parameters. This approach was tested in this work. The main goal of this work was the LPC modernization for new parameters of gas turbine engine. Set of unimprovable solutions (Pareto set) was obtained as a result of solving optimization task. Pareto set was a compromise between the efficiency increase and the mass flow decrease. Each point from Pareto set had a correspondence with LPC unique geometry represented as an array of optimization parameters. One point of the Pareto set met all the required parameters of modernized LPC. The LPC geometry that guaranteed the efficiency increase by 1,3%, the total pressure ratio increase by 4% and mass flow rate decrease by 11% in comparison with the original LPC was obtained as a result of the investigation.