Design and Development of an Advanced Two-Stage Centrifugal Compressor Available to Purchase

This paper describes the aeromechanical design and development of a 3.3 kg/s (7.3 lb/sec), 14:1 pressure ratio two-stage centrifugal compressor, which is used in the T800-LHT-800 helicopter engine. The design employs highly nonradial, splitter bladed impellers with swept leading edges and compact vaned diffusers to achieve high performance in a small and robust configuration. The development effort quantified the effects of impeller diffusion and passive inducer shroud bleed on surge margin as well as the effects of impeller loading on tip clearance sensitivity and the impact of sand erosion and shroud roughness on performance. The developed compressor exceeded its performance objectives with a minimum of 23 percent surge margin without variable geometry. The compressor provides a high-performance, rugged, low-cost configuration ideally suited for helicopter applications.