Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, (2018), 31(6): 1222–1231

Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics

& Beihang University
Chinese Journal of Aeronautics
cja@buaa.edu.cn
www.sciencedirect.com

Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal

compressor with a variable vaned diffuser
Xiang XUE, Tong WANG *, Tongtong ZHANG, Bo YANG

Gas Turbine Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Received 19 June 2017; revised 7 September 2017; accepted 11 December 2017

Available online 12 April 2018

KEYWORDS Abstract To expand the stable operating range of compressors, understanding the mechanism of
Centrifugal compressor; flow instability at low flow rates is necessary. In this paper, the mechanism of stall and surge in a
Flow instability; centrifugal compressor with a variable vaned diffuser is experimentally investigated, where the dif-
Stall; fuser blade setting angle can be adjusted. Many dynamic pressure transducers are mounted on the
Surge; casing surface of the compressor. From the design condition to surge, dynamic pressure data is
Vaned diffuser recorded throughout the gradual process. According to the signal developing status, the typical
modes of compressor instability are defined in detail, such as stall, mild surge, and deep surge. A
relatively high-frequency stall wave originates in the impeller and propagates to the diffuser, and
finally stimulates a deep surge in the compressor. The compressor behavior during surge differs
at different diffuser vane angles. When the diffuser vane angle is adjusted, both the unstable form
and the core factor affecting the overall machine stability change. A specific indicator is proposed to
measure the instability of each component in a compressor, which can be used to determine the best
region for stability extension technologies, such as a holed casing treatment, in different compressor
applications.
Ó 2018 Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction has some advantages, such as single-stage high pressure ratio,

A centrifugal compressor is often used as the core component
of a turbocharger or air conditioning system, which is regarded
as an indispensable fluid machine in the industrial production.
Compared with an axial compressor, a centrifugal compressor
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: twang@sjtu.edu.cn (T. WANG).
Peer review under responsibility of Editorial Committee of CJA.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
compact structure, light weight, and so on. With the increasing
demand for high performance, manufacturers need to design
more complex compressor components with wider operating
ranges. The flow instability at low flow rates can lead to a high
aerodynamic loss and even structural damage. It is therefore
important for in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that
lead to unstable flow behaviors in centrifugal compressors.
Generally, there are two different kinds of unstable flow
behaviors which can lead to stall. One is the modal-type wave
which has a long wave length and its traveling speed is about
20%–50% of the impeller rotating speed.1 The other is the
spike-type wave with a short wave length. The specific kinds
of operating conditions which are known to trigger the two

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cja.2018.04.003
1000-9361 Ó 2018 Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor
Nomenclature
A area (m2)
a sound speed (m/s)
b width (mm)
D diameter (mm)
f frequency (Hz)
l length (m)
N impeller rotating speed (r/min)
p pressure (kPa)
Q flow rate (kg/s)
R radius (mm)
V volume (m3)
Z blade number
e total to static pressure ratio
g polytropic efficiency
r standard deviation
types of waves have been analyzed by Day.2 The spike-type
disturbance wave was firstly discovered in a turbocharger com-
pressor by Spakovszky and Roduner.3 However, it is yet to be
determined which one of the two kinds of stall waves would
occur prior to stall in different situations.
With regards to surge, it is divided into two different types,
which are mild surge and deep surge, based on the pulsation
amplitude of dynamic parameters and whether backflow
occurs or not.4–6 In general, when mild surge occurs, the signal
of dynamic parameters, such as pressure and velocity, is
approximately sinusoidal and oscillates slightly at the Helm-
holtz frequency. This frequency is considered to be related to
the entire compressor system, which is generally within the
range of 5–15 Hz.7 Meanwhile, deep surge always occurs more
suddenly and coincides with obvious backflow. However,
apart from these qualitative descriptions, more quantitative
descriptions should be proposed to distinguish between these
two typical surge modes. In this way, the two modes can be
better defined.
Much theoretical derivation about the mechanism of flow
instability generation has been conducted. It has been consid-
ered by most early researchers that the transition from one
unstable mode to another is associated with a specific operat-
ing condition. For example, when the leakage flow is too large
in a single-stage axial compressor, both spike wave and modal
wave occur prior to stall. The form of stall inceptions varies
with different operating conditions.2 A lumped parameter
model was established by Greitzer.8 Based on the assumption
of fluid inertia, the model explains the mechanism of suction
and exhaust in axial compressors during surge. Meanwhile, a
dimensionless lumped parameter B was presented for describ-
ing the compressor behavior at low flow rates.9 It can deter-
mine the mode of instability. However, it ignores some
detailed flow structures in the impeller, such as leakage flow,
and is usually not used in the case of centrifugal compressors.
The theoretical model was improved by Spakovszky,10 which
can be used on centrifugal compressors. In the new model,
the interaction between the impeller and the diffuser vane is
focused on. Among recent research, it has been suggested that
the occurrence of leading edge stall in the impeller is a neces-
1223
Subscripts
1 impeller inlet
2 impeller outlet
3 diffuser inlet
4 diffuser outlet
c channel
des design condition
dif diffuser
H Helmholtz
imp impeller
in inlet duct
out outlet duct
p plenum
r impeller rotation
sary part of mild surge, and the diffuser stall always indicates
deep surge. At high rotating speeds, mild surge causes the dif-
fuser stall, which triggers deep surge in turn.11 Some special
unstable flow modes, such as mild surge and deep surge, at dif-
ferent rotating speeds were obtained in a centrifugal compres-
sor by Zheng et al.12 The effect of volute was paid attention to
in their experiments. Moreover, the influence of the diffuser
vane setting angle on performance characteristics was
researched by Tamaki.13 The standard deviation of measured
data can be used as an indicator to determine precisely when
a centrifugal compressor suffers surge.14 In addition, the hys-
teresis during the compressor’s return to the stable condition
from the stall or surge point should also be taken into consid-
eration. When the system returns to the stable operating state,
the pressure ratio is not a single-valued function based on the
flow rate any more. It is related to the whole adjusting process,
which shows the nonlinear characteristic of the compressor
system. A lot of data about the hysteresis in a multistage com-
pressor system was used to obtain compressor characteristics
during surge.15
According to these previous experimental investigations,
research on the mechanism of flow instability has been pro-
moted in recent years, since innovations continuously occurred
in many aspects, such as measuring method, data processing,
theoretical derivation, and so on. However, most of the works
have been done in compressors with vaneless diffusers, while
compressors with vaned diffusers have rarely been investigated
experimentally, especially those with variable vaned diffusers.
A compressor with a variable vaned diffuser can better cope
with variable operating conditions. In addition, the influence
of the diffuser vane angle has always been neglected. Thus, it
is important to obtain more details about stall and surge in this
kind of compressor. In addition, most experimental studies
have focused on the behavior of stall or surge inceptions in
the circumferential direction, but ignored the differences
between the signals at some specific radial locations, especially
those in the impeller. In this paper, an experimental study on
the mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor
with a variable vaned diffuser is carried out. The features of
stall and surge at different diffuser vane angles are presented,
1224 X. XUE et al.

and various modes of compressor instability are defined, such
as stall, mild surge, and deep surge. The effects of different dif-
fuser vane angles on the transformation from stall to deep
surge are analyzed and discussed.
2. Test facility and instruments
The experiment is based on a centrifugal compressor with a
variable vaned diffuser, which is industrially used in sewage
treatment systems. The main parameters of the tested compres-
sor are shown in Table 1. The diffuser vane angle (OGV) can
be adjusted from –12° to 12°.
2.1. Performance test system
The schematic diagram of the performance test system is
shown in Fig. 1. The compressor is driven by an electric motor
of 90 kW, and the rotating speed is increased by using a gear
box. Air is drawn into the compressor from the atmosphere
and then discharged into the outlet silencer channel. The flow
rate is regulated by adjusting the throttle valve equipped on the
outlet duct. Both the inlet and outlet pressures are measured
by a U-tube manometer with an absolute error within
±0.26 kPa. Both the inlet and outlet temperatures are mea-
sured by a thermocouple with an absolute error within ±1.5
°C. A Venturi meter with an absolute error within ±0.064
kg/s is placed on the outlet duct. The specific installation loca-
Table 1 Main parameters of
centrifugal compressor.
Parameter Value
D2 (mm) 318
D1/D2 0.56
D3/D2 1.07
D4/D2 1.67
b2/D2 0.076
Zimp 8+8
Zdif 11
Ndes (r/min) 18300
Qdes (kg/s) 2.16
edes 1.8
Fig. 1 Sketch of performance test system.
tions of these measuring instruments can be seen in Fig. 1,
where some specific sizes are given in multiples of the inlet pipe
diameter (d).
2.2. Dynamic test system
Sixteen Kulite fast-response dynamic pressure transducers
(XCE-093) are mounted on the casing surface in the compres-
sor, as shown in Fig. 2. These dynamic pressure transducers
are mounted at different radial locations along the stream
direction, including the impeller region, the vaneless region,
and the vaned diffuser throat region. At almost each radial
location, two transducers are placed circumferentially in case
one of them has a problem, and four transducers are mounted
circumferentially in the vaneless region marked as 5. Accord-
ing to the photo on the right side of Fig. 2, the tested compres-
sor is with an asymmetric volute. The position relationship
between the dynamic measuring region and the volute is
shown. In addition, two dynamic pressure transducers are
mounted on the inlet and outlet ducts, respectively. The mea-
suring range of these transducers is about 0–300 kPa.
The data of these dynamic pressure transducers is recorded
synchronously by a PCI-9215 acquisition card. The precision
of the dynamic pressure measurement is about 1.5 kPa. To ver-
ify the accuracy of the experiment, the sampling frequency of
each channel is set to 20 kHz so that the Blade Passing Fre-
quency (BPF = 2440, 4880 Hz) can be captured. Note that
because the impeller blades include 8 full-length blades and 8
splitter blades, the BPF is 2440 Hz at the impeller inlet area
while 4880 Hz at other areas. Before the experiment, the
dynamic pressure test system has been well calibrated.
Although pressure data cannot be as intuitive as velocity
data, pressure transducers are easier to install on the rotating
parts of compressors for analysis of internal flow structures,
and the features of stall or surge in compressors can also be
clearly captured. Due to leakage flow, reflux, and flow separa-
tion occurring at the tip clearance, an unstable flow always
originates near the tip prior to stall.16,17 The transducers are
all mounted on the casing surface near the tip clearance, so
that the unstable flow prior to stall or surge can be captured.
2.3. Pretreatment of dynamic signals
Since these dynamic transducers are equipped with post-signal
amplifiers, the signal-to-noise ratio is greatly improved. How-
ever, some noises, such as electro-magnetic disturbances,
which are caused by the motor and the inverter, still exist in
the experiment. Therefore, it is necessary to filter original sig-
nals to reduce noises. For example, at a low flow rate, the Fast
Fourier Transformation (FFT) result of the original signal at
the impeller inlet is shown in Fig. 3, where the ordinate repre-
sents Power Spectral Density (PSD).
According to Fig. 3, in addition to the BPF and its multi-
plier, some relatively low-frequency components around the
rotational frequency (fr = 305 Hz) are clearly captured, which
are related to the unstable flow. To focus on the signals of
these frequency components in the time domain, low-pass fil-
tering is used to filter out BPF-related signals and few high-
frequency disturbances. The low-pass filter threshold is set to
2000 Hz, and a comparison between the original pressure sig-
nal and the filtered signal at position 1-1 is shown in Fig. 4.
Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor 1225

Fig. 2 Layout of dynamic pressure transducers.

Fig. 3 FFT result of original signal at a low flow rate. Fig. 5 Compressor performance map under OGV = 0°.

nals at flow rates below 0.85Qdes are recorded during the

dynamic test.
The pressure ratio curves under five specific diffuser vane
angles are shown in Fig. 6. Both the surge line and hysteresis
are also shown. The surge line is the broken line that connects
the surge points under each diffuser vane angle. The hollow
points and dashed lines represent the process of gradually
recovering from unstable operating conditions. When the dif-
fuser vane angle is adjusted positively, the airflow incidence
angle at the diffuser inlet increases. Thus, surge occurs at a
lower flow rate.
Fig. 4 Comparison between original signal and filtered signal.

Through low-pass filtering, the precision of the dynamic pres-

sure measurement can be improved to 0.5 kPa.

3. Results and analysis

3.1. Performance test results

The compressor performance map under OGV = 0° can be

seen in Fig. 5. The polytropic efficiency reaches its maximum
value at the design condition. The total to static pressure ratio
increases along with the flow rate decreasing, until Q/Qdes
reduces to 0.76. The occurrence of stall always coincides with Fig. 6 Total to static pressure ratio curves under different
the peak of rising pressure ratio.14 The dynamic pressure sig- diffuser vane angles.
1226
3.2. Definitions of two typical surge modes
As shown in Fig. 7, the back-pressure is in the form of a
stepped rise due to the intermittent closure of the outlet throt-
tle valve. The back-pressure curve is obtained by reading the
dynamic pressure data at the outlet duct every two seconds.
The six operating conditions from I to VI are the six successive
stages in the flow reduction process, and a surge occurs obvi-
ously at the operating point d3. In Fig. 7, the abscissa means
the number of impeller revolutions. A zero of the abscissa rep-
resents the moment of surge occurring, and negative values
represents the time prior to surge. In the experiment, when
the compressor enters the operating condition d3 from VI by
adjusting the outlet throttle, the compressor will suffer surge
due to the deterioration of the internal flow field. In this case,
the back-pressure will be reduced during surge. However, the
back-pressure suffers a small reduction and then rebounds, fol-
lowed by a sudden large drop. This phenomenon has reoc-
curred during repeated experiments where two different
typical surge modes occur sequentially at the surge point,
which are mild surge and deep surge.
Combining surface appearances with dynamic pressure sig-
nals at some specific radial locations, these two typical surge
modes can be distinguished in detail. During mild surge, the liq-
uid column of the U-tube fluctuates slightly, and the vibration of
the ducts is visible. The dynamic pressure signals at the impeller
inlet, diffuser inlet, and outlet duct are all approximate sinu-
soidal vibrations with small amplitudes. On the contrary, during
deep surge, the liquid column rises and falls violently. The back-
pressure drops sharply accompanied by approximate sinusoidal
vibration with a large amplitude, and a noticeable periodic noise
caused by the backflow could be heard clearly. In addition, the
pressure fluctuation patterns at the impeller inlet and diffuser
inlet indicate the occurrence of reflux.14 According to Fig. 7,
the amplitude of the pressure fluctuation at each position is sig-
nificantly increased during deep surge, compared with that dur-
ing mild surge. The level of the amplitude increasing at each
radial location will be discussed later, which can also serve as
an important quantitative indicator of the distinction between
mild surge and deep surge. Based on these differences, the two
different modes of surge are defined. Once deep surge occurs,
the outlet valve will be turned up immediately to recover from
the unstable condition to prevent serious accidents.
Fig. 7 Characteristics of two typical surge modes.
X. XUE et al.
3.2.1. Mild surge
Under OGV = 0°, the pressure signals at each radial location
during mild surge at the operating condition point d3 are
shown in Fig. 8. Mild surge occurs prior to deep surge.
The Helmholtz frequency is always considered as the mild
surge dominant frequency.18 Thus, the Helmholtz frequency
of this compression system is very important, and can be cal-
culated based on certain parameters considering the following
formula:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
a Ac
fH ¼ ð1Þ
2p Vp lc
where according to Ref.12, Ac and lc are the equivalent cross-
sectional area and length of the duct channels, respectively,
and Vp is the volume of the plenum.
Since the exit total temperature during the experiment is
381.75 K, the speed of sound (a) is 391.4 m/s. Other geometric
parameters are shown in Table 2, in which 680.5 is taken as the
value of lc/Ac and 0.3 is taken as the value of Vp.
The Helmholtz frequency of the compression system is cal-
culated to be 4.3 Hz, which is very close to the mild surge dom-
inant frequency. The frequency can also be clearly captured in
the spectrum of these dynamic signals during mild surge. In
this experiment, the dominant frequency of mild surge is
slightly higher than that of deep surge. In Ref.15, the calculated
Helmholtz frequency approximates the dominant frequency
tested during mild surge, which is higher than that during deep
surge. It is consistent with the result of this experiment.
When the ordinate of the dynamic signals during mild surge
in Fig. 7 is amplified, periodic pulsations with frequencies of
fr/3 and 3fr can be seen in Fig. 8, which are considered as stall
waves. Since these transducers are not completely at the same
circumferential position, these signals in Fig. 8 have been
phase-converted, corresponding to the case at the same circum-
ferential position. Such dynamic pressure signals in Fig. 8 illus-
trate that surge and stall occur alternately in the compressor,
which is similar to the result in Ref.13 Both a high-frequency
stall wave with 3fr and a low-frequency stall wave with fr/3
can be captured in the impeller, while the form of stall in the dif-
fuser is only a low-frequency stall. It is very noteworthy that the
pressure fluctuation mode in the impeller is significantly
different from that in the diffuser during mild surge.
Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor
Fig. 8 Pressure signals at different radial locations during mild surge under OGV = 0°.
Table 2 Geometric parameters of
compression system.
Parameter Value
lin (m) 2.67
Ain (m2) 2.49  102
lin/Ain(m1) 107.2
Vin (m3) 6.65  102
lout (m) 11.58
Aout (m2) 2.02  102
lout/Aout (m1) 573.3
Vout (m3) 0.234
The pressure signals at four circumferential locations at this
condition point are shown in Fig. 9. According to these cir-
cumferential pressure signals in the vaneless region between
the impeller and the diffuser, the stall wave propagates in the
opposite direction of the impeller rotation, which is shown in
the upper right corner of Fig. 9. The stall wave propagates
in a counterclockwise direction, just in the opposite direction
of the impeller rotation. The propagating speed is calculated
as 1/3 of the impeller rotating speed based on the phase differ-
ence. However, according to the radial pressure signals shown
in Fig. 8, the stall wave also propagates in the flow direction.
These propagation directions are mainly determined by the
corresponding crests and troughs of the dynamic signals at
adjacent locations. Especially for the low-frequency stall wave
with fr/3, this correspondence is easy to be observed, since this
low-frequency stall wave always occurs intermittently and has
a relatively long period. In addition, it can be seen clearly that
the high-frequency stall does not occur in the vaneless region
during mild surge, even if it has occurred throughout the
impeller. In most of the previous literature,3 it is considered
that a stall wave always originates in the vaneless region
instead of the impeller region. Therefore, this high-frequency
stall wave needs to be highly concerned, and it shows that
instability occurs firstly in the impeller at this condition.
3.2.2. Deep surge
Immediately after mild surge, deep surge occurs. The parame-
ters at the outlet duct oscillate violently, and a noticeable
1227
periodic sound caused by the backflow can be heard. The pres-
sure signals during deep surge shown in Fig. 10 are different
from those during mild surge. A high-frequency stall occurs
in the diffuser during the transition process from mild surge
to deep surge. In many repeated experiments, a similar phe-
nomenon occurs in most cases. It can be considered that the
occurrence of a high-frequency stall wave in the diffuser may
be the deep surge inception of the compressor.
According to Fig. 8, a high-frequency stall wave is firstly
observed in the impeller and the flow disturbance propagates
downstream during mild surge. Then, according to Fig. 9, a
high-frequency stall wave occurs in the diffuser, and deep
surge breaks out. This time, the back-pressure drops sharply,
and the pressure fluctuation patterns at some specific radial
locations change. The pressure fluctuation at each radial loca-
tion is also significantly enhanced. Thus, it can be deduced that
a high-frequency stall wave originates in the impeller and
propagates to the diffuser, which finally stimulates a deep
surge in the compressor. The phenomenon that the occurrence
of a high-frequency stall in the diffuser can trigger a deep surge
has been observed in a centrifugal compressor with a vaneless
diffuser at a high rotating speed.11 However, there is the new
phenomenon that stall waves propagate downstream along
the flow direction, which is contrary to the previous theory
that stall waves just propagate circumferentially. Meanwhile,
it is generally believed that flow instability occurs originally
in the diffuser or the vaneless region between the impeller
and the diffuser for a centrifugal compressor with a vaned dif-
fuser. However, flow instability seems to occur originally in the
impeller and then propagates to the diffuser in this experiment.
Thus, there are two questions that need to be understood. The
first question is why flow instability originates in the impeller.
The second question is how to measure the impact of a compo-
nent on the overall machine stability. In the following, these
two questions will be addressed accordingly.
3.3. Pressure fluctuations at different positions
In view of the mechanism of stall and surge generation, the
pressure fluctuation amplitude at each radial location during
the gradual process of entering deep surge is worthy of further
1228 X. XUE et al.

Fig. 9 Pressure signals at different circumferential locations in vaneless region during mild surge under OGV = 0°.

Fig. 10 Pressure signals at different radial locations during deep surge under OGV = 0°.

investigation. The standard deviation is used as an indicator to
reflect the pressure fluctuation amplitude over a period of time.
The standard deviation (r) is calculated based on 10000 data
points collected continuously within 0.5 s at different measur-
ing points. The formula of the standard deviation is as follows:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 Xn
r¼ i¼1 i
ðp  pÞ ð2Þ
n to the phenomenon that flow instability originates in the
where pi represents the pressure values at different times and p
represents the average pressure during this period.
Compared with a baseline at the design condition, the
standard deviations at each position under different operat-
ing conditions are shown in Fig. 11. The eight different oper-
ating conditions given in Fig. 11 correspond to the
conditions marked in Fig. 7 respectively, including the oper-
ating points I-VI, mild surge, and deep surge. With the
signals at different radial positions phase-converted, the
standard deviations are all at the same phase in the circum-
ferential direction, so that the radial differences can be
discussed.
According to Fig. 11, from the pre-stall condition to deep
surge, the standard deviation of the pressure signal at the
impeller middle-rear region is the largest, which corresponds
impeller instead of the diffuser. If the standard deviation can
be used to measure the impact of a component on the overall
stability, the flow stability at the impeller middle-rear region
may be the worst under OGV = 0°. In the numerical simula-
tion result of a similar impeller,19 an unstable flow also origi-
nates at the impeller middle-rear region. It shows that this
indicator can be used to determine the unstable region in the
impeller at low flow rates.
Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor
Fig. 11 Pressure fluctuation amplitude of each radial location
under OGV = 0°.
Based on the above analysis and discussion, the mechanism
of stall or surge generation under OGV = 0° can be deduced.
Flow instability at the impeller middle-rear region, such as a
tip leakage flow or vortex, may be the core factor affecting
the overall stability of the compressor. However, the specific
form of this unstable flow still needs to be further confirmed
by numerical simulation or visualization experiments. This will
be the next step of our research. In summary, an unstable flow
originates at the impeller middle-rear region, and a high-
frequency stall wave occurs firstly in the impeller during mild
surge. Then the flow disturbance propagates downstream,
and a high-frequency stall occurs in the diffuser prior to deep
surge. The occurrence of the high-frequency stall can be con-
sidered as the deep surge inception.
In term of the physical relationship, the violent pressure fluc-
tuations in the diffuser can directly lead to an imbalance for the
pressure distribution of the outlet piping system, since the dif-
fuser is closer to the compressor outlet, and this pressure imbal-
ance is exactly the mechanism of surge occurring. Thus, a high-
frequency stall occurring in the diffuser can always trigger a
deep surge. However, according to the above analysis, this stall
pattern originates in the impeller. It is the product of an unstable
flow in the impeller, such as a tip leakage flow or vortex.
3.4. Effects of different diffuser vane angles
Since the diffuser type is a variable vaned diffuser, the diffuser
vane angle may be an important factor affecting the mecha-
nism of stall and surge generation, which requires further anal-
ysis and discussion. The pressure signals at each radial position
under two different OGVs are shown in Figs. 12 and 13,
respectively. In these two cases, the standard deviation of each
radial position is shown in Fig. 14.
Under OGV = 12°, the pressure signals at each radial
location during a mild surge at the operating condition point
d1 in Fig. 6 are shown in Fig. 12. A mild surge wave with the
Helmholtz frequency is firstly captured in the diffuser inlet,
accompanied by a high-frequency stall wave. It is hard to
identify the phase difference between the pressure signals at
different radial locations. Moreover, when the value of the
abscissa is about 50 revolutions, there is also a clear surge
1229
wave at the impeller inlet, with a similar period and a weaker
amplitude. The standard deviations at each radial location
are shown in Fig. 14(a). The position of the unstable point
moves downstream compared with that under OGV = 0°.
Thus, the mechanism of stall and surge generation is also
changed. When the diffuser vane angle is turned positively
causing the airflow incidence angle at the diffuser inlet to
increase, the aerodynamic load is increased, and the interac-
tion between the impeller and the vaned diffuser becomes
the core factor of stall or surge generation. Considering some
numerical simulation results on centrifugal compressors in
recent years,20,21 flow instability at the impeller outlet is also
closely associated with the tip leakage and vortex in the
impeller, and in this situation, the typical jet-wake structure
at the impeller outlet leads to a strong instability under the
influence of the diffuser blades, so that the unstable point
moves to the vaneless region between the impeller and the
diffuser, which is confirmed by the details in Figs. 12 and
14 (a). Since an unstable flow originates there, both high-
frequency stall and mild surge occur originally in the diffuser,
and then transform into deep surge directly. Unlike the case
of OGV = 0°, there is not a gradual process that this stall
pattern propagates from the impeller to the diffuser during
mild surge, and this kind of high-frequency stall occurring
in the diffuser can always trigger a deep surge.
Under OGV = 12°, the pressure signals at each radial
location during the mild surge at the operating point d5 in
Fig. 6 are shown in Fig. 13. A mild surge wave with the Helm-
holtz frequency occurs originally at the impeller inlet, accom-
panied by a modal-type stall wave. They can be observed at
each radial location of the compressor. The standard devia-
tions at each radial location are shown in Fig. 14(b). When
the diffuser vane angle is turned negatively causing the airflow
incidence angle at the diffuser inlet to decrease, the instability
of the impeller leading-edge region is relatively large during
mild surge. An unstable flow originates at the impeller inlet
and extends to the overall machine, which is confirmed by
the details in Fig. 13. Interestingly, this phenomenon is consis-
tent with the results of some experiments and numerical simu-
lations in centrifugal compressors with vaneless diffusers.11,22
The effect of the diffuser vane on the stability of the impeller
is greatly reduced when the airflow incidence angle at the dif-
fuser inlet is small. Except for the region where mild surge and
modal-type stall wave originates, the process of deep surge
occurring is similar to that under OGV = 0°.
According to Figs. 12 and 13, when the diffuser vane angle
is adjusted, both the form of unstable signals and the location
of the original occurrence change, which implies a new mech-
anism of flow instability. The unstable region obtained by the
standard deviation analysis changes, which corresponds well to
the dynamic test results. Thus, the standard deviation can be
used as an indicator to determine the effects of the stability
of individual components on the overall machine stability,
which can provide a guidance for methods of improving stabil-
ity in centrifugal compressors, such as casing treatment.23 For
example, if a holed casing treatment is used at the unstable
point positioned by this method, instability will be well sup-
pressed at unstable conditions.
According to Figs. 11 and 14, under three specific diffuser
vane angles, the amplitudes of the pressure fluctuations at each
radial location during deep surge are all increased by approx-
imately 30% compared with those during mild surge. The stan-
1230 X. XUE et al.

Fig. 12 Pressure signals at different radial locations during mild surge under OGV = 12°.

Fig. 13 Pressure signals at different radial locations during mild surge under OGV = 12°.

Fig. 14 Pressure fluctuation amplitudes of each radial location under OGV = 12° and 12°.
Mechanism of stall and surge in a centrifugal compressor
dard deviation can also serve as an important quantitative
indicator of the distinction between mild surge and deep surge.
4. Conclusions
Experiments have been carried out at different diffuser vane
angles to obtain the characteristics of stall and surge in a cen-
trifugal compressor with a variable vaned diffuser. The mech-
anism of stall and surge is investigated and some conclusions
are obtained as follows.
(1) Under OGV = 0°, the airflow separation at the leading
edge of the split blade in the impeller is the central factor
affecting the overall stability of the compressor. An
unstable flow originates at the impeller middle-rear
region and a high-frequency stall wave occurs firstly in
the impeller during mild surge. Then the flow distur-
bance propagates downstream, and a high-frequency
stall occurs in the diffuser prior to a deep surge. The
occurrence of this high-frequency stall can be considered
as the deep surge inception. In the experiment, a new
phenomenon is observed that stall waves propagate
downstream along the flow direction, which is contrary
to the previous theory that stall waves just propagate
circumferentially.
(2) The mechanism of stall and surge in the compressor dif-
fers at different diffuser vane angles. When the diffuser
vane angle is adjusted positively which means the airflow
incidence angle at the diffuser inlet increases, the aerody-
namic load is increased, and the instability of the vane-
less region between the impeller and the diffuser is
significantly improved. The interaction between the
impeller and the vaned diffuser becomes a core factor
of instability generation, so that a high-frequency stall
and mild surge occur originally in the diffuser and then
transform into a deep surge directly. This kind of high-
frequency stall occurring in the diffuser can always trig-
ger a deep surge. When the diffuser vane angle is
adjusted negatively which means the airflow incidence
angle at the diffuser inlet decreases, the instability of
the impeller leading-edge region is relatively large during
mild surge, so that a modal-type stall wave and mild
surge occur originally at the impeller inlet which moti-
vate a diffuser stall and deep surge consecutively.
(3) Compared with the baseline at the design condition, the
standard deviation of the pressure fluctuation at each
radial location can be used as an indicator to determine
the effects of the stability of individual components on
the overall machine stability, which corresponds well
to the dynamic test results. It can provide some guidance
for stability extension technologies in compressors. For
example, it can determine the best place to apply a holed
casing treatment so that stall or surge will be well sup-
pressed at different unstable conditions.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 51276108).
1231
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