This blog discusses tip clearance loss models in centrifugal compressor impellers with large relative clearances
In the flow path of turbomachines, there is a clearance between the tip of the rotor blades and the housing parts of the machine. This clearance is necessary in order to prevent the rotor from touching the stator during rotation of the impeller. The tip clearance value depends on the following features:
- Deformation of the rotor under the action of gas, thermal and centrifugal loads
- Housing deformations under the influence of air pressure and uneven heating
- Clearance in bearings
- Design features
There is a pressure gradient between the suction side and the pressure side, which results in a flow from one side of the blade to the other through the clearance. Studies of the flow in the tip clearance of the blades of turbomachines indicate its complex nature. The flow through the tip clearance affects the flow in the shroud section of the blade and has a significant impact on performance and efficiency. According to the results of the studies, an increase in the relative clearance by 1% reduces efficiency by 2%. Known methods for evaluating the effect of tip clearance on efficiency are most often reduced to a linear dependence of the reduction in efficiency on the relative clearance. This provides acceptable accuracy for engineering calculations with a relative clearance of no more than 3%.
The typical value of the tip clearance for the centrifugal compressor impeller is 0.2-0.5 mm. However, in some cases, the clearance is significantly higher and reaches 1-3 mm. An example would be the impellers of low-pressure compressors, which are made of plastic. Plastic is not a sufficiently rigid material, which requires the designer to significantly increase the tip clearance in order to avoid the impeller touching the housing part of the compressor in operation.
A feature of centrifugal compressors is the low blade height at the outlet of the impeller. Figure 1 shows the impeller of the compressor designed for pressure ratio ptr=2.4 with the diameter and height of the blades at the outlet, respectively, 220 mm and 15.1 mm. For such an impeller, with an absolute clearance of 0.5 mm, the relative clearance will be 3.3%. This means that simple clearance loss estimation methods will have a large margin of error for such an impeller. It should be taken into account that an impeller designed for the same outlet diameter, but at pressure ratio ptr=5, will have approximately half the blade height, respectively, and the relative clearance is twice as large.

Recently, there has been strong interest in small turbomachines. The impeller diameter of such compressors ranges between 50-70mm. The real estimation of clearance losses for this kind of compressor is a problem due to the large relative tip clearance. Read More