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An Experimental Investigation of the Transitory Stall Regime in Two-

Dimensional Diffusers

Article  in  Journal of Fluids Engineering · March 1974

DOI: 10.1115/1.3447086

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 I n Experimental investigation of the
C. R. SMITH, JR.
Transitory Stall Regime in Two-Dimensional
Assistant Professor,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
Diffusers
Lafayette, Ind.
Assoc, Mem. ASME
A study of flow behavior of transitory stall in two-dimensional diffusers at low Mach
numbers is reported. The changes in flow patterns from stall inception to full-stall
S. J . KLINE are described; the geometries for maximum fluctuations are located. The mean times
Professor, and distribution of stall build-up and wash-out periods are given for a series of units
Department of Mechanical of varying total angle. The mean times are found to scale on total stall volume, and a
Engineering, Stanford University, nondimensional correlation of stall period is given. The distribution of stall periods,
Stanford, Calif. Fellow ASME
for random inlet fluctuations, is found to be broad and strongly skewed toward lower
periods. Comparable results are found in water for R^IO* and in air at R~105. A
further series of tests with periodic inlet disturbances indicates that the stall behavior
is modified strongly when the pulsing period is 0.5 to 1.0 times the natuarl mean
period, but not otherwise. Details of flow patterns and blockage are summarized.

Introduction chosen somewhat arbitrarily from an infinite variety which could

be created, but is believed to give results which indicate the
T* I HE need to obtain high recovery in diffusers primary response characteristics of the oscillator system.
often forces the designer to employ geometries at or near the
limit of first appreciable stall. In such a condition, or just Experimental Apparatus
beyond it, the diffuser passes into the flow regime called large
The major portion of the investigation reported, employed a
transitory stall. In this flow regime the diffuser acts as a self-
two-dimensional, plexiglas diffuser test section positioned in a
excited oscillator, with large stalls building up and washing out
closed circuit, open-surface water table, as shown in Fig. 2.
in a quasi-periodic fashion. Although the existence of this regime
Three different length diffuser wall sections were used in con-
has been known for over a decade, no detailed studies of the actual
nection with a 1 in. wide, variable angle inlet to allow the ex-
periods or magnitudes of the characteristic fluctuations have been
amination of a wide range of geometries. The throat Reynolds
reported in the literature. These data are of importance to the
number was low (ffi„.i = 0.8 X 104), but boundary layer trips
designer in anticipating the effects on downstream components
insured turbulent boundary layers at the throat. Aspect ratio
and in attempts to either minimize or maximize the oscillations.
(b/wi) was held constant at 10 + 1 / a , and inlet turbulence with-
The present paper is a summary of a detailed study of the
out the disturbance device was of the order of 1 percent to 2
flow characteristics in the transitory stall region (Smith and
percent. All tests were run with a downstream plenum.
Kline [7]).1 The extent of the geometries studied is indicated
The inlet disturbance device was built form a 7 /s in. stainless
by the region enclosed by dashed lines on the flow-regime chart
steel piano hinge and was activated by a solenoid driven by a
of Fox and Kline [4], Fig. 1. The apparatus employed is similar
variable frequency signal generator system.
to that of Fox and Kline, with the exception of provision for
Flow behavior was visualized using both dye injection and
creating pulses of various frequencies in the inlet flow. The de-
hydrogen-bubble wires. Mean-flow data were obtained using a
tails are shown in Fig. 2. Note that the hinge extends from
specially designed probe (Fig. 3), consisting of two back-to-
above the open surface of the water unit to the floor, so that a
back cylindrical total pressure probes referenced to opposing
pulse is created across the entire inlet. This form of pulse was
ports of differential pressure transducer ( ± 1 in. of water maxi-
mum).
A brief, additional experimental study was done using a two-
dimensional air diffuser, previously described by Chui and Kline
•Numbera In brackets designate References »t and of papor. [1]. Mean-flow data and periodic flow behavior were examined
Contriubted by the Fluids Engineering Division and presented at the via a specially developed directional hot-wire probe (Fig. 3).
Winter Annual Meeting, Detroit, Mich., November 11-15, 1973, of Tsa More extensive descriptions of the experimental apparatus and
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL EHGINEEBS. Manuscript received at
ASME Headquarters, July 26, 1073. Paper No. 73-WA/FE-U. instrumentation can be found in reference [1].

Journal of Ffyids Engineering Copyright © 1974 by ASME MARCH 1 9 7 4 / 11

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 TO PRESSOR!
HYSTERESIS ZONE f TRANSDUCER
D

FULL' DEVELOPED
TWO-DIMENSIONAL STALL

,'CT WIRE
PROBE -

0,060 DIA

1/16"
~1
i/8" —I t- T

,5 2 3 4 6 8 10 15 20 30 TO 60
0.10"-
e —
sti:sir;c
ELEMC.T

N/W,
;A) WATER PROSE 'FULL SCALE, ;B; AIR PROBE ;3X SCALE.
Fig. 1 Diffuser Flow Regime Chart of Fox and Kline [3] for Two-Di- Fig. 3 Water and Air Probes
monsional Diffusers Showing the Line of Maximum Unsteadiness.

Experimental Results: Undisturbed Inlet

Conditions
Visual Results
Initial results for the water channel apparatus gave agree-
ment with the patterns and the locations of lines a-a and b-b
reported by Fox and Kline [4], Fig. 1. Additional visual results
were obtained, augmenting and extending previous informa-
tion of Fox and Kline and of Reneau, Johnston, and Kline [6]
with respect to stall development and behavior.
The whole transition from unstalled flow to full-stalled flow
FLOW STRAIGHTEHER is a continuum of states, as previously reported by Reneau,
. S SETTLING SCREENS Johnston, and Kline [6]; however, stall wash-out characteristics
(A) FLOW CHANNEL AND DIFFUSER for this region can be categorized as either complete or partial
wash-outs. Near line a-a in the transitory regime, stalls build-up
and wash-out completely. Nearer line b-b, however, the stalled
fluid only partially washes o u t ; the partial wash-outs never
FLOOR
eliminate all the stalled fluid. The amount of the stalled fluid
remaining after a partial wash-out increases as the geometry of a
FLOW !
^> I diffuser approaches line b-b. More detailed information on the
behavior of transitory stalls, particularly the effect of increasing
TO SOLENOID -
length ratio, is given in [7].
In the present study, the concept of the stall period was em-
ployed to allow quantification of transitory stall behavior. The
"BLADE" SECTIONS stall period was defined as the time required for completion of
IMMERSED IN WATER
a stall wash-out cycle; where a wash-out is defined in turn as a
(OPEN POSITION)
rapid entrainment and expulsion of stalled fluid sufficient to
(B) INLET DISTURBANCE DEVICE cause a major change in the exit plane velocity profile. The major
Fig. 2 Water Channel Apparatus with Detail of Inlet Disturbance quantitative results which follow are generally expressed in
Device. terms of the stall period.

.Diffuser Geometry and

Nomenclature
AR = diffuser area ratio, W2/W1 e
= half angle of the diffuser
PLANE: b = width of diffuser between parallel V = kinematic viscosity

walls P = fluid density

L = diffuser diverging wall length
N = diffuser centerline length
P = inlet disturbance period
R = Reynolds number, Ui/Wi/v
F1.0W- T = stall (wash-out) period
T = mean stall period
V = area averaged velocity
W = width of diffuser between diverg-
ing walls
X = axial and flow directions measured
from the throat
cr = standard deviation of stall period
about the mean
Subscripts
1 = diffuser entrance or throat
' 2 = diffuser exit
Hi = includes only stall periods greater
than the mean stall period
Lo = includes only stall periods less
than or equal to the mean stall
period
N = undisturbed inlet conditions

12 / M A R C H 1974 Transactions of the ASME

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 Mean Stall Period. Mean natural stall periods (TN), are large data falling below TN (low deviation). Values for the high
sample ( > 100) time averages evaluated from flow visualization deviation are typically 40 percent to 60 percent of TN; values
of consecutively occurring stall periods. The mean natural stall for the low deviation are typically 30 percent to 40 percent
periods, so called because they occur with "natural" or undis- of TN. Several typical values are indicated on Figs. 5 and 6.
turbed inlet conditions, appear to depend primarily on three
system parameters: diffuser length (L), total included angle Mean Flow Characteristics
(2d), and averaged throat velocity (Ui). Scaling TN on a stall
U Measurement of mean flow data was done in the water channel
volume-time parameter, , collapses all data for the with the previously described probe-transducer system run on-
L sin 2a line with an integrated digital data acquisition system. The
water channel apparatus as shown in Fig. 4. As a check of the probe, its response characteristics, methods of data collection,
water channel data, additional stall period data were collected and the data acquisition system are detailed in [7J.
using the air diffuser and hot-wire probe described previously.
The normalized data from this check are also presented in Fig. Mean Velocity Profiles. All velocity profiles were taken at
4, and agree well with the water channel data. These results the exit plane of the diff users; the results are available in [7].
cover approximately the lower two-thirds of the transitory stall
regime above line a-a in Fig. 1. Near line b-b, wash-out behavior MEAN STALL PERIOD - 15.72 SEC
became too indistinct for rational designation of a single wash- STORBED INLET CONDITION
173 STALL PERIODS
out and data collection was terminated. IE,9 SEC LA1! = 11,25
Several previous diffuser studies have made crude estimates = 25,1) SEC AR = n.o
of the mean stall periods of transitory stalls. In most cases, only Ui = 1,01 FPS
simple order of magnitude estimates were made from limited
visualization studies. When normalized, most of these estimates
fall in the same general range as the results of this study. Of 20 10 60
\h
80 100
JLfl.
120
particular interest is data taken from studies by McDonald and STALL PERIOD LENGTH, SEC
Fox [5] of conical diffusers using water. Their estimates of stall
periods, obtained using dye visualization, are normalized and
included in Fig. 4. The comparison with the present results is MEAN STALL PERIOD - 11,1 SEC
quite good. PULSED INLET PERIOD = 15 SE
20
Stall Period Distribution. Distributions of stall periods about
the mean value were obtained for several cases. Two typical n 179 STALL PERIODS
o-Lo = 7.5 SEC
distributions," which clearly illustrate the quasi-periodic nature 16 o-Hl = 10,3 SEC
of the wash-outs, are presented in Fig. 5. In all cases examined,
the stall period distributions were strongly skewed toward the 12 L/H, -11,25
low side of the mean. Mean stall periods are repeatable, but AR = 1,0
individual stall periods may vary from V 3 TN to 2 TN or more. 8 U, =1.01 FPS
Further data are given in [7].

J
4
Stall Period Standard Deviation. In order to accurately rep-
resent the high skewness in the stall period distributions, an TJlfL
n
unorthodox method of calculating what we term the high devia- 20 10 60 80 100
tion and the low deviation was employed. The standard method
STAl L PERIOD LENGTH, SEC
of calculating a standard deviation was applied first to the data
Fig. 5 Example of Stall Period Distributions Showing the Effect
falling above TN (high deviation), and then separately to the
of Periodically Disturbing the Inlet Conditions

SYrffiOL MEDIUM L/Nj Uj FPS REH

l,6r
320 HATER 5,25 1.01 0,87xl0 If
o 11,25 1,01 O.S/xlO1'
B 11.25 1,70 1.30X1011
280 A 23,25 1,01 0.87x10^
0 AIR 8,0 105 1.67x10=
o * 8,0 56 0,87xl0 5
210
OT

200 a
D 0
160 •
A o

120

MCDONALD'S "TIRE CONSTANT"

ESTIMATES

20

Fig. 4 Nondimensional Mean Natural Stall Period (Mixing-Inertia PULSE PERIOD/MEAN NATURAL STALL PERIOD
Parameter) versus Total Included, Angle with Comparative Data of
McDonald and Fox [5]. b/W, =10, U1 = 1.01 fps. Fig. 6 Mean StallJ'eriod versus Pulse Period for Various Area Ratios.
fa/W, = 10, U,=l,01 fps, Pulse Amplitude~8 percent (_/,.

Journal of Flyids Engineering MARCH 1 9 7 4 / 13

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 A characteristic of all the velocity profiles measured for diffusers
with transitory stalls present was a definite affinity of the
through flow for one diverging wall over the other. The degree
of flow attachment grew stronger as diffuser geometry approached
line b-b. Apparently, even near line a-a, transitory stalls will
occur more frequently on one wall than the other; an effect
borne out also by flow visualization.
Fluctuation Intensity. The fluctuation intensity is defined
identically to turbulence intensity except that it is normalized
on the average inlet velocity. Due to the poor high frequency
( > 2 Hz) response characteristics of the probe-transducer sys-
tem, fluctuation intensities are only a rough measure of the
larger scale unsteadiness and fluctuations observed in the
transitory stall regime. If a measure of average unsteadiness of
different diffusers is taken to be an exit area average of the fluctu-
ation intensities, several important characteristics are observed.
First, average fluctuation intensity increases sharply from a
minimum near line a-a to a maximum near the center of the
transitory stall regime, followed by a gradual decrease in un-
steadiness for geometries approaching line b-b. This peak in
average fluctuation intensity is found to occur at approximately
26 — 20 to 24 deg; the same region of maximum unsteadiness
noted for two-dimensional air diffusers by Cochran and Kline
[2] and by Waitman, et al. [8]. The location of geometries of
maximum exit plane unsteadiness are indicated by the line of
maximum unsteadiness in Fig. 1.
Another significant result was that increasing a diffuser's
length decreases the average fluctuation intensity or exit un-
steadiness, contrary to previous speculation (although this ef-
fect had been observed qualitatively by Waitman [8]). This
effect was also confirmed using visualization techniques.
Reversed Flow Lines. Lines of constant percent reversed flow,
indicating reversed flow of stalled fluid, were constructed for
the diffuser exit plane using probe-transducer measurements.
The reversed flow lines served to illustrate the inception and
growth of mean stall patterns, comparing favorably with previous
descriptions by Fox and Kline [3].
Detailed information and results for the above mean flow
characteristics, plus additional mean flow data obtained with
the air diffuser apparatus, are presented in [7],
Experimental Results: Periodically Disturbed
Inlet Conditions
The inlet disturbance device described previously was used
to investigate the effect of a periodic inlet disturbance on dif-
fusers operating in the transitory stall regime. The device
generated a wake followed by a jet superimposed on the inlet
velocity profile. The device caused a disturbance for only 10 to
20 percent of the disturbance period; the maximum amplitude
of the disturbance was + 6 percent of Ui. The disturbance
form is similar to that frequently observed downstream of an
axial compressor or fan.
Visual Results
Mean Stall Period. Visual studies of the effect of the inlet
disturbance were made for L/Wi = 5.25 and 11.25, and for
disturbance periods (P) varying from 2 to 3 times TN to about
V< TN- A plot of normalized mean stall period versus normalized
disturbance period is presented in Fig. 6 for several different
geometries. Both f and P were normalized with respect to
TN for each respective geometrical setting. The data for the
two length ratios shown in Fig. 6 indicate t h a t the reaction of
transitory stalls to periodic inlet disturbances may be inde-
pendent of geometry. A summary of visual observations and
physical interpretations of inlet disturbances follows.
The wash-out or stall period cycle, as observed in this study,
seems to be composed of two distinct phenomena: (1) the
14 / M A R C H 1974
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separation and/or build-up of the stalled fluid to a point where
it becomes unstable; and (2) the triggering of a wash-out of the
stall by an upstream disturbance. The portion of a wash-out
cycle t h a t each of the these phenomena occupied varied in length
although the separation and stall build-up phase appeared to
be more uniform. A wash-out triggering disturbance could be
either a large turbulent eddy, a fluctuation in flowrate, or an
artificially induced disturbance, as in the case of this study.
Following a stall wash-out, a certain minimum time period
is required for a stall to redevelop before it can subsequently
wash-out. Fig. 6 indicates that if the period between disturb-
ances, P , is greater than about 0.5 TN, there is sufficient time
for a stall to develop before it can be "triggered" by an up-
stream disturbance. Additionally, if 0.5 TN < P < TN each
disturbance will cause a wash-out, forcing the stall period to
follow the disturbance period, P . For P > fN there is a time
for naturally triggered wash-outs to occur also, thus diminishing
the forcing effect of the artificial disturbances. If P < 0.5 TN,
a stall has insufficient time to "recover" after a wash-out has
occurred, and each disturbance will not "trigger" a wash-out;
the stall period thus responds less to the disturbance period.
For P < < 0.5 TN, stalls do not respond to the disturbances per
se, but appear to behave as if the inlet turbulence level has
simply been raised.
In general, for P > 0.5 TN, artificially induced wash-outs re-
sulted in greater expulsion of stalled fluid, longer lull times prior
to subsequent stall build-up, and deeper upstream penetration
of new stalled fluid than was observed for naturally occurring
wash-outs. However, for P < 0.5 TN, these effects rapidly
diminished.
An additional observation was that the pulse level used in this
study ( + 6 percent of Ui) could be replaced by a smaller inlet
disturbance and still have relatively the same triggering effect.
Visual investigations substantiate that relatively small disturb-
ances are sufficient to cause a wash-out. However, insufficient
information was gathered in this study to allow prediction of the
minimum necessary size or the effectiveness of various types of
disturbances.
Stall Period Distribution. Fig. 5 compares typical stall period
distributions for a diffuser with an undisturbed inlet flow and
the same diffuser with P = TN- The effect of the disturbance
is basically to create stall periods of quite uniform length, and
hence a far more narrow, peaked histogram.
Stall Period Standard Deviation. The typical effect of an inlet
disturbance on high and low stall period deviation is included
in Figs. 5 and 6. From a deviation of 40 to 50 percent of TN for
the undisturbed case, the deviation decreases with decreasing
P, becoming narrower (15 percent of TN) as the inlet disturbance
begins to drive the stall periods. As the disturbance period de-
creases to the point of diminishing effect on the stall period (P
< 0.5 TN), the stall period standard deviation begins to in-
crease.
Mean Flow Results
Mean velocity profiles, average fluctuation intensities, and
reversed flow lines were obtained for several diffuser geometries
lying within the transitory stall regime and subject to periodic
inlet disturbances.
Periodically disturbing the inlet flow increased the uniformity
of time averaged exit velocity profiles in both a spanwise and
depthwise direction. Area averaged fluctuation intensities were
found to generally increase when a periodic disturbance was in-
troduced. Some unusual behavior was experienced for geometries
lying near the center of the transitory stall regime, and is dis-
cussed in detail in [7].
Exit plane reversed flow lines showed t h a t periodic inlet dis-
turbances both decrease exit area blockage and cause a shift in
Transactions ©f the ASHE
 the position of stalled fluid. Normally, an inlet disturbance
caused stalled fluid to shift from a diverging wall to either a
parallel wall or a corner juncture of the walls. The criterion Fox
and Kline [3] used for determining line a-a was that stalled fluid
must be present at some time on 20 percent or more of a diverging
wall. If one applies this guideline to the reversed flow line and
visual information of this study, line a-a is raised about 1 deg
(of 26) for P = TV and 3 deg (of 26) for P = 0.5 TV.
Conclusions
The mean flow and periodic behavior characteristics of the
transitory stall flow regime in two-dimensional diffusers has been
investigated, for both undisturbed and periodically disturbed
inlet conditions. The following conclusions can be reached:
Undisturbed Inlet Conditions
1 Stall wash-out periods are quasi-periodic with broad
probability distributions (a ^ + 0.5 TV) and are skewed
strongly to the low side of the mean.
2 Mean natural stall periods (TV) are generally measureable
for the first Va to 2/;s of the transitory stall regime. A parameter,
TVf/i/L sin 2d, roughly correlates all the mean natural stall
period data of this stud}', as well as data from other studies.
3 In the transitory stall regime, exit flow unsteadiness in-
creases rapidly with increased included angle; maximum un-
steadiness occurs at approximately 26 = 20 to 24 deg.
Periodically Disturbed Inlet Conditions
1 Disturbance periods in the range 0.5 TV to TV show the
most effect on transitory stalls, forcing the mean stall period
to follow the disturbance period and creating increased un-
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stats
iformity in stall period lengths. Disturbance periods lying out-
side the above range have rapidly diminishing effects on wash-
out behavior.
2 Periodic disturbances flatten exit velocity profiles, cause
a substanital shift in position and size of stall exit blockage, and
induce moderate changes in exit unsteadiness.
References
1 Chui, G., and Kline, S. J., "Investigation of a Two-Di-
mensional Fully Stalled Turbulent Flow Field," Report MD-19,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University,
Aug. 1967.
2 Cochran, D. L., and Kline, S. J., "The Use of Short Flat
Vanes for Producing Efficient Wide-Angle Two-Dimensional
Subsonic Diffusers," NACA T N 4309, Sept. 1958.
3 Fox, R. W., and Kline, S. J., "Flow Regime D a t a and De-
sign Methods for Curved Subsonic Diffusers," Report PD-6,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University,
Aug. 1960.
4 Fox, R. W., and Kline, S. J., "Flow Regime D a t a and De-
sign Methods for Curved Subsonic Diffusers," Journal of Basic
Engineering, TRANS. ASME, Series D, Vol. 84, Sept. 1962, p p .
303-312.
5 McDonald, A. T., and Fox, R. W., "Incompressible Flow
in Conical Diffusers," Purdue Research Foundation Tech.
Report 1, Sept. 1964.
6 Reneau, L. It., Johnston, J. P., and Kline, S. J., "Perform-
ance and Design of Straight Two-Dimensional Diffusers," Re-
port PD-8, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford
University, Sept. 1964.
7 Smith, C. It., and Kline, S. J., "An Experimental Investi-
gation of the Transitory Stall Regime in Two-Dimensional Dif-
fusers Including the Effects of Periodically Disturbed Inlet Con-
ditions," Report PD-15, Thermosciences Div., Mechanical En-
gineering Department, Stanford University, Aug. 1971.
8 Waitman, B. A., Reneau, L. It., and Kline, S. J., "Effects
of Inlet Conditions on Performance of Two-Dimensional Dif-
fusers," Report PD-5, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Stanford University, Aug. 1960.
MARCH 1 9 7 4 / 11
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