Redesign of an 11 cm-diameter Micro Diffuser

In order to improve the performances of an 11 cm-diameter turbine engine, this article suggests to substitute a new-style micro diffuser redesigned based on a new concept for the traditional diffuser having poor performances. The new diffuser comprises integral blades and splitters, which are taken for a series of ducts in designing. This article investigates the effects of the cross-section area distribution along the flow path on the redesigned diffuser's performances. Having furnished with the new diffuser in place of the original vaned one, the 11 cm-diameter prototype engine is tested on the rig for its performances. CFD and experiments have shown that the improved diffuser with the unchanged original size has gained excellent performance parameters of pressure coefficient over 0.65 and total pressure recovery coefficient over 0.9. Equipped with the redesigned micro diffuser, the engine increases the thrust by 11% and decreases the specific fuel consumption by 9%.