Effect of the inlet geometry on performance, surge margin and noise emission of an automotive turbocharger compressor

Centrifugal compressor performance at low mass flow rates has become an issue in the latest years due to engine downsizing and the increase of low-end torque request. The principal drawback of this operating region is the appearance of the surge phenomenon, which is strongly affected by the compressor inlet geometry. This work is addressed to study the impact of different inlet geometries on the compressor performance, including compressor efficiency, noise emission and surge margin. An engine test bench is set up with a centrifugal compressor and both steady and transient (tip-out) tests are performed in order to obtain a complete view of the influence of each configuration. The results show a clear sensitivity of the compressor parameters to the variations of the geometry upstream the compressor inlet.