The effects of different circumferential total pressure distortion in inlet on the rotating stall of a three-stage low-speed axial flow compressor were investigated.Inlet total pressure distortion was created by the gauze mounted upstream of the rotor.Hot wires and high-frequency response transducers were used to capture the dynamic signals of unsteady flow.The experimental results show that the stall point will change not only with the number of the gauze but also with the position of the gauze.We also find that although the asymmetric flows caused by the inlet distortion initiate large-scale disturbance before the onset of rotating stall

the frequency of rotating stall is not altered.