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Copyright 1987 by ASME

The Performance Estimation of Transonic Turbine at

Design and Off-Design Conditions
GE MANCHU
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China

ABSTRACT simplified flow correlation between blades, the loss

A performance estimation method has been developed
for the transonic turbine. This method can be used for
the calculation of gasdynamic parameters of turbines at
design and off-design conditions. In this paper a group
of simultaneous equations including the S2 stream sur-
face equation, the simplified flow correlation between
blade and blade, the loss equations and the deviation
angle correlation are solved (Wu, 1950, 1950, 1965;
Marsh, 1966;Smith 1973;Novak and Hearsey, 1977.) Solving
these equations, the turbine performance can be obtained.
The essential difference in treating the sub-criti-
cal, critial and super-critical flow conditions is rese-
arched. The correlation between entropy and losses is
deduced in this paper. For the choking flow calculation,
a unified approach to solve these equations is developed.
On the basis of the above research, the false choking
condition will not occur and convergence will be reached
rapidly with this method.
A computer program was then compiled with this
method and has been used for the performance calculation
of transonic turbines at design and off-design conditions.
Several examples have been calculated. Satis-
factory results are obtained and the reduced flow rate,
efficiency and expansion ratio are fairly consistent
with the experimental results. The difference between
the computational results and experimental data is within
near the design condition.
INTRODUCTION
As we know, the design point performance estima-
tion is important for the design of turbines. With the
development of high-performance turbines, the load-
bearing capacity is getting higher and higher and tran-
sonic flow will appear between the blades. If we want
to design a high performance turbine used in different
work conditions, the performance estimation of the off-
design is necessary too. In this paper a performance
estimation method of turbine design and off-design has
been developed with the blade profile given. For this
purpose the physical and mathematical models are rese-
arched and developed. A group of simultaneous equa-
tions including the S2 stream surface equation, the
equations and the deviation angle correlation are solved.
The profile, leakage, secondary flow, and shock wave
losses are calculated in different work conditions with
these loss correlations. The gas flow angle can be ob-
tained using the deviation angle equations in the sub-
sonic or supersonic condition.
When high load is demanded in a turbine design the
flow may be critical or super-critical between the
blades. If we use the usual numerical method for solv-
ing these equations the false choking flow will occur;
that is, the calculated maximum flow is not the true
value of maximum flow. In this paper the subcritical,
critical and super-critical conditions are considered.
A unified approach of solving these equations is deve-
loped. The losses, deviation angles and other flow
parameters are calculated and adjusted in an iterative
process. The choking flow is calculated in suitable
parameters. The large difference of choking flow can
not occur by using suitable adjusted losses and flow
angle values. Because the synchronization of calcula-
tion is better, the calculated result of the choking
flow is satisfactory and the calculation convergence
of the program, which is compiled with this method, is
quite good.
Several examples are calculated and some of them
are shown in this paper. One of the examples is a
T-250 two stage turbine. The results are quite good.
The reduced flow rate and efficiency are fairly consi-
stent with the experimental results for the design and
off-design conditions. Another example is a turbine
which is used in critical condition. The calculated
results are quite good too. The difference between the
computational results and experimental data is within
12,. The SP-L two stage turbine is the third example.
The results are calculated for the design and off-design
conditions with this method. The results are satis-
factory.
NOMENCLATURE
A, Al, A2, A3, B Coefficient
b Chord
C Constant or blade thickness

Presented at the Gas Turbine Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California May 31-June 4, 1987

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 e Blade suction surface radius (near trail- T Turbine
ing edge)
w Relative
F Area
Axial
G Flow
Constant SUPERSCRIPTS
gc0-1
Stagnation enthalpy o Stagnation
h Static enthalpy o' Relative stagnation
I Stagnation rothalpy On stream line
Attack angle
GOVERNING EQUATIONS
Kc, Flow coefficient
Central line length In turbine design, the design and off-design per-
1
formance is useful in order that the turbine can be
M Mach number suitable for different work conditions. The off-design
p Pressure calculation method and the 2-D calculation method are
developed. In this paper the performance estimation
R Gas constant method of transonic turbine is developed. The critical
Radius vector condition and choking flow are discussed.
In this method, a perfect gas, inviscid absolute
s Entropy steady or relative steady, and adiabatic flow are as-
T sumed. The governing equations in relative form are

written below. The main equation governing fluid flow
t Time or pitch is the dynamic equation. The others are the continuity
u Circular velocity equation, the first law and the correlation formula of
thermodynamics (Wu, 1950). The losses and flow angle
V Absolute velocity vector correlations are deduced for the design calculation of
Relative velocity vector turbine (Ainley and Mathieson, 1957).

Loss coefficient
Continuity equation v (pW) 0 (1)
Z Axial coordinate
Geometric angle of vane Dynamic equation vp/p=dW/dt w , r+2cox W (2)
a
Geometric angle of rotor blade or flow The first law of thermodynamics dl .= 0 (3)
angle of vane
The correlation formula of thermodynamics
a Stagnation pressure recovery coefficient
Tris==dh--0/p (4)
Efficiency
Perfect gas equation p .= pRT (5)
(-Z Angular velocity vector
Losses Correlation
Angle between axial and stream line
ns Rln fl 4 (Y, - Y, A Yk)[1 -- (1 4 (x
- - 1)141/2)*11
7 Expansion ratio
Flow angle correlation (6)
K Adiabatic ratio
3
p Density (12 cc, F cdwri 4t/ e (7)
t =1
Clearance
5 Stagnation temperature ratio The continuity equation for steady absolute motion
becomes.
SUBSCRIPTS
pvz
G Cr) = 2 Tr t< (4- j rh rdr (8)
1 Vane inlet
2 Vane outlet The dynamic equation (2) can be derived for ab-
3 solute steady flow on a stream surface. Its component
Rotor outlet
equations along the radial direction is written below.
k Leak
A 4 ?V Z
Al
A ,)
-Fr% =A3 (9)
N
))" Vane PZ
n Throat
where
nt Between throat and outlet
Al = 1+ (4i) 2 +(rO)'

s
nl Critical
Tangent A2 = -r0
A3 - -V2 [+-(T1(3)2+1-(3
a ro-5)
p Profile
Radius
R Rotor
s Secondary flow or isentropy

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 Solving these equations the gas parameters can be coefficient can be shown as follows:
obtained in the sub-critical condition when boundary
condition are given. azI crs.w.N./ {1 (Y F, Y (1 + 1)M1/2):1
The relationship between enthalpy and entropy of (19)
a turbine stage is shown in Fig.l. The loss coefficient
and efficiency can be deduced from this relationship. The stagnation pressure loss coefficient of the
The stagnation pressure loss coefficients for vane and rotor is
rotor are written as follows.

YN ." (PP -- /OAP? -- /0
(10) cr.-1/1(1 + YRL1 (1 +(c-1)M..1/2) 11 .11 (20)
YR (p3T (1 1)
H Substituting (17) to (19) and considering the shock
wave loss we can get

la
3 a.- 6s.w.R./{1 +0 , 0 + Y, 1, ; 0 (1 +(K---1)m,V2)1)}
01 (21)
The stagnation efficiency of a turbine stage is

ny"" (H3 112)/(a LlY3 H2 ) ( 22)

Using the formula (20) the efficiency can be changed

Entropy into:
Fig.l H-s relation in turbine stage
(H2 H3)/{1-12 H311

The total loss coefficient is constituted by the Ll (1 + 1)M1v12) 1 -11 4 crs.w.K' (23)
blade profile,secondary flow, leakage, and shock wave
losses. For the ordinary blade profile, the loss coef-
ficients are written as follows:
The entropy can be calculated with the following equa-
Blade profile loss coefficient tions.
Y p + R crN
Y0G.3) (ce,/i9 2) 2 (Ypcp,-60 Yp(.=-03)1 (24)
=1
[K/(1 01 R ln UH2 /7 (Vs, 14 3
7 - Ve,t12)/Ji/
(5C../10 ( r, < 3) (12)
111, + 17,02)/ J11 (25)
Yp (I + y
,-1
L pc-03 + (ct , /i9 2) 2 (Ypcp,--ed Yp1n,-0))1

(5cm./b) - " ,/ ( 3) (13)

In the critical condition the governing equations
are shown as the following equations (26-30).
Secondary flow loss coefficient
Continuity equation before the throat section:
Y. 21(610b cos' g 2 ( tg tg9 2 ) 2
1+K
'/4 tgfi', tgia 2 ) 2 /(h cos i9,) (14)
G = 11 + 1)MV21 2U-X) M, C,e - '- ^ (26)
It is suggested that the f(61/C).=.0.0334 may be
suitable for the hub, tip boundary layers (Ngo and Continuity equation after the throat section:
Millar,1973).
Leakage loss coefficient F/(F2cos(2) {[1 +(T 1)MY21/Li +

Y k 213S k cos t 1 2 ( rg tg ' 2 ) 2 tgi4, tg(3 2 ) 2 jh (15) 1)/41/211 1 ) M M ) (27)

The cascades experimental data of flow angle and

The critical flow condition
loss is taken from 703 Institute in China. The correla-
tion is developed with the curve fitting method.
The stagnation pressure loss coefficient of the
dG/dM= 0 (28 )
vane is written as:
Dynamic equation
ar/-1/{1 + Y N [1 (1 +(x 1)M1/2)'il (16)

+ x --1)Mi /2]17( F 2/F , ) cos #

(

Then the total loss coefficient can be obtained by

= [1 + 1)MY21 11 " + ( Kg 2 M)[1 1)M 2/21 1'1 "
(17)
YN = (Yp+YS
MA /1 + 1)Mt/2 cos (1 62 i9 .)4 1 + (s: 1)114/2
Y IR = (Yp I- Y5 1- Yk )/cZ (18)
( 2 9)

If the shock wave appears, the shock wave loss

must be considered. The stagnation pressure loss

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 Loss correlation
As, (I /OR In( 1 -I- (Y, + Y, Yk)
(1 -1- (ic 1)Mi/2)
For the super-critical condition the governing
equations can be deduced as following equations (30-33).
Continuity equation
F,/(F, cos i92) { [1 1)1C/21/
L 1)A/n/2 2('-') (112/M,)e - '' . ( 31)
Dynamic equation
(p?/0)[1. + 1)Aa'2] 1 "(F 2 /F,) cos i!?
= [1 +(e 1) MY21 Kg,A1 (tz
- M2 V/1 - 1) M '4/2 cos 032 1 )M
Thermodynamic correlation
P /P (33)
The super-critical condition
Combining the super-critical equations with the
equations above, the super-critical flow can be calcu-
lated. Combining the critical equations with the above
basic equations, the critical flow can be calculated.
For the solution of the governing equations the
numerical method is adopted. The difference equation
is considered. A nine points centered difference scheme
is used. The velocity is adopted as independent vari-
able in the equation. The calculation formulae of it
are given by
DV
CviK ( V )JK-2+n
ar n=1,3
dynamic and geometric conditions. The geometry of cas-
cade is shown in Fig.2.
The gas dynamic conditions on the inlet side of the
calculated region are the parameters G, Si, P? , T 1
(30) stream lines parallel each other. At the outlet, the
streamlines are parallel also.
The geometric conditions are the geometry of the
through flow section of the turbine, the blade profile
characteristic geometric parameters -- the chord, the
maximum thickness, inlet and outlet angle and the
blade length and pitch,the blade coordinates. The rota-
tional speed is another given parameter.
The solution procedure is given below. When the
difference equations and the boundary conditions are
made the calculation nets can be determined first. At
the same time the calculated lines of nets for the first
iteration calculation are assumed as the stream lines
along the flow direction. Then the stagnation enthalpy
or rothalpy can be calculated easily using the first law
1)1C/21 [M of thermodynamics. At the throat critical parameters
M e t, 62t can be obtained with the equations (26)-(30).
Then the flow angle 02( can be used for solving the dy-
namic equation. The M2 will be calculated along the
(32) radial coordinate. We compare the M2 with the M21, to
determine the flow condition in the cascade and
different calculations can be used for the different
conditions. The entropy and flow angle can be calcu-
lated and the dynamic equations can be solved in the
whole calculation region according to the new condi-
tion. If the maximum difference of the stream line
coordinate between the successive two iterative steps
is bigger than the set small value, the coordinate cor-
(34) rection of the stream line must be done and the above
procedure must be repeated until the convergence is
reached. In this calculation the losses and the flow
angles are calculated in the same iterative step with
the solution of the dynamic equation. The better
initial value is provided for solving the dynamic
equation. With each iteration the provided initial
value is better and better, so that the correct choking
flow can be obtained and the convergence is satisfactory.
When the choking flow is calculated with the initial
given loss and flow angle values, which are not changed
in successive iterative steps, the calculated choking
flow is different from the true one. The difference
between them can reach more than K.
(35)

aV
= / Cvni (Yi

( 36 )
7 m=1,3
where_
V is the velocity taken on the stream line.
Taking equations (35) (36), we substitute these
equations into equation (9). The difference equations
become

EljK Vi E2ji<YiK E3jKVi =E4jk (37)
Fig.2 The geometry in cascade

The continuity equation is calculated easily, for

every grid point by following equation along the radial RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
direction.
Using these equations, the computer programme has
Gr(r) = 2TrK
n -
I [ (J,Vzr)K+1, uvE(),, CYKt1 K)
been written. Many examples have been calculated.
CT K=1 2 Satisfactory results are obtained. The calculation con-
vergence is quite good. The maximum stream line diffe-
(38) rence, 10 -4 between the successive two iterative steps,
is reached with several iterative times. The calculated
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND SOLUTION PROCEDURE results are compared with the experimental results in
sub-critical, critical and super-critical conditions.
Boundary conditions are constituted by the gas They are reasonable and quite good. In this paper three

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 of these examples are presented. One of them is a
T-250 two stage turbine which is designed by our insti-
tute and the experiment of this turbine has been done
for each stage. The through flow section of this
turbine is shown in Fig.3. The second stage is calcu-
lated. The results are shown in Figs. 4-7. In Fig.4
the reduced flow ratio is expressed with the variation 0

of the expansion ratio. The calculation results are

expressed with the solid line and the experimental
results are expressed by the circles. It is obvious 0
that both of them are fairly consistent. The maximum
0(0 65 70 75
difference of them is within 1% for the whole experi-
mental region. Flow Angle
Fig.6 Flow angle distribution

Fig.3 T 250 turbine through flow section

-
Fig.7 Mach number distribution

ured in the section between the vane and rotor. In

Fig.6 the flow angles are shown along the radial
direction. The Mach number is shown in Fig.7. The
results are satisfactory. The another example is a
turbine which is used in critical condition. The design
point parameters are calculated and the comparison has
been done between the computational and the experimental
results.
- Cal. results
The second example is a two stage turbine. It
o Exp. results
works in critical condition at the design point. The para-
meters are inlet pressure P1 =131810 (kgf/m 2 ), inlet tem-
perature Ti=1160.6 (k), and the rotational speed n=9800
r.p.m. The blade profile coordinates are given too.
The results are written as follows:

parameters calculated experimental

results results
Fig.4 T-250 turbine G---p 0 --TrT results
Choking flow (kg/s) 88.01 88.34
Outlet stagnation
60860 61510
pressure (kgf/m 2 )
Outlet stagnation
982.7 984.9
temperature (k)
Expansion ratio 2.17 2.14
Stagnation tempe-
1.18 1.18
rature ratio
0.701.0 Efficiency (%) 87.7 88.0
1.5 20
-= Expansion Ratio
Fig.5 T-250 turbine n,-n T results The third example is a SP-L two stage turbine. The
results are shown in Fig.8-9. These results are satis-
Near the choking condition, it is clear that both factory.
the calculated and experimental results are close to a These results are quite good for engineering appli-
horizontal line with the expansion ratio. It is the cation.
choking flow line. The efficiency is shown in Fig.5. From the above-mentioned research and calculation
The calculated results are quite good for both the we can draw the following conclusions.
design and off-design conditions. The gasdynamic
parameters are calculated by this method and are meas-

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 Novak, R.A., and Hearsey, R.M., 1977, "A Nearly
0.9 Three-Dimensional Interblade Computing System for Tur-
bomachinery," ASME(1) No.l.
Smith, D.J.L., 1973, "Computer Solution of Wu's
>, 0.8 Equations for the Compressible Flow Through Turbomachine,"
NASA SP 304.
0 0.7 Wu, Chung-Hua, 1950, "A General Theory of Three-
Dimensional Flow in Subsonic and Supersonic Turbomachines
60-,n of Axial, Radial and Mixed-Flow Types,"
0.6 ASME Paper No. 50-A-79.
Cat,. = 50,n Wu, Chung-Hua, 1950, "Application of Radial-Equi-
0.5 librium Condition to Axial-Flow Compressor and Turbine
Exp. ogla x
Design," NACA Rep. 955.
Wu, Chung-Hua, 1965, "Basic Aerothermodynamic Equa-
0 .02 .04 .06 4-1/ .r tion of Fluid with Respect to Stationary and Moving
Coordinates. The Effect of Viscous Forces and the
Fig.8 SP-L turbine Y1 results Physical Meaning of the Viscous Terms," Chinese Jl.
of Mechanical Engineering.
3.5 50,n
C.1
4-> 60:J1
fc
701n
0 3.0
80 n
U-
2.5 -

2.0

15 -

0 .02 04 .06 off/T^

Fig.9 SP-L turbine G--Tr 7 results

1) In this paper, a performance estimation method

has been developed. It can be used for the sub-critical,
critical and super-critical calculations of axial tur-
bines.
2) The losses, flow angles, and sub-critical,
critical and super-critical conditions are researched
and a simultaneous solution is developed. The good
results show that this method is reasonable and useful.
3) This method can be used for turbine perfor-
mance in the design and off-design conditions.
4) With this method the calculated loss results
are reasonable for the ordinary turbine.
5) The calculated choking flow shows quite good
agreement with the experimental results. It is obvious
that the false choking flow is avoided and the simul-
taneous solution is effective.
6) This method can be used not only for the total
performance parameters but also for the gasdynamic para-
meters along the radial direction. This is very useful
for the calculation of the design point.

REFERENCES

Ainley, D.G., and Mathieson, G.C.R., 1957, "A Method

of Performance Estimation for Axial Flow Turbines,"
A.R.C. R&M 2974.
Ge, Manchu, 1977, "708 Gas Turbine Off-Design cal-
culation."
Report of Institute of Engineering Thermophysics.
Marsh, H., 1966, "A Digital Computer Program for
the Through-Flow Fluid Mechanics in an Arbitrary Tur-
bomachine Using a Matrix Method,"
A.R.C. R&M. 3509.
Ngo, Vinh-Hai, and Millar, D.A.J., 1973, "The Design
and Performance Prediction of Axial Flow Turbines,"
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
Report, No. ME, 73-3 June.

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