Jenkins and D. A.

Moore

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Auburn Unioersity
Auburn, Alabama 36849

Transmitted by Dr. Melvin K. Scott

ABSTRACT

This article describes a technique for the rapid calculation of three-dimensional gas
turbine blade shapes for preliminary design purposes. An inverse blade design
technique is combined with a generalized form of the radial equilibrium equation for
turbomachinery to produce physically meaningful flow cascades. Such cascades can
provide feedback as to potential structural, heat transfer, or manufacturing problems
very early in the turbomachine design process.

1. GENERAL ANALYSIS

The general geometric characteristics of the problem for a gas turbine are
shown in Figure 1. Flow along any streamline is governed by an ordinary
nonhomogeneous linear first-order differential equation of the form

I dQ v"=-2 4hQ)
+ __
Qd r Q dr ’

where V is the velocity, a! the flow angle, measured in the (4,s ) plane of
Figure 1, r the local radius measured from the machine centerline, and 12, is
related to the power extracted from the flow by the turbomachine. The
parameter Q is called the entropy function and is related to the aerodynamic
performance of the turbomachine. Equation (1) is a generalized form of the
so-called radial equilibrium equation for turbomachinery.

APPLZED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION 57:197-204 (19%)

0 Elsevier Science Publishing Go., Inc., 1993

655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010 0096-3003/93/$6.00
198 R. M. jENKINS AND D. A. MOORE

statot blade rotorblade

FIG. 1. Problem geometry.

If we specify- th e
flow angie cbsttibution at, say, the rotor exit, the general
solution for (1) can be written as

--1 dQ
11
2sin2 QI
r + Q- dr dr
r
Inoeme Blade Design 199

where AW(r) is the radial distribution ower extracted from the flow and
the parameters rm and V,,, are dete in an iterative talc-tilation proce-
dure, wherein V2(r) is forced to s Ae constraint of a specified overall
mass flow within the cascade channel. It should be noted that in many
instances the rotor exit flow angle distributior: (Y(T) can be obtained from
known or desired conditions downstream of the turbine. Once
and Q(T) are specified or ascertained, Equation (2) can be integrated
numerically for V 2(r) at the rotor exit. Once conditions at the rotor exit are
known, conditions at the stator exit follow immediately from mass flow
requirements and from the specification of AW(r).

2. THE INVERSE BLADE DESIGN TECHNIQUE

Two-dimensional cascade channel shapes (blade profiles) can be generated

through solutions to the so-called indirect problem: that of the design of a
channel to yield a specified velocity distribution on the two walls [l]. The
radial equilibrium equation ensures that the resulting channel shapes satisfy
specified requirements of throughflow and power production. The shapes are
produced for several radial locations within the turbomachine and then
stacked on one another to produce a three-dimensional channel.
The individual shapes are generated by calculation of a centerline or
camber-he distribution, on which a second distribution of calculated profile
thickness is overlaid [I, 21. The procedure is illustrated in Figure 2 and
proceeds in the following manner: it can easily be shown from consideration
of the basic conservation laws for flow within a cascade that the component of
200 R. M. JENKINS AND D. A. MOORE

velocity measured in a direction tangential to the cascade centerline and

relative to the cascade (which may or may not be rotating) is

, a”

.$
R
1

7
T’
i I
vu
k
a' 1 i

ere W and V refer to velocities measured relative to rotating and nonrotat-

mg reference frames, respectively, while U is rotational speed; T, p and E:
are gas temperature, density and pressure, respectively; a is the local speed
of sound; R and y are constants relating to the gas; h* and v* are
nondimensionalized channel height and local streamline radius, respectively;
a is the cascade solidity, related to the exact form of the blade shape; and the
superscripts ” and ’ refer to quantities measured with respect to rotating and
otating reference frames, respectively. Finally, the subscripts i and &
cascade inlet and an arbitrary location within the cascade,

the component of velocity (WJa”)& measured along the cascade

assumed to vary Zinearly between known conditions at the
de inlet and outlet, then the local flow turning within the channel is

\ aN

the mean camberline is described by the cylindrical coordinates R, 6 and

e camberline is generated by the point-by-point integration of the
Invrrse Black Design 201

expression

-- =
(5)

Gonsideration of the principle of conservation of mass within the cascade

channel leads immediately to an expression for the required blade thickness,
t5, at any location 5,

where M is the overall cascade length and

The entire procedure relies on specification of the proper velocity loadings

for each channel wall (each side of the blade profile) at a given radius. It is a
common practice to approximate such loadings by polynomial equations,
usually of second order, and to constrain these loadings to satisfy certain
requirements for proper turbomachinery blade design [Z, 31.

3. BLADE-LOADJNG ADJUSTMENT

It is well-known that modern turbomachinery is subject to local flow

conditions that are not conducive to efficient operation. One method for
alleviating the problem is to modify the local blade velocity loadings by
adjusting the radial distribution of power extraction required, (r), while
maintaining a constant overall requirement. For instance, many gas turbines
in operation today utilize cascade desi which allow for uniform local or
radial power extraction from the flow. wever, it has been demonstrated
that certain nonuni distributions may well
performance [4-G]. course, other nonuniform
degraded performance, as the problem is basically
various aerodynamic loss his issue has been
detail in [7], wherein a
202 R. M. JENKINS AND D. A. MG::)RE

utilized to deternine the distribution AW(r) which minimizes the aerody-

namic loss. Of course, adjustment of the distribution of power extraction
modifies the velocity loadings and, by implication, the channel shapes. A
primary consideration of the design process, aside from the aerodynamic
performance aspect, is the practicality of the resulting cascade shape with
regard to such issues as mechanical stress, heat transfer, and ease of manufac-
turing. As an example, shapes which provide excellent aerodynamic perfor-
mance may well be twisted three dimensionally so that manufacture is
difficult or impossible. The present analysis provides a simple and quick
method for exposing such potential problems very early in the design process.

4. SAMPLE RESULTS

Illustrative results are shown in Figures 3-6, wherein calculations are

made for the overall mass flow and power extraction requirements of a typical
small turbine designed for a propulsion engine [9]. In all cases, two-
dimensional proties ;;re generated utilizing the technique described, and
then stacked vertically along an axis passing through the centroid of each
profile. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the stationary cascade, or stator. Figure 3 is
generated by assuming that the power extraction, AW(r), is uniform, that is,
that each radial section extracts an equal amount of work from the flow.
Figure 4 is generated by assuming that AW(r) is a second-order polynomial,
with the power extraction biased radially toward the channel centerline (away
from the “hub’ and “tip” walls shown in Figure 11,a configuration believed
to provide better aerodynamic performance [4-71. Differences in the channel
shapes are somewhat subtle in this case. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate results for
the corresponding rotating cascade, or rotor, for the uniform and the parabolic
AW(r) distributions, respectively. Here the resulting differences in overall
blade twist are quite obvious. It should be noted that the turbine cascades of
191were designed using the uniform AW(r) distribution. As noted earlier,
comparisons between the two cases can now be made about issues such as
mechanical stress and manufacturing complications, based on purely geomet-
ric considerations.
The importance of such calculations is that they can be performed very
early in the design process. Total computation time for a sin& case is less
than one minute on a 486-33 PC, assuming that AW(T) is arbitrarily input. If
AW(r) is optimized, calculations require about 30 minutes on the same
machine. Finally, it should be noted that the calculations are not truly three
dimensional since the radial component of velocity is not included in Equa-
tion 1. owever, in many turbine designs this component is small.
Inveme Blade Design 2Q3

FIG.

FIG. 6. 3-D rotor cascade, parabolic A%‘(r).

204 R. M. JENKINS -AND D. A. M

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