Lecture 10

Aerofoil Nomenclature
MEE 2026 TURBOMACHINES

Dr K KARUNAMURTHY
karunamurthy.k@vit.ac.in

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Agenda

• Aerofoil Nomenclature

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Turbine blades
Prof K Karunamurthy
SOURCE:www.siemens.com
Turbine blades

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
• Aerofoil blade is a stream lined body having a thick rounded
leading edge and a thin trailing edge as in figure.
• The profile of the most of the turbo-machines’ blades are of
aerofoil in shape.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
Leading edge: It is the front or nose of the blade.

Trailing edge: It is the rear or tail of the blade

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
CHORD LINE:
It is an imaginary line joining at the centre of the
leading edge to trailing edge.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
CAMBER LINE:
It is the backbone line lying midway between
the upper and lower surfaces.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
ANGLE OF ATTACK (AOA)/Angle of incidence:
It is the angle between the fluid flow direction
and the chord line of the blade.

Air
Flow

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
Cascade:
An array of aerofoil blades arranged in a turbine
or compressor

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Isolated and a cascade of
aerofoil blades

ISOLATED BLADE CASCADE OF BLADES

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
CASCADE OF TURBINE BLADES

Prof K Karunamurthy
SOURCE:www.siemens.com
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
ASPECT RATIO:
It is the ratio between the blade height to chord
length of the blade.

Air
Flow

Blade height: It is the radius at the tip minus the radius

at the hub Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
PITCH:
the distance in the direction of rotation between corresponding
points on adjacent blades.
.

It is the distance between two adjacent blades

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
PITCH - CHORD RATIO:
It is the ratio between the pitch to chord length of the blade
.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
Stagger Angle ():
It is the angle between the chord line to the turbine axial
direction.
.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Aerofoil Blade Nomenclature
Camber Angle:
• The external angle formed by the intersection of the tangents
to the camber line at the leading and trailing edges.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Types of aerofoil blades
(i) Un-cambered with zero AoA
Air flow

• The camber line will be a straight line and not curved

in un-cambered aerofoil blade.
• They are symmetrical blades.
• Camber line and chord line coincides.
• The upper and lower surfaces are mirror images
• For zero AoA the air flow is parallel to the chord line.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Types of aerofoil blades
(i) Un-cambered with AoA

• The camber line will be a straight line and not curved

in un-cambered aerofoil blade.
• The air flow direction makes an angle with the chord
line.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Types of aerofoil blades
(i) Cambered with zero AoA
Air fl
ow

• The camber line will not be a straight line but curved.

• The air flow direction will be parallel to the chord
line.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Types of aerofoil blades
(i) Cambered with AoA

• The camber line will not be a straight line but curved.

• The air flow direction will not be parallel to the chord
line but makes an angle.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Lift and Drag
When a fluid flows over an aerofoil section. The pressure on
the upper surface and the lower surface are different. The
bottom side pressure will be greater than the top side.

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Lift and Drag
The force which tends to lift the cascade of blades
in the vertical direction.
It is force acting perpendicular to the direction of
flow of the fluid is LIFT

Coefficient of lift: It is the lift force per unit weight rate of flow of air

Prof K Karunamurthy
 Angle of Attack and Lift
• The angle of attack is the angle between the chord line
and the fluid flow direction.
• Greater angle of attack creates more lift (up to a point).
• DRAG
Lift and Drag
The force acting on the blade along the direction of the
flowing fluid.

Drag force per blade D = CD × ½ ρ × A × V2

Area exposed (A) = Chord length X blade height
Total Drag Force = Drag force per blade x no of blades
Coefficient of Drag (CD): It is the drag force acting on the blade per unit weight rate
of fluid
Prof K Karunamurthy
 Lift and Drag
• DRAG
Viscous drag (parasite drag)
Drag created due to viscosity of the flowing fluid.
Induced drag
It is a by product of lift caused by the vortices in
the tip.

Prof K Karunamurthy