A Compressible Three-Dimensional Inverse Design Method Based on the Streamline Curvature Approach and Clebsch Formulation for Radial and Mixed Flow Turbomachines

Abstract

The through-flow inverse design method based on the streamline curvature approach is nowadays a widely used quasi-3-dimensional blades design method for radial and mixed flow turbomachines. The main limitation of this method is using the flow field on the mean stream surface S2,m to approximate the actual 3-dimensional flow field. Without an effective description of the periodic flow, it is impossible for this method to realize exactly the prescribed circumferentially averaged swirl rVθ. Is there any way to develop this classical through-flow inverse method to a 3-dimensional one conveniently? The answer is yes. A new compressible 3-dimensional inverse design method for radial and mixed flow turbomachines is presented in this paper. This new 3-dimensional inverse method provides a convenient and effective way to obtain the periodic flow field for the streamline curvature through-flow inverse method. Meanwhile, compared with another type of similar 3-dimensional inverse method firstly described by Tan etc. based on Stokes stream functions and Monge potential functions from the Clebsch formulation to calculate the circumferentially averaged flow and the periodic flow respectively, this new method has its own advantages. In order to assess the usefulness of the new method, four centrifugal impellers are designed under the same design specifications by four different inverse methods respectively. They are two quasi-3-dimensional streamline curvature through-flow inverse methods without and with a slip factor model, a 3-dimensional approximated inverse approach based on stream functions and Monge potential functions and the 3-dimensional inverse method presented here. The performances of the four impellers yielding from a RANS commercial solver are compared. The capabilities of the four methods to realize the target circumferentially averaged swirl are also studied.