A three-dimensional inverse method using navier—stokes equations for turbomachinery blading

Abstract

A new numerical method for solving fully three-dimensional inverse shape design problem of turbomachinery blading has been developed. The general inverse problem refers to the problem in which the pressure distributions on suction and pressure surfaces of blade are given, but the corresponding blade profile is unknown. In this paper, the calculations are based on the 3D Navier-Stokes equations expressed in terms of nonorthogonal curvilinear coordinates and corresponding nonorthogonal velocity components, and the explicit time marching algorithm and Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model are adopted. A special treatment for boundary conditions on blade surfaces is employed to satisfy the given pressure distribution. In computational process, an initial blade profile is supposed at starting, and then the blade surfaces will move regularly with time steps in the time marching process until the convergence is reached. The movement velocities at every point of blade surfaces are obtained from the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. After each revision of the blade profile, the grid is reconstructed, and the aerodynamic parameters need to be transferred between the old and new grid points by an accurate interpolation method. Thus the viscous inverse problem is solved in a new process. The computational results for two test cases indicate that the method presented in this paper is very effective.