ASE 376K Propulsion

Philip L. Varghese, UT Austin, 2001 1

Designing rotor blades for radial equilibrium(c
r
0)
The radial equilibrium condition is:

dr
ds
T
dr
dh
dr
rc d
r
c
dr
dc
c
r
c
dr
dc
c
dr
dc
c
o z
z
z
z
+ + +
) (
2

(1)
We assume in this analysis that 0
dr
ds
and choose to design for 0
dr
dh
o
, i.e. constant work
input (compressor) or output (turbine) per unit length of rotor blade. Thus we have
0
) (
+
dr
rc d
r
c
dr
dc
c
z
z

, (2)
which implies that the radial variations of c
z
and c
r
are coupled, if we want c
r
0.
Consider a compressor rotor and let us design our blade twist variations in the rotor
(
1
(r),
2
(r)) such that:

,
_

,
_

,
_

,
_

r
r
b
r
r
a r c
r
r
b
r
r
a r c
m
n
m
m
n
m
) (
) (
2
1

r
m
is the mean radius; a, b > 0. (3)
The exponent n is a design choice. A similar set of equations can be used for a turbine rotor, by
replacing subscript 1 with 3. Note that c
2
> c
1
for a compressor and c
2
> c
3
for a turbine.
From Eqs. (3) we see that

,
_

r
r
b r c r c
m
2 ) ( ) (
1 2
, so that
( ) ) ( 2 2 2 ) ( ) ( ) (
1 2
r f bU r b
r
r
b r r c r c r U h
m m
m
o


. (4)
Here is the angular velocity of the rotor. We see that the choice of tangential velocity
distribution (3) has guaranteed that h
o
f(r), i.e. 0
dr
dh
o
, for any a, b, n (provided the fluid
follows the blades). Equation (4) determines b, provided T
o,stage
, U
m
and are known for the
stage


m
stage o p
m
o
U
T c
U
h
b
2 2
,

. (5)
For example, if T
o,stage
50K, c
p
1000 J/kgK, U
m
200 m/s, 1, then b125m/s.
Using
2 2 2 2 2 2
z z r
c c c c c c + + +

for radial equilibrium, the degree of reaction for a
compressor

o
z z
o o o
h
c c
h
c c
h
r c r c

h
h h
r R

2 2
1
2
) ( ) (
1 ) (
2
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
1
2
2 1 2

ASE 376K Propulsion
Philip L. Varghese, UT Austin, 2001 2
Because ) )( (
1 2 1 2
2
1
2
2
c c c c c c + and ) (
1 2
c c U h
o
, we get

o
z z
h
c c
U
c c
r R

+

2 2
1 ) (
2
1
2
2 1 2

(6)
It is convenient to normalize by the mean radius r
m
and introduce a dimensionless variable
m
r
r
x in equation (3):

x
b
ax c
x
b
ax c
n n
+
2 1
; (3a)
so

1 1 2
2
2
2


+
n
m m
n
x
U
a
x U
ax
U
c c


. (7)
Now we need to determine c
z
(r), or equivalently c
z
(x), from the radial equilibrium
condition (2).

( )
( )
( )

,
_

r
r
zm z
r
r
zm z
r
r
r
r
z
m
m
m m
dr rc
dr
d
r
c
I I c c
dr rc
dr
d
r
c c c
dr rc
dr
d
r
c
dr
c
dr
d

; 2
2 2
2
2 2
2 2
2
(8)
Using the definitions of c
1
, c
2
in Eq. (3a), it is easy to see that the integral I in Eq. (8) is

( )
( ) ( )
( ) 1 ; ) ln( 1
2
2
0 ; 1
1
ln
1 , 0 ; 1
1
1
2
) 1 (
) 1 (
2
1 2
1
2 1 2

1
]
1

1
]
1

,
_

1
]
1

+
+

n x b x
a
a
n
x
b x a
n x
n
b
x
n
a
n a
dx bx ax n a I
n n
x
n n
m
m
m
(9)
The distributions with n=0,t1 are often used. They are called exponential (n=0), free-vortex
(n=1), and first-power (n=1). Hill and Peterson (p. 335) refer to the case n=1 as constant
reaction but we shall see that the degree of reaction is not constant in this case. (Note that Hill
and Peterson define the distribution for rc

, rather than c

.) Since blades are made by numerical

machining there is no reason to stay with integral n. Although it gives mathematicians fits, the
cases n=0 and n=1 can be considered under the general case using n=, and n=1 respectively,
where is a small number like 10
-5
.
The numerical result for the blade angles, degree of reaction,
ASE 376K Propulsion
Philip L. Varghese, UT Austin, 2001 3
etc. computed using this approximation are the same (to better than 1%) as the exact
mathematical results for these special cases, and the fluid does not follow the specified angles
exactly anyway.
Then, confining ourselves to the general case, we get:

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1
]
1

+
1
]
1

+ +

1
1
1
2
) 1 ( 2
1
1
1
2
) 1 ( 2
1 2 2
2
2
1
1 2 2
1
2
2
n n
zm z
n n
zm z
x
n
b
x
n
a
n a c c
x
n
b
x
n
a
n a c c
(10)
Assuming that c
1zm
= c
2zm
= c
zm
(common design practice), then
( ) 1
) 1 (
) 1 (
4
1 2
1
2
2

+

n
z z
x
n
n
ab c c
Using h
o
= 2bU
m
, we obtain ( ) 1
) 1 (
) 1 (
2
1
2
1
2
2

n
m o
z z
x
n
n
U
a
h
c c

, so finally from Eq. (6)

) 1 (
) 1 2 (
1 ) (
1

n
n x
U
a
x R
n
m

. (11)
At the mean radius (x=1, r=r
m
)
m m
m
U
a
n
n
U
a
R R

+ 1
) 1 (
) 1 2 (
1 ) 1 ( , so the second
constant in the velocity expression is determined from
) 1 (
m m
R U a (12)
for all n. For
m
R 0.5, U
m
200 m/s, 1, we have a100 m/s. In general R' increases with
radius, so one has to choose
m
R sufficiently high that degree of reaction is not too low near the
hub (problems of high adverse pressure gradient and flow separation near hub in stator).
Conversely
m
R must not be so high that there is a high adverse pressure gradient and flow
separation in the rotor near the tip. Examination of the figure shows why rotors commonly have
relatively high hub-to-tip ratios, , because this limits the variation in R' (and all other flow
properties) from their mean radius values.
Special cases:
) 1 ln 2 )( 1 ( 1 1
2
1 ) 1 ( 1 0
1
) 1 ( 1 1
2
+

,
_

+

x R R n
x
R R n
x
R R n
m
m
m


0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
n=-1 (free vortex)
n=0 (exponential)
n=1 (first power)
D
e
g
r
e
e

o
f

r
e
a
c
t
i
o
n
,

R
'
x
R'
m
=0.6
ASE 376K Propulsion
Philip L. Varghese, UT Austin, 2001 4
Examining Eq. (9) we see that for free-vortex blading (n=1), the integral I is identically
0, so from Eq. (10) c
z
=c
zm
for all x (or r). However in this case the degree of reaction falls quite
rapidly for small x, and tends to go negative near the hub which limits the lower value of hub-to-
tip ratio for the blade.
For a mean radius (r
m
) and hub-to-tip radius ratio r
h
/r
t
, and designers choice for n, the
values of
m
R , rotational speed (and thus U
m
), and stage stagnation temperature rise T
o,stage
are
constrained by the need to maintain reasonable reaction at all radii, and limitations on the amount
of turning that can be achieved in the rotor. These then determine the constants a and b. It must
be remembered that while one can specify a flow turning angle in the rotor the flow will not
necessarily follow the blade if the turning is too specified too high.