Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

CARLETON UNIVERSITY

MECH 5401 - Turbomachinery

PROBLEM SET #4

1. W
U
U
C

P0 , T0 , h0

When we are analyzing the aerodynamics of a turbomachine, we are very focused on the total
flow conditions: P0, T0, h0. However, when the working fluid is compressible and we need to
apply continuity, or want to determine the Mach number, we need the corresponding static
conditions of P, T etc. The total and static conditions are of course related to each other through
the Mach number and the fluid properties. Note that static conditions at any point must be those
corresponding to the total conditions and the resultant absolute velocity at that point. Assuming a
perfect gas, develop an expression that allows you to determine the absolute Mach number at a
particular location from the absolute velocity, C, the total conditions and fluid properties. The
expression should be explicit: that is, there should be no need to iterate to determine M.

2. An axial-flow turbine stage is being designed to deliver 750 kW of shaft power when the mass
flow rate of air through the turbine is 7.4 kg/s. The total temperature of the air entering the
turbine is 850 oK, the specific heat ratio is 1.33 and Cp is 1130 J/kgK. The air leaves the nozzles
at an angle of 65o to the axial. At the rotor inlet the annulus area is 0.06 m2 and the density of the
air is 0.85 kg/m3. The annulus area increases such that the axial component of velocity stays
constant through the stage. The blade speed at the mean radius is 360 m/s. The mean radius is
0.22 m. Unless otherwise indicated, perform the following analyses for the mean radius:
(a) Draw the velocity triangles for the rotor inlet and outlet. Show numerical values of all
important velocities or velocity components on the triangles.
(b) Specify the rotor blade inlet and outlet angles, β1' and β2', assuming the flow enters and
leaves tangent to the camber line of the blades. Sketch the blade profile showing the
angles.
(c) What is the degree of reaction of the stage? (Ans.: Λ = 0.53)
(d) What is the Mach number of the flow leaving the nozzles? The relative Mach number of
the flow leaving the rotor? (Ans.: 0.62, 0.674)

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3. A recent text book on turbomachinery has a discussion of radial equilibrium effects. It includes
the example of an axial compressor rotor with no swirl and uniform axial velocity at the inlet and
a free-vortex tangential velocity distribution at the rotor outlet: that is, the same flow we
examined in Section 8.2.2. The text includes the following figure to show the effects of hub-to-
tip ratio and choice of design conditions on the flow through the rotor. The parameter plotted is
the degree of reaction (oR= Λ) and oRm refers to the value at the reference radius rm. What is the
flaw in this figure? Note that you do not need to perform any calculations to answer the question.

4. For the same rotor discussed in Section 8.2.2, if we require that the work coefficient at the hub
must not be larger than 0.6, what value of work coefficient at the mean radius would we have to
use? The hub-to-tip ratio is 0.3, as before. (Ans. 0.128)

5. Examine further the forced-vortex compressor rotor with uniform axial inflow that was discussed
in Section 8.2.3 of the notes. Starting from the configuration and flow conditions given in the
notes, determine the spanwise distributions of the following:

Aerodynamic parameters: φ, ψ, de Haller number, Degree of Reaction

Blade geometric parameters: Camber angle, Stagger angle

To do this, you will need to analyze the velocity triangles at the inlet and outlet. Note that since
the axial velocity varies at the outlet, you can not use the simple velocity triangle relationships
that you developed on Problem Set #3.

You will find that the low axial velocities near the hub create problems there. Maintaining the
same hub-to-tip ratio and the forced-vortex outlet velocity distribution, investigate what design
changes (such as changes in the work coefficient and/or mean flow coefficient) could be used to
improve the hub region. Any changes to φ or ψ should take into account the recommended
ranges for these parameters.

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