3.

The flow mechanism in the

rotor of a turbomachine
 2.1Cascade view & Meridional view of
Turbomachinery

• There are two key views of turbomachinery used in

turbomachinery design in general. These are the cascade view
& the meridian view.
• This idea is how one can relate the machine geometry to the
analysis model.
• The fact that you can do this for every blade suggests that the
plan view may be an excellent way of analyzing the
performance of the machine.

2
 cascade view

• The cascade view arise

from looking at the stator
& rotor of simple turbine
shown (Top half of Figure
1.5) If you look closely at
the top most part of the
simple turbine you can
see the blades of the
stator & rotor outlined in
the plain view.
3
cascade view

4
 Meridional view of Turbomachinery

• The meridional view is much more straightforward than the

cascade view & is illustrated in Figure 1.7.
• For the meridional view instead of looking at the tip of the blade
this time we take a side on view of the whole turbine & look at a
cross section of the machine at the hub & tip radius. This is
highlighted by a red box.

5
Meridional view of Turbine stage
• On the right of Figure 1.7 is
the actual meridional view
which shows the stator
followed by the rotor in
cross section.
• The actual machine radius is
usually very large compared
to the blade height & so the
axis of rotation is not always
shown in the meridional
view.

6
Operation of Turbomachines

7
Basic Parts of Turbomachinery

8
 Simple Turbine operation
• The basic mechanism of operation is as follows (Figure
1.4):
1. the fluid flows directly into the device in an axial direction
(in line with the machine)
2. the stator blades turn the flow so that it is lined up with
the turbine blades
3. the turbine blades turn the flow back towards the axial
direction & turn the output shaft.
9
Simple Turbine operation

10
Operation of radial pump

11
 velocity triangle
• In turbomachinery, a velocity triangle or a velocity
diagram is a triangle representing the various
components of velocities of the working fluid in a
turbomachine.
• Velocity triangles may be drawn for both the inlet
and outlet sections of any turbomachine.
• The vector nature of velocity is utilized in the
triangles, and the most basic form of a velocity
triangle consists of the tangential velocity, the
absolute velocity and the relative velocity of the
fluid making up three sides of the triangle.
 The flow mechanism in the
rotor of a turbo machine(Velocity triangle)
Designations of velocities:
• U- peripheral (angular) velocity or blade speed
• C – absolute velocity: velocity of the flow when viewed from a
stationary frame of reference.
• W- relative velocity:-velocity of the flow when viewed from a
rotating component frame of reference

Designation of angles:
W C

   α: Angle between U and C

U β: angle between W and negative
direction of U
 Axial Flow Turbine

W
U

C
U

Inl
et C
Ve
loc W
ity
Tri
an
gle
 Velocity triangles;
  Velocity diagram can be used as a

V  U W graphical/geometrical aid in solving the relative

velocity vector relation.
Inlet

Vn1 W1 
W1 V1
1 1 1
 
 U  U1
Vn U
Exit
2 
 V2
2  U  W2
Vn Vn 2

W2 2

U2
15
2-D Flow

Throughflow field

Cascade field
 Velocity Diagram for Axial-Flow Machines
1. For simplicity we evaluate the properties at the
mean radius of the CV shown on the left. Thus,
 
V1 V2 since   
r1  r2  U 1  U 2 : U
z 2. From Conservation of Mass, we also find
c  
A1  A2  Vn1  Vn 2
It is then recommended that the velocity diagrams at
inlet and exit be superimposed on the same base 
U
1 2 and the velocity diagrams look like below.
W1
1 1 Inlet   

U 
V  V2  V1

Vn U
 
W2 V2 W1 V1
2  
 Vn1  Vn 2
2  U
Vn

W2  2 1

U
abj Exit 17
 Example: Sketch The Blade Shape: Axial-Flow Machine
Example: Sketch an axial-flow machine blade with b1 = 30o , b2 = 60o
flow
flow Slope/angle increases from 30o to 60o
b1
b1 
U1 
 Vn
U  w Curvature
Vn
b2

b2
U  
Vn U2 
Vn  2  1 Blade concave towards

z the direction of U
Example: Sketch an axial-flow machine blade with b1 = 60o , b2 = 30o
flow
flow Slope/angle decreases from 60o to 30o
b1
b1 
U1 
 Vn
U1  w
Vn Curvature
b2 b2

U2  
U2 
z
Vn
Vn  2  1 Blade convex towards
 the
direction of U 18
 Axial Fan
See Exercise 2, Q2

C2

C3
 Example 1
• Consider an office Desk Fan. It rotates at
200rpm and has a diameter of 30 cm. Air
enters the fan at 3 m/s, parallel to the axis of
rotation. Calculate the relative velocity at the
tip of the fan.

20
 Solution

Fig Velocity triangle for A desk fan

21
 Example: Sketch The Blade Shape: Radial-Flow Machine

Example: Sketch a radial-flow machine blade with b1 = 90o, b2 = 45o

b1 q 0 Backwardly-curved blade

U1 
1 w
(wrt the direction of angular rotation)
Vn
2
3
b2 
Vn  Cm

U2
Example: Sketch a radial-flow machine blade with b1 = 90o, b2 = 135o

q
b1 0
  1 w Forwardly-curved blade
U1 
U2 b2 Vn
(wrt the direction of angular
2 rotation)

Vn 3
22
 2.3 Vane-congruent flow
• Inlet and exit
velocity for an
idealized pump
Impeller.
• vane –congruent
flow assumes that
the flow is shock
less for the design
point.
Consider the impeller of a centrifugal pump shown in figure, friction
is neglected and the relative velocity of the fluid is always tangent to the 23
blade.
The vane congruent Flow
 Centrifugal pump
Velocities at the intake and outlet of an impeller

Exit Velocity Triangle

Entrance Velocity Triangle

Centrifugal impeller with outlet velocity component
 Vane congruent flow :- Streamlines of the flow are congruent
to the vanes. This assumption holds:
• If there are infinite numbers of vanes
• If the vanes are infinitely thin

If there exist such a deviation

between the direction of the
flow and the direction of the
vane at the entrance of the
vane channel , the flow is said
to approach the vane with
‘Shock’.
• if the vane were infinitely thin, then β1 = β0 and β2 = β3

• But the average flow line sustains deviations unless the vanes
are infinitely thin and infinitely close to each other.

• Both conditions cannot be fulfilled, the first one as the

strength of the material demands a certain thickness, the
second one as otherwise no flow could pass through the vane
channel.
The Actual Flow Pattern
 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• The Euler’s pump and turbine equations are most
fundamental equations in the field of turbo-machinery. These
equations govern the power, efficiencies and other factors
that contribute in the design of Turbo-machines thus making
them very important.
• With the help of these equations the head developed by a
pump and the head utilised by a turbine can be easily
determined.
• As the name suggests these equations were formulated by
Leonhard Euler in the eighteenth century.[1] These equations
can be derived from the moment of momentum equation
when applied for a pump or a turbine.
 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• From Newton’s second law of Motion: ‘Torque is equal to the
rate of change of angular momentum’.

dL Where T is torque and L is angular momentum

T
dt
• The angular momentum becomes: L  mV r

• At entry to the turbomachinery the angular momentum is

equal to m1Vθ1r and at the exit it becomes: m2Vθ2r.

• The change in angular momentum becomes: m2V 2 r  m1V 1r

• And the time rate of change is given as:

m2V 2 r2  m1V 1r1
 m 2V 2 r2  m 1V 1r1  m V 2 r2  V 1r1 
t

• Since “what goes in must come out”: m  m  m

2 1
• Since “the time rate of angular momentum is equal to the
torque” we have:

T  m V 2 r2  V 1r1  or
Tblade  V r2C3U  r1C0U 
• The power transferred between the rotor vanes/blades and
the flow follows from the blade torque:

N blade  Tblade  Yblade V

• Thus, the specific work Yblade done by the vanes/blades

follows:
N blade Tblade
Yblade     r2C3U  r1C0U  or
V V
Yblade  U 2C3U  U1C0U

• The above equation applies for both pumps and turbines.

• Often the flow at the suction side has no vortex: r1Cou=0;

Yblade  U 2C3U
• Yblade is independent of ρ.
• The independence of Y from ρ has a considerable influence on
the pressure difference between suction and pressure ends of
the machine if the same machine is used for flow media with
different ρ.

• Example : pumping machine with V = 0.1m3/kg and Y = 1000 J/Kg

Water pumping Air pumping

ρ = 1000 kg/m3 ρ = 1.2 kg/m3

Pressure rise: PD-PS = ρY=106N/m2 =10 bar PD-PS = ρY=1200N/m2 =0.012bar

Neff = ρVY = 105 W= 100kW Neff = ρVY = 120 W= 0.12kW

• For the above example for a given spec. Work Y the pressure
rise is very small for air/gas pumping compared with water
pumping.

• High values of spec. work are needed for air/gas pumping.

Thus higher values of U are required. (Umax = 300 to 450 m/s).

• Hence, radial-flow impellers for water/liquid pumping which

does not need high values of Y can be build of cast iron or
brass.
• But impellers of radial-flow air/gas compressors which need
very high Y and thus high U, are built of forged disk, which are
thickened towards the center considerably according to the
higher strain there.

To obtain high pressure

difference several rotors
are arranged in series
The velocity Triangle
• The absolute velocity C of a point on the rotating rotor is
given by the vectorial sum of the relative velocity W and the
peripheral velocity U of the point under consideration.

• C can be determined graphically using the velocity

parallelogram. The method may be simplified by using only
one of the triangles of the parallelogram, the so called
“Velocity Triangle.”

• ClU and C2U are measures of the specific work Y;

• Clm and C2m are measures of the volume V.

Relationship b/n flow rate and the geometry
of the machine
Vo  2r1b1 Cor Volume flow rate at 0
V3  2r3b3 C3r Volume flow rate at 3

 Where b1 and b2 are blade width at

point 1 and 2
The mass flow rate can be calculated from
M0  M3  M From continuity eqn.
M   0V0   3V3

 If the density ρ is constant :

V  2r1b1Cor  2r3b3C3r
• The velocity triangles for the points 0 and 3 can be drawn if
the following are known:
– Peripheral velocities,
– The meridian velocities (Cm) and
– The flow rotation at the suction side of the rotor(Direction of U)
See Exercise No2 Question No1
Influence of the Definite Thickness of the
vanes
• Z = number of vanes
• t=thickness of vanes
• S=πD/Z pitch
• σ = t/sinβ peripheral
thickness (per. To Cm)
• b = width of channel

β’2 = vane angle if only the influence of

thickness is taken in account
Until now, we have not considered the
thickness of the blade. The meridonial velocity
will change because of this thickness.
• Applying the equation of continuity for points 0 and 1:

Vchannel  b1S1c0 m  b1 S1   1 c1m

S1
thus , c1m  c0 m , it follows that
S1   1
c1m  c0 m and 1   0
From the equation of continuity follows
S2
c2 m  c3m hence, c2 m  c3m
The factor S may be called S2   2
S   '2   3
“Vane contraction factor”
Radial Flow Axial Flow
1.1 to 1.2 1.04 to 1.06
S1 S1   1 
1.01 to 1.03 1.01 to 1.03
S 2 S 2   2  Video