Collected Works of H. S. Tsien (1938-1956)

Loss in Compressor or Turbine due to Twisted Blades

Hsue-shen Tsien*

Due to various design considerations, the gas stream leaving the guide wheel of anaxial compressor or a turbine is sometimes made to have a twist along the radius of the wheel. The resulting non-uniform force distribution over the length of the rotating blades causes an induced velocity at the blade. The resulting loss can be calculated by a simple application of hydrodynamics. The author first develops the general theory and then examples are given to illustrate the use of the method.

Problem

The gas in the rotating wheel of an axial compressor or a turbine is subject to centrifugal forces. If there is no radial pressure gradient to counteract this centrifugal force field, ...