Chapter 3

The flow mechanism in the rotor

of a Turbomachine

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Example – Water sprinkler

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 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
  
β: angle between W and
U
negative direction of U

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Axial Flow Turbine

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Velocity Triangle

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2-D Flow Throughflow Field

Cascade Field
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 ❖ 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’.

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 • 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.

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 The Actual
Flow
Pattern

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• From Newton’s second law of Motion: ‘Torque is equal to the
rate of change of angular momentum’.
dL
T= Where T is torque and L is angular momentum
dt

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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”: 2 = m

m 1 = m

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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 )

• Recalling from basic mechanics that power is toque times rotational

speed then :
P = Tω
• Where ω is the rotational speed of the device. It is very useful in
turbo machinery to work in terms of quantities per unit mass going
through the turbine, se we divide the power by mass to give one of
the most important equations in turbo machinery

w =  (V 2 r2 − V 1r1 ) = (V 2U 2 − V 1U1 )

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 Example

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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: T
=  (r2C3U − r1C0U )
N
Yblade = blade
= blade
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

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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 PD-PS = ρY=1200N/m2

bar =0.012bar

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

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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.

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 Fundamental Equation of Turbomachinery
• 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

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 The velocity Triangle

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 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.

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 The velocity Triangle
Relationship b/n flow rate and the geometry of the machine
Vo = (2r1b1 )Cor Volume flowrate at 0
V3 = (2r3b3 )C3r Volume flowrate 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

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 The velocity Triangle
• 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

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 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.

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 U
Vri

Vai Vai
Vri
Inlet Velocity Triangle

U
Vre
Vae Vre

Exit Velocity Triangle

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 U
e i e i

Vae Vai Vri

Vre

Vai: Inlet Absolute Velocity

Vri: Inlet Relative Velocity
Vre: Exit Relative Velocity
Vae:Exit Absolute Velocity

ai: Inlet Nozzle Angle.

bi: Inlet Blade Angle.
be: Exit Blade Angle.
ai: Exit Nozzle Angle.

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