A crucial aspect of the design process for centrifugal impellers is the establishment of specific blade shapes. A rapid inviscid flow analysis procedure was developed for incorporation within a geometry manipulation code. Using a single streamtube model, a single-pass computation technique was generated. A two-zone model ensures that key features of the passage flow physics are incorporated.
Several examples of industrial design problems are employed to demonstrate the capabilities of the rapid loading method and its use in a geometry design procedure (used by some 20 industrial design groups worldwide). Comparisons with a quasi-three-dimensional method are included. The rapid loading method is most accurate when the meridional stream paths have similar shapes to those for the hub and shroud contours. The technique is useful within a geometry generation program since rapid aerodynamic screening of candidate configurations is allowed with sufficient accuracy to avoid the need for quasi-three-dimensional approaches. If required, the final design may be analyzed using three-dimensional viscous flow calculation methods.
