Sweep in a Transonic Fan Rotor: Part 1 — 3D Geometry Package

A geometry package was developed which uses six Bezier surfaces to describe an axial compressor blade. The blade is defined by 32 control points and two parameters, which determine the leading and trailing edge extensions. The package was used to represent a reference transonic fan rotor to within machining tolerances, and then to introduce forward and backward sweep holding blade-element design parameters fixed. Blade lean and point geometry manipulations were also demonstrated. All geometries produced by the package are machinable without approximation. The Bezier-surface representation was chosen in order to minimize the number of control points required to specify the blade shape and eventually enable aero-structural-manufacturing optimization.