Numerical Analysis of 3-D Potential Flow in Centrifugal Turbomachines

A numerical method is developed for analysing a three-dimensional steady incompressible potential flow through an impeller in centrifugal turbomachines. The method is the same as the previous method which was developed for the axial flow turbomachines, except for some treatments in the downstream region. In order to clarify the validity and limitation of the method, a comparison with the existing experimental data and numerical results is made for radial flow compressor impellers. The calculated blade surface pressure distributions almost coincide with the quasi-3-D calculation by Krimerman and Adler, but are different partly from the quasi-3-D calculation using one meridional flow analysis. It is suggested from this comparison that the flow through an impeller with high efficiency near the design point can be predicted by this fully 3-D numerical method.