Calculation of Three-Dimensional Boundary Layers on Rotating Turbine Blades

An assessment has been made of the applicability of a three-dimensional boundary-layer analysis to the calculation of heat transfer and streamline flow patterns on the surfaces of both stationary and rotating turbine passages. In support of this effort, an analysis has been developed to calculate a general nonorthogonal surface coordinate system for arbitrary three-dimensional surfaces and also to calculate the boundary-layer edge conditions for compressible flow using the surface Euler equations and experimental pressure distributions. Using available experimental data to calibrate the method, calculations are presented for the endwall, and suction surfaces of a stationary cascade and for the pressure surface of a rotating turbine blade. The results strongly indicate that the three-dimensional boundary-layer analysis can give good predictions of the flow field and heat transfer on the pressure, suction, and endwall surfaces in a gas turbine passage.