ALBERT

Description: A computer program, QSONIC, has been developed for calculating the full potential, transonic quasi-three-dimensional flow through a rotating turbomachinery blade row. The need for lighter, more efficient turbomachinery components has led to the consideration of machines with fewer stages, each with blades capable of higher speeds and higher loading. As speeds increase, the numerical problems inherent in the transonic regime have to be resolved. These problems include the calculation of imbedded shock discontinuities and the dual nature of the governing equations, which are elliptic in the subcritical flow regions but become hyperbolic for supersonic zones. QSONIC provides the flow analyst with a fast and reliable means of obtaining the transonic potential flow distribution on a blade-to-blade stream surface of a stationary or rotating turbomachine blade row. QSONIC combines several promising transonic analysis techniques. The full potential equation in conservative form is discretized at each point on a body-fitted period mesh. A mass balance is calculated through the finite volume surrounding each point. Each local volume is corrected in the third dimension for any change in stream-tube thickness along the stream tube. The nonlinear equations for all volumes are of mixed type (elliptic or hyperbolic) depending on the local Mach number. The final result is a block-tridiagonal matrix formulation involving potential corrections at each grid point as the unknowns. The residual of each system of equations is solved along each grid line. At points where the Mach number exceeds unity, the density at the forward (sweeping) edge of the volume is replaced by an artificial density. This method calculates the flow field about a cascade of arbitrary two-dimensional airfoils. Three-dimensional flow is approximated in a turbomachinery blade row by correcting for stream-tube convergence and radius change in the through flow direction. Several significant assumptions were made in developing the QSONIC program, including: (1) the flow is inviscid and adiabatic, (2) the flow relative to the blade is steady, (3) the fluid is a perfect gas with constant specific heat, (4) the flow is isentropic and any discontinuities (shocks) are weak enough to be approximated as isentropic jumps, (5) there is no velocity component normal to the stream surface, and (6) the flow relative to a fixed frame in space (absolute velocity) is completely irrotational. These assumptions place some limitations on the application of QSONIC. Sharp leading edges at high incidence and high-Mach-number turbine blade trailing edges with substantial deviation will both cause large velocity peaks on the blade. In addition, the program may have difficulty converging if the passage is nearly choked. Input to QSONIC consists of case control parameters, a geometry description, upstream boundary conditions, and a rotor description. Output includes solution scheme parameters and flow field parameters. A data file is also output which contains data on the solution mesh, surface Mach numbers, surface static pressures, isomachs, and the velocity vector field. This data may be used for further processing or for plotting. The QSONIC is written in FORTRAN IV for batch execution and has been implemented on an IBM 370 series computer with a central memory requirement of approximately 500K of 8 bit bytes. QSONIC was developed in 1982.

Description: A fast, reliable computer code is described for calculating the flow field about a cascade of arbitrary two dimensional airfoils. The method approximates the three dimensional flow in a turbomachinery blade row by correcting for stream tube convergence and radius change in the throughflow direction. A fully conservative solution of the full potential equation is combined with the finite volume technique on a body-fitted periodic mesh, with an artificial density imposed in the transonic region to insure stability and the capture of shock waves. The instructions required to set up and use the code are included. The name of the code is QSONIC. A numerical example is also given to illustrate the output of the program.

Description: The flow field of a tilt-nacelle inlet-fan combination used for V/STOL aircraft is studied. Under certain flight conditions the inlet is subjected to high angles of attack and/or yaw. This produces a non-uniform or distorted flow field at the fan-face that can lead to large blade stresses. This paper presents an analytical approach to the coupled inlet-fan problem. The nacelle is modelled by a distribution of source panels and the fan by a distribution of radial vortices. A modified actuator disc with losses and a quasi-steady rotor response is used to derive the boundary condition at the fan-face. An example of the calculation is shown.

Description: Incompressible potential flow calculations are presented that were corrected for compressibility in two-dimensional inlets at arbitrary operating conditions. Included are a statement of the problem to be solved, a description of each of the computer programs, and sufficient documentation, including a test case, to enable a user to run the program.

Description: Collection of computer programs used to calculate compressible potential flow in arbitrary axisymmetric inlet at any combination of operating conditions of inlet mass-flow rate, free stream velocity, and incident angle proves useful in development of wide variety of propulsion system inlet designs.

Description: Computer program, QSONIC, developed for calculating full potential transonic quasi-three dimensional flow through rotating turbomachinery blade row. QSONIC written in FORTRAN IV.

Description: Computer programs to calculate the incompressible potential flow corrected for compressibility in axisymmetric inlets at arbitrary operating conditions are presented. Included are a statement of the problem to be solved, a description of each of the programs and sufficient documentation, including a test case, to enable a user to run the programs.