A rapid computational model for estimating the performance of compliant airfoils in cascades

Abstract

We consider the problem of designing the blades in a turbomachine to have a specific schedule of structural stiffness in order to achieve more favorable aerothermodynamic performance characteristics than is possible with rigid blades. The problem of "aerothermodynamic tailoring" is extremely complex because of the need to couple the flow computation over a deforable surface with the structual dynamics computation. In this report an anlysis is presented with accomplishes this objective by means of a two-dimensional incompressible potential flow model using vortex sheet representation of the blades. Details of the analysis and of the resulting computer program together with representative results are described.