Design method for turbomachine blades with finite thickness by the circulation method

This paper presents a procedure to extend a recently developed three-dimensional inverse method for infinitely thin blades to handle blades with finite thickness. In this inverse method, the prescribed quantities are the blade pressure loading and the blade thickness distributions, and the calculated quantity is the blade mean camber line. The method is formulated in the fully inverse mode whereby the blade shape is determined iteratively using the flow-tangency condition along the blade surfaces. Design calculations are presented for an inlet guide vane, an impulse turbine blade, and a compressor blade in the two-dimensional inviscid- and incompressible-flow limit. Consistency checks are carried out for these design calculations using a panel analysis method and the analytical solution for the Gostelow profile.