Answering thermodynamic questions with three-dimensional viscous flow calculations

The use of three dimensional viscous flow calculations to understand losses and irreversibility in turbomachinery flows, and to show where inefficiency arises is discussed. An IBM 3032 computer and a Prandtl mixing length turbulence model were used to study centrifugal compressor impellers operating with steady, subsonic flow near their design point. For this class of flow, three dimensional viscous flow calculations can show boundary layer growth and accumulation in wake flow; tip leakage flow and mixing; work and loss distributions; and sources of loss production.