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Loss Mechanisms in Turbomachines
Technical Paper
874260
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Loss predictions for turbomachines tend to be based upon correlations of experimental data which sometimes disguise the physical mechanisms of loss generation. If such correlations were completely accurate and included all possible geometrical features it would be possible to use them systematically to optimise a design. In reality the available correlations are of very limited accuracy and include only a limited range of features, hence such a procedure may give misleading results. In these circumstances a physical understanding of the mechanism of loss generation may be of more use than an inaccurate quantitative prediction since it will enable undesirable features of the flow to be eliminated even when their quantitative effect on performance is not known. This paper attempts to provide a physical understanding of the process of loss generation, to identify important questions to which the answer is not yet known and to highlight areas where further understanding is required.