Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical

Engineering Science
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Design of low-reaction steam turbine blades

P. J. Walker and J. A. Hesketh
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 1998 213:
157
DOI: 10.1243/0954406991522248

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 157

Design of low-reaction steam turbine blades

P J Walker* and J A Hesketh

Steam Turbine Group, GEC ALSTHOM, Rugby

Abstract: Optimizing the aerodynamic design of turbine blades is a compromise between a large
number of issues. These can be grouped into three areas:
(a) aerodynamic compromises; e.g. increasing the pitch–chord ratio improves profile loss but worsens
secondary loss,
(b) mechanical constraints; e.g. the pitch–chord ratio affects the strength of a profile, which for a
given unsteady stress level determines the width and hence strongly influences the secondary loss,
(c) costs; e.g. increasing the number of stages improves performance but also increases the cost of
the turbine. It can also affect rotor stability and even the size of the turbine hall.
Some of the issues are difficult to quantify and may vary from day to day. For example, the marginal
manufacturing cost of a given design will depend on the load on particular machine tools. Therefore
the approach of a manufacturer evolves from experience. However, many other issues can be
addressed systematically to achieve near optimum designs. This paper explores the aerodynamic
design of low-reaction steam turbine blades and describes the technical arguments that lead to design
decisions. Where the decision depends on cost and mechanical constraints these are also explored. A
typical low-reaction stage is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The paper will concentrate on the design
of short and intermediate height blades typically used in HP and IP cylinders and in the early stages
of LP cylinders. In practice, long blades typically used in the later stages of LP cylinders are fairly
similar for both ‘reaction’ and ‘impulse’ design manufacturers.

Keywords: steam, turbines, aerodynamics, three-dimensional design, impulse, profile, secondary

NOTATION

a surface area
C dissipation coefficient
d
C velocity equivalent of isentropic total-to-static
0
heat drop
F tangential force on blade
T
h blade height
DH total-to-total heat drop
I secondary loss parameter
=1/(sw) ∆ (V/V )3 da
endwall 2
J profile loss parameter=(1/s) ∆ (V/V )3 dl
ss+ps 2
k axial velocity/total velocity
l surface distance
m mass flow
M tangential bending moment
T
n number of blades
P pressure
Q volume flowrate
r radius

The MS was received on 20 February 1998 and was accepted after

revision for publication on 19 June 1998.
* Corresponding author: Steam Turbine Group, GEC ALSTHOM, Fig. 1 Schematic of an HP stage of a low-reaction steam
Newbold Road, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2NH, UK. turbine
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158 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

R reaction The choice of reaction level in a low-reaction design

s pitch is critical, however. Very low reaction combined with
t passage width in tangential direction high turning can lead to boundary layer separation and
U blade speed poor performance. Figure 2 shows the results of predic-
V velocity tions for the stage efficiency of a typical high-pressure
w width (HP) stage as a function of the root reaction and the
X blade loss coefficient=(1−w2)/w2 or fractional stage loading. In this study the root radius and moving
axial distance blade exit angle were kept constant. The stage height
Z radius ratio=tip radius–root radius was varied to maintain constant volumetric flow. Above
Z minimum second moment of area/maximum about 10 per cent reaction the efficiency is fairly con-
min
distance from minimum principal axis stant. Below this value the efficiency starts to fall off.
Hence generally the root reaction is maintained above
a flow angle 10 per cent.
g total-to-total efficiency An exception to this is the first high-temperature stage
rr
n kinematic viscosity of advanced machines. In this case slightly negative reac-
r density tion may be used because it allows the steam from the
s peak blade stress exit of the first stage to be used to cool the disc and root
r
w ratio of actual to isentropic velocity fixing of the first-stage moving blade. Typically at these
V rotational speed conditions, creep properties of blading materials vary
very quickly with temperature, so that the temperature
drop of a stage is sufficient to improve significantly the
life of a component. This is possible because first stages
Subscripts have very high Reynolds numbers, which eases the aero-
1 inlet dynamic design at low or negative reaction.
2 exit
m mid-width
t tangential 2 STAGE HEAT DROP
x axial
As well as showing the effect of reaction on efficiency,
Fig. 2 shows a larger effect due to the stage loading par-
ameter. This appears to imply that the larger the value
1 REACTION of U/C , the greater the efficiency. However, this is
0
deceptive because in the study the root radius was kept
The debate between ‘impulse’ and ‘reaction’ design has constant. Thus, for constant rotational speed, the stage
been going on since the first turbine turned! The fact heat drop changes with the stage loading parameter. It
that in a highly competitive market both philosophies is the change in stage heat drop rather than the change
are successfully applied suggests that the arguments are in stage loading parameter that is the strong influence
fairly balanced. (Note that, in practice, pure impulse is on efficiency.
never used, so that strictly the debate is between low Consider a stage in an expansion. Various factors are
reaction and near 50 per cent reaction.) The advantages fixed for the aerodynamic designer. These are:
of low reaction are: Steam density r
Steam volumetric flow Q
1. Relatively high stage loading with low interstage
Steam viscosity n
swirl; at 0 per cent reaction and zero interstage swirl
Rotational speed V
the stage loading parameter, U/C , is 0.5, whereas at
0 Peak stress allowed in the blade s
50 per cent reaction and zero swirl it is 0.707. p
2. Relatively low thrust on the rotor, allowing disc and The designer has a choice when it comes to other factors:
diaphragm manufacture and requiring only moderate
Root reaction R
balance pistons.
Stage loading parameter U/C
3. High-turning, robust, moving blades. 0
Flow coefficient V /U
4. The diaphragm gland sealing is at much lower radius x
Stage heat drop DH
than the blade root. This reduces the clearance area,
both because the circumference is reduced and (i.e. the number of stages in the expansion) and also the
because the clearance can be reduced. Hence the detailed blade design, including the pitch–width ratio,
gland leakage flow is reduced. the loading distribution, etc. These variables determine
5. The tip leakage flow is also reduced because the reac- the root radius, the velocity triangles, the blade
tion is reduced. heights, the blade widths (to satisfy the stress require-
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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES
Fig. 2 Relative total-to-total efficiency as a function of U/C and root reaction
ments) and, with suitably designed blades and leakage
paths, the stage efficiency, g .
tt
Dimensional analysis of these nine variables gives six
independent groups:
g =F {R, U/C , V /U, DH/Q2/3V4/3,
TT n 0 x
s /rQ2/3V4/3, Q2/3V1/3/n}
p
where
Q2/3V1/3/n=Reynolds number
s /rQ2/3V4/3=non-dimensional stress
p
DH/Q2/3V4/3=non-dimensional stage heat drop
The Reynolds number and non-dimensional stress are
fixed for the designer. Hence, if the reaction and flow
coefficient have already been decided, then the designer
can only choose the stage loading parameter and the
stage heat drop (i.e. the number of stages to use in the
expansion).
Figure 3 shows the results of predictions for the
efficiency of a typical stage for varying stage heat drop
and stage loading. In producing this figure, the other
parameters have been varied in a consistent way to pro-
duce valid designs. For a given stage heat drop, the peak
efficiency is at a stage loading parameter of 0.54.
Increasing U/C , by increasing root diameter, is advan-
0
tageous because it decreases the turning of the fluid in
the blades, but this is offset by the increased loss due to
the reduced aspect ratio.
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159
0
Overall, however, the dominant effect on efficiency is
due to non-dimensional stage heat drop. Physically the
effect of decreasing the stage heat drop at a constant
stage loading parameter is to improve the aspect ratio
(i.e. decrease the losses associated with the endwalls:
secondary, leakage, gap). In HP cylinders, where the
volumetric flows are low, a large number of stages at
low root diameter are needed to achieve high efficiency.
In low-pressure (LP) cylinders, with much higher
volumetric flows, fewer stages are required.
Hence, the efficiency of a machine can almost always
be improved by increasing the number of stages. This is
achieved at constant stage loading parameter by reduc-
ing the radius. However, the number of stages also
strongly affects the cost of a machine. The optimum
number of stages in an expansion varies for different
customers, for whom the costs of capital and fuel vary.
Rotor stability and critical speeds may also limit the
number of stages.
Figure 3 also demonstrates the aerodynamic advan-
tage of using single-flow expansions as far as possible.
This is because it decreases the non-dimensional stage
heat drop. To cancel out the aerodynamic penalty of
halving the volumetric flow would require the non-
dimensional stage heat drop to be recovered and hence
the number of stages in each expansion to be increased
by a factor of 1.6. This is why manufacturers design for
single flow wherever possible, using single-flow HP and
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160 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

Fig. 3 Effect of dimensionless heat drop and stage loading parameter on stage efficiency

IP cylinders and optiflow LP cylinders. Similarly, Fig. 3
shows the advantage of large-output power machines.
These issues, and machine architecture, are discussed
further in reference [1].
3 FLOW COEFFICIENT AND PITCH–WIDTH
RATIO
The optimum flow coefficient depends on a balance
between a number of competing issues. These are:
1. Decreasing the flow coefficient by decreasing the
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 213 Part C
blade exit angles increases the blade height, which
would tend to decrease secondary loss.
2. Decreasing the flow coefficient increases the blade
height, thereby increasing the bending moment on the
blade, which would tend to require a wider blade for
the same stress level and hence increase secondary
loss.
3. Decreasing the flow coefficient by decreasing the
blade exit angles produces a more cambered and
hence a stronger blade, which would tend to require
a narrower blade for the same stress level and hence
decrease secondary loss.
4. Decreasing the flow coefficient increases profile loss.
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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES
This section describes a process for optimizing the flow
coefficient that takes all these competing effects into
account. Simultaneously it optimizes the pitch–width
ratio.
Consider the moving blade of a ‘linear’ stage ( linear
because the analysis ignores centripetal effects) with a
stage loading coefficient of 0.52 and 10 per cent reaction.
The inlet and exit flow angles depend on the flow
coefficient as shown on the first part of Fig. 4. To optim-
ize the stage it is necessary to design the blades such as
to allow trends in aerodynamic and mechanical proper-
ties to be predicted. To do this, a very simple parametric
definition of the blade has been used where the blade
shape depends on the inlet angle, a , the exit angle, a ,
1 2
the flow angle at mid-width, a , the velocity at mid-
m
width, V /V , and the pitch–width ratio, s/w. This para-
m 2
metric definition is described in Appendix 1. To evaluate
a design it is necessary to use the parametric definition
to determine the profile loss, the secondary loss and the
blade strength.
The losses have been estimated on the assumption that
for turbulent flow the loss is proportional to the surface
integral of the cube of the local free stream velocity div-
ided by the mass flow. This approach was used by
Denton to optimize the effect of pitch–chord ratio on
profile loss in reference [2]. Here the losses have been
characterized by parameters I for secondary loss and J
for profile loss, so that for a constant section blade the
total loss is given by
A B
2 w
X= C J+2 C I
k dp h ds
The derivation of I and J and the process of their evalu-
ation for the parametric blades are also given in
Appendix 1. Note that this method is very useful for
design trends, but without some adjustment it tends to
underpredict secondary loss.
The strength of the blades is characterized by the par-
ameter Z /sw2. As shown in Appendix 2, for a given
min
stress level the blade width–blade height ratio is approxi-
mately proportional to the square root of the product
of the reciprocal of this parameter and the flow
coefficient.
The parametric blade definition has been used to
evaluate parameters I, J and Z /(sw2) over a range of
min
s/w ratio and flow coefficient values. For this study, a
m
was set to axial and U /U to 0.8. The three parameters
m 2
are also plotted against s/w in Fig. 4. For a given strength
requirement, the variation in the strength parameter with
flow coefficient and s/w ratio can be used to determine
the variation in aspect ratio; hence, using parameters I
and J, the total loss can be evaluated. This is shown in
Fig. 5 for three non-dimensional stress levels corre-
sponding to poor, moderate and good aspect ratios.
At the poor aspect ratio, the secondary loss dominates
and a low flow coefficient is required. In this case a high
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161
pitch–width ratio is optimum. At the good aspect ratio
the profile loss dominates and a high flow coefficient
with a lower pitch–width ratio is optimum.
It is interesting to note that for a given flow coefficient
and for equivalent blade velocity distributions the pitch–
width ratio has little effect on the secondary loss.
Increasing the pitch–width ratio increases the secondary
loss parameter I but also leads to a greater strength par-
ameter which improves the aspect ratio and cancels out
the change in I. Although the study presented here is
simplified (for example it ignores the effect of radius ratio
and the need to taper blades to reduce centrifugal pull ),
the qualitative conclusions are correct for real machines.
4 SECTION DESIGN
The technique described above can also be used, by vary-
ing the mean velocity and mean flow angle, to optimize
the blade velocity distribution against profile and second-
ary losses, including mechanical strength criteria. Such a
study is not reproduced in detail here. However, the
assumptions used above, which correspond to turning the
flow without acceleration in the early part of the blade,
followed by acceleration and high loading in the later part
of the blade (so called aft-loaded design), produces I and
J parameters close to their minimum throughout the
pitch–width ratio and flow coefficient ranges.
As an example, Fig. 6 shows how the secondary and
profile loss parameters of a moving blade root vary with
pitch–width ratio, and the distribution of flow acceler-
ation and turning. This shows that for both secondary
and profile loss, and with little dependence on pitch–
width ratio, the losses are minimized when, by mid-
width, the flow has turned to axial and the velocity is
80 per cent of the exit velocity (i.e. roughly equal to the
inlet velocity).
The efficiency of this design has been demonstrated in
turbine tests described in reference [3]. However, care
needs to be taken with the philosophy at low Reynolds
number because it requires significant diffusion on the
later part of the suction surface. At low Reynolds
number this can cause boundary layer separation.
Attention also needs to be applied to the design of the
leading edge in order to ensure a satisfactory incidence
tolerance and to minimize unsteady losses at small axial
gaps. Trailing edges should be as small as possible con-
sistent with manufacturing, strength and handling
constraints.
5 MOVING BLADES: AREA AND CENTRIFUGAL
PULL
The design of HP and IP moving blades is often limited
by the centrifugal pull on the root fixing. The most
difficult cases are typically at the IP inlet, where the
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162 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

Fig. 4 Profile loss, secondary loss and strength parameters for a 10 per cent reaction 0.52U/C stage
0

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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES 163

Fig. 5 Loss coefficients and aspect ratio of a 10 per cent reaction 0.52U/C stage at three non-dimensional
0
stress levels as a function of s/w and V /U
x

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164 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

Fig. 6 Moving blade root designs for V /U=0.4 and secondary (I ) and profile (J ) loss parameters as a
x
function of blade design features

temperature is high and hence the creep resistance of the
materials poor, and at IP exit, where the blade height is
large and hence the centrifugal pull high. Thus there is
a strong desire to minimize the mass of the blade.
However, reducing the mass of the blade tends to
increase its peak stress owing to bending moments.
The vibration characteristics of HP and IP blades do
not normally limit the design of the moving blade. If the
natural frequencies of low-height moving blades are
close to blade passing frequencies, resonance can be
avoided by judicious choice of fixed blade numbers.
Long IP blade frequencies may approach low engine
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 213 Part C
order frequencies. In this case it may be necessary to
raise the moving blade frequency by increasing the width
of the blade. Appendix 3 gives some details on calculat-
ing and avoiding blade resonance.
The maximum bending moment on a moving blade
occurs at the root and increases rapidly as the blade
height is increased. Above the root the bending moment
falls quickly. Thus, typically, the strength of the root
determines the strength of the blade and hence the width
of the blade. As shown above, blade width strongly
affects the secondary loss. Above the root the blade can
taper to reduce its mass and hence its centrifugal pull.
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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES
From the point of view of centrifugal stresses, an opti-
mum taper ratio can be defined where the centrifugal
stress is constant:
A=A ec(1−Z2)
root
where C=rV2r /2. In practice this equation is only
root
indicative owing to aerodynamic constraints and the
mass of the shroud, and with integral shrouds there may
be assembly constraints on the torsional stiffness of the
blade sections.
Typical practice in designing a moving blade is to start
by designing the root section in accordance with the
pitch–width ratio and strength criteria. These criteria are
taken from studies similar to those described above and
from experience. The root section determines the width
of the blade and, because it experiences the lowest reac-
tion and highest turning, is also the most difficult section
to design aerodynamically. An area ratio curve is then
used to define the section areas at higher radius ratios.
The axial widths of these sections is a compromise
between incidence characteristics (which are better with
a narrow thick blade) and overloading of the profile
owing to a small pitch–width ratio. Typically, the sec-
tions are stacked so that the centres of gravity of the
sections lie on a radial line. This avoids additional bend-
ing moments on the sections owing to the centrifugal
load. However, in some cases there are aerodynamic
advantages in using negative lean where the centrifugal
bending moment opposes the steam bending moment.
6 FIXED BLADE: DIAPHRAGM STRENGTH
CRITERIA
The mechanical requirements of fixed blades are very
different from those of moving blades owing to the
design of the diaphragms. The large diaphragm rings
above and below the blades strongly resist rotation.
Thus, under loading, the blades deflect in an S-shape
with an inflection near mid-height of the blades. Hence,
at mid-height the bending moment in the blades is small
and relatively little strength is required. High strength is
required on the endwall sections where the bending
moment is high.
As with the example above for moving blades,
mechanical criteria must be considered when optimizing
the aerodynamic design (blade loading distribution,
pitch–width ratio, etc.). By using three-dimensional
design, advantage can be taken of the distribution of
mechanical loading to utilize an aerodynamically
superior but mechanically weaker section at mid-height.
7 SURFACE FINISH OF BLADES AND
ENDWALLS
The Reynolds numbers occurring in steam turbines, par-
ticularly the high pressure part of the expansion, are
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165
sufficiently high, and hence the boundary layers suffic-
iently thin, for the surface finish of the blades to affect
the performance. Hence, during manufacture, care is
taken to obtain and maintain good surface finish (e.g.
by tumbling or polishing the blades). Achieving these
good finishes is expensive. Hence it is important to spec-
ify the worst acceptable finish for each stage in the
expansion.
Most correlations for the effect of surface finish are
based on the tests of Nikuradse [4], where sand grain
particles of various sizes were attached to the inside of
a pipe. These correlations can be included as part of a
boundary layer calculation. However, typical factory
produced finishes do not have the same shape as sand
particles. Therefore, to use the correlations it is necessary
to convert a factory produced finish to its equivalent
sand grain roughness size. This is not straightforward
on account of the three-dimensional shape of the surface,
but a good guideline is to assume that the equivalent
sand grain roughness size is twice the centre-line average
value measured by a roughness gauge on a line along
the flow direction on the exposed part of the blade suc-
tion surface.
Figure 7 shows the predicted variation in profile loss
of a fixed blade with a sand grain roughness at three
Reynolds numbers (based on opening). A critical rough-
ness, ks*, has been defined as the roughness when the
profile loss is 1.025 times the hydraulically smooth value.
This value represents well the ‘elbow’ where the losses
start to increase quickly. This critical roughness is shown
as a function of Reynolds number in Fig. 7. It is given
by
ks*
#7.2R−0.90
c e
This equation can be used to establish a critical surface
finish for each stage in an expansion. Figure 8 shows this
for a selection of typical machines.
8 THREE-DIMENSIONAL BLADE DESIGN
The first part of this paper has concentrated on the over-
all aerodynamic design and treated the blades as stacked
two-dimensional sections. The importance of correctly
optimizing this two-dimensional design has been demon-
strated and methods and criteria for doing this have been
discussed.
However, further improvement can be obtained by
effective three-dimensional design of blades. Several
three-dimensional design philosophies have been sug-
gested, analysed and tested in the literature. Here two
of these philosophies are discussed (compound lean and
controlled flow) and the mechanisms for loss reduction
explained.
The literature on three-dimensional design is con-
fusing, with different researchers reaching different
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166 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

Fig. 7 Fixed blade profile loss and effect of Reynolds number and roughness

conclusions on the same philosophy. It is the present
authors’ contention that this is in part due to inad-
equacies in the two-dimensional design, which the
three-dimensional design either alleviates or exacerbates.
For example, three-dimensional design features may
improve or worsen incidence problems on a down-
stream blade.
In turbulent flow the loss is approximately pro-
portional to the surface integral of the cube of the local
free stream velocity divided by the mass flow. The source
of all boundary layer losses is the scrubbing of the fluid
on surfaces. Losses may occur downstream, for example
in the mixing out of a secondary vortex, but this is where
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 213 Part C
the loss manifests itself rather than its cause. To reduce
the loss, therefore, the surface area exposed to high-
velocity fluid must be reduced. As is demonstrated
below, compound lean achieves this by reducing the vel-
ocity on the endwall regions, while controlled flow
reduces the area. Overall, both techniques are neutral on
the blade surfaces.
8.1 Compound lean
Straight lean and compound lean have been investigated
by a number of researchers (e.g. see references [5] to
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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES 167

Fig. 8 Critical roughness of stages of typical machines

[8]). To understand compound lean, straight lean in a throat area the same as that of a conventional blade.
linear turbine will first be considered for the case where This is shown in Fig. 10. To the authors’ knowledge this
the pressure surface of the blade is tilted towards the tip approach was first tested by Sohma et al. [9]. Since the
(Fig. 9). A simplified version of the streamline curvature blade height is unchanged and there is little change to
equation is the blade strength, only slight changes are needed to the
blade width to maintain the same stress level.
Pressure gradient+streamline curvature
The results presented in Section 1 show how this will
+blade force=0 affect the distribution of parameter J for profile loss and
parameter I for secondary loss. (Note that, in applying the
The blade lean causes a radial component of the blade
I function for a varying section blade, the required height
force towards the tip. This force is counteracted by a
is the height of an equivalent constant section blade with
rise in the pressure on the tip. Overall, the rise in pressure
the throat of the endwalls and passing the same volumetric
cancels out the blade force but it is spread over a larger
flow as the actual blade.) The profile loss is increased near
axial region. The local difference between blade force
the endwalls and decreased at mid-height with no net
and pressure gradient causes streamline curvature as
change. This is because the overall mass flow is unchanged
shown in Fig. 9. Thus, within the blade on the tip
and the blade surface exposed to high-velocity fluid is also
endwall the pressure rises, causing lower velocity, while
unchanged. However, the secondary loss is decreased.
on the hub it falls, causing higher velocity.
Figure 10 shows why this is. The area of endwall exposed
In compound lean the pressure surface is arched so
to the high-velocity fluid, which in the case of a fixed blade
that it points towards both endwalls. Following the
is the area from the throat to the trailing edge, is decreased
above argument this has the effect of raising the pressure
by a large amount. Note that the velocities in the throat
on both endwalls and reducing it at mid-height. Overall
region are largely unchanged. Controlled flow combines
this has a neutral effect on the profile losses (increase at
the advantage of a high flow coefficient, producing low
mid-height cancels out decrease near hub and tip) but
profile loss at mid-height, and a low flow coefficient, pro-
decreases the average velocity on the endwalls and hence ducing low secondary loss on the endwalls.
reduces the loss.

8.3 Downstream effects of compound lean and

8.2 Controlled flow controlled flow
In controlled flow the throat is opened up at mid-height The above discussion has demonstrated why both con-
and closed down at the hub and tip, keeping the overall trolled flow and compound lean decrease the loss of the
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168 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH
Fig. 9 Schematic diagram showing the effect of negative blade tangential lean in a short height stage
blade they are applied to: compound lean by decreasing
the velocity on the endwalls, and controlled flow by
decreasing the high-velocity area of the endwalls. However,
both these design philosophies also change the flow inci-
dent on the following blade by changing the incidence and
specific mass flow distributions. Compound lean pushes
the incident flow towards the endwalls, making the flow
direction more axial on the endwalls and more tangential
at mid-height. On the other hand, controlled flow has the
opposite effect. It pushes the flow towards mid-height,
making the flow direction more tangential on the endwalls
and more axial at mid-height. If the downstream blade has
not been designed to accept these incidence changes or has
insufficient incidence tolerance, then there may be large
losses on this blade, masking the performance improve-
ment on the upstream blade. Equally, if the initial design
is poor the performance may be improved by changes to
the incident flow.
However, assuming that in both cases the incidence
characteristics are satisfactory, then there is a strong advan-
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tage in pushing the flow towards mid-height as occurs with
controlled flow rather than towards the endwalls as occurs
with compound lean. This is because within the down-
stream blade the higher endwall axial velocity of the com-
pound lean design tends to produce higher overall
velocities on the endwalls and increase the secondary loss,
whereas the lower endwall axial velocity of the controlled
flow design tends to produce lower overall velocities on the
endwalls and decrease the secondary loss. Again the overall
effect on profile loss is small for both philosophies.
Thus, with compound lean there is a performance cost
on a downstream blade that reduces or cancels out the
benefits. However, with controlled flow there is additional
performance benefit on the downstream blade.
The effects of these three-dimensional design philos-
ophies on the flow structure within a turbine stage have
been confirmed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
and the superior performance of stages using controlled
flow blades has been demonstrated by model turbine tests
[10, 11] and on site (see Section 9 below). Figure 11 shows
C01598 © IMechE 1999
 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES 169

Fig. 10 Controlled flow philosophy

a controlled flow fixed blade. This figure, as well as showing
the controlled flow geometry, also shows other detailed
design features that lead to high performance.
9 APPLICATION OF CONTROLLED FLOW
Figure 12 shows one of the new HP rotors being lowered
into the bottom half casing. The controlled flow fixed
blades can be seen clearly. The site results showed out-
standing performance, with the HP achieving a level
comparable with the most impressive results previously
achieved only on large single-flow IP cylinders [12].

The final proof of any design philosophy is the site test 10 CONCLUSIONS
result. The authors’ company has applied the above phil-
osophy (optimum U/C , optimum number of stages, This paper has discussed the process of optimizing the
0
three-dimensional design) to a series of retrofit cylinders design of a low-reaction steam turbine. It has examined
from 660 MW cylinders in the United Kingdom. the choice of:
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170 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

Fig. 11 Advanced technology ‘controlled flow’ diaphragm

Fig. 12 Retrofit of 660 MW HP cylinder with controlled flow blading

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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES 171

(a) reaction, ation of short height stages. In Proceedings of 1st European

(b) U/C , Conference on Turbomachinery—Fluid Dynamic and
0 Thermodynamic Aspects, Erlangen, 1–3 March 1995.
(c) stage heat drop,
(d) flow coefficient, 11 Haller, B. R., Walker, P. J., Singh, G. and Ince, N. Z.
Application of 3D computational fluid dynamics methods
(e) pitch–width ratio,
to provide enhanced efficiency blading for the 21st century.
(f ) blade velocity distribution, In Proceedings of 4th International Charles Parsons
(g) surface finish, Turbine Conference, Newcastle, 4–6 November 1997.
(h) three-dimensional design. 12 West, L. A., Neft, J. G. and Wallon, M. H. Better plant
The optimization of these parameters requires consider- efficiency thanks to aerodynamics research on turbines. In
Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Power
ation of the mechanical and cost constraints, as well as
Stations, Liege, 25–29 September 1989.
aerodynamic issues. The efficiency of the resulting design
has been successfully demonstrated by in-service appli-
cation to large turbine cylinders.
APPENDIX 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Analysis used in optimization of flow coefficient

Derivation of integrals I and J characterizing secondary
The authors would like to thank GEC ALSTHOM for and profile loss
permission to publish the paper and all the staff of the
Steam Turbine Group in the UK and France, particu- If it is assumed that the loss coefficient of a flow through
larly members of the Aerodynamics Group, for their a passage can be estimated by
understanding and hard work which has contributed to
P
1−w2 da
the paper. x= =rC V3
w2 D m×DV2
surface 2
where C is a dimensionless dissipation coefficient (func-
REFERENCES D
tion of Reynolds number and roughness) which for ease
includes the effects of downstream mixing.
1 Riollet, G. A new architecture for large impulse turbines. For a linear cascade of height h
Alsthom Rev., 1985, (2).

AP P B
2 Denton, J. Axial turbine aerodynamic design. Turbo- rC
x= D h V3 dl+2 V3 da
machinery Aerodynamics Course, Madingley Hall, rU sh1/2U2
Cambridge, June 1996. x 2 ss+ps endwall

CP AB P AB D
3 Haller, B. R. Full 3D turbine blade design. VKI Lecture 1 V 3 2 V 3
Series on Secondary and Tip Clearance Flows in Axial =2C V /V dl+ da
D 2 x s V sh V
Turbines, 10–13 February 1997. ss+ps 2 endwall 2
4 Nikuradse, J. Turbulente Reibungsschitchten an der Platte,

CP AB PA B D
1 V 3 w 1 V 3
1942 (ZWB, R. Oldenbourg, Munich and Berlin). =2C /k dl+2 da
5 Hourmouziadis, J. and Hubner, N. 3-D design of turbine
D s V h sw V
ss+ps 2 2
aerofoils. In Proceedings of ASME Gas Turbine

A B
Conference, Houston, Texas, March 1985, paper C 2
=2 D J+ I
85-GT-188. k A
6 Harrison, S. The influence of blade lean on turbine losses.
In Proceedings of ASME Gas Turbine Conference, where

P A B
Brussels, Belgium, June 1990, paper 90-GT-55. 1 V 3
7 Wanjin, H., Chunqing, T., Hong, S., Mochun, Z. and J=profile loss integral= dl
Zhongqi, W. Effects of leaning and curving of blades with s V
ss+ps 2
high turning angles on the aerodynamic characteristics of C
turbine rectangular cascades. In Proceedings of ASME Gas X =2 D J
Turbine Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1993, paper
p k
93-GT-296. and
8 Liu, H. C., Booth, T. C. and Tall, W. A. An application of

P A B
3-D viscous flow analysis to the design of a low aspect ratio 1 V 3
turbine. In Proceedings of ASME Gas Turbine Conference, I=secondary loss integral= da
sw V
March 1979, paper 79-GT-53. endwall 2
9 Sohma, A., Tsubouchi, K., Nakagowa, K. and Ninomiya, S. 2 C
Development of large steam turbine with high efficiency. X = ×2 D I
s A k
Hitachi Rev., 1978, 27, 153–160.
10 Singh, G., Walker, P. J. and Haller, B. R. Development of Note that in reality the dissipation coefficient for second-
three-dimensional stage viscous time marching for optimiz- ary loss will be higher than that for profile loss because
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172 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

P A B
the secondary flows convect free stream material towards 1 V 3
the endwalls and hence increase the dissipation rate. In I= da
ws V
this study the coefficient for secondary loss is assumed endwall 2

P C A B A BD
to be twice that of profile loss. 1 t V DV 2 V 3
= + dX
s V V V
0 2 2 2
Characterization of blade velocity distribution and
and I can be evaluated numerically.
evaluation of integrals
To evaluate the profile loss integral it is necessary to
If the velocity distribution on a blade is characterized calculate distances along the blade surfaces. This is done
by a , a , s/w, a and V /V , then integrals I and J can by
1 2 m m 2
be evaluated as shown in Fig. 13. Assume that the mean
velocity at a given axial plane V varies as a fourth-order
polynomial to satisfy V =V at X=0, V =V at X=1,
1 2
ds=
SC A dx2+
V
V
x
t dx+
2BD
dt 2

V =V at X= 1 and dV/dX=0 at X=0 and 1. Assume

SC A BD
m 2 V dt 2
that the mean tangential velocity V also varies as a dp= dx2+ t dx−
t V 2
fourth-order polynomial to satisfy V =V at X=0, x
t t1
V =V at X=1, V =V at X= 1 and dV /dx=0 at Then
t t2 t tm 2 t
X=0 and 1. Then the mean axial velocity is given by

P A B
V =√(V2−V2 ), the passage thickness is given by t/s= 1 V 3
x t J= dl
V /V and the angular momentum is given by tV V . s V
x2 x x t ss+ps 2
Hence, the pressure difference between the suction DP

CP A B A B D
is given by 1 ss V +DV 3 V −DV 3
= t ds+ dp
s V V
DP d t s dV 2 2
= (tV V )= V t Again, J can be evaluated numerically.
r dx x t s w x dX
Now, if V =V +DV and V =V −DV, then
ss ps APPENDIX 2
DP
= 1 (V +DV )2− 1 (V −DV )2=2VDV
r 2 2 Consider a blade row which is extracting power ṁ DH.
1 s t V dV If there are n blades, then the tangential force F is given
[DV= x t T
2 w s V dX by
DH
Further, if V varies linearly across the passage, then it nF U=ṁ DH[F = ṁ
can be shown that the secondary loss integral is given T T U
n
by The bending moment on the root as a result of this
force is given by
h h
M =F =ṁ DH
T T2 2U
n
If it is assumed that the tangential direction is the
direction of the minimum principal axis (this assumption
is reasonable for a low-reaction moving blade root), then
the peak stress is given by
M h
s= T [sZ =ṁ DH
Z min 2U
min n
Now n=2pr/s and ṁ=2prhrV
x
2prhrV DHhs
[sZ = x
min 2U×2pr

AB
Z V r DH h 2
[ min = x
sw2 U 2s w

[w/h3
SCA BA BD
sw2
Z
min
V
U
x

Fig. 13 Diagram for evaluating integrals I and J for constant density, work done and allowable stress.
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 DESIGN OF LOW-REACTION STEAM TURBINE BLADES 173

APPENDIX 3 ness of resonance and damaging vibration can be

deduced for continuously connected blading with r
Avoiding responsive resonance in blading vibration blades rotating at n r/s.

Bladed wheels have rotational symmetry imposed by the Energy cancellation aspects
plurality of equally pitched blades joined by the root
interconnection (i.e. the flexible disc) and by the tip At any instant t the force on the ith blade

C A B D
shroud. Resonance conditions occur when the natural i−1
frequency of the bladed wheel coincides with a known 3F sin 2pne t− +w (1)
rn
excitation source (engine order, e, say at guide passing
frequency, g). Beyond this a simple rule for responsive- at the eth engine order.

Fig. 14 (a) Physical illustration of guide passing frequency resonance with r–e effect: number of runner
blades r=16, number of guide blades e=g=13, number of nodal diameters k=3. In a 16-blade
wheel the displacement at the discrete blade positions is the same for a 3 rev and a 13 rev distribution.
Hence in a 16-blade wheel the mode of three nodal diameters is as responsive as a 13 nodal diameter
mode to an excitation of 13 rev. (b) Graph form for application as a design tool
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174 P J WALKER AND J A HESKETH

The energy input to a group of P blades per vibration

GC D
r k e
cycle is given by 3 ∑ Y cos 2p(i−1) sin 2p(i−1)
r r
1
C
P e
3F ∑ Y sin 2p(i−1) cos w
C DH
i r r k e 2 1/2
i=1 + ∑ Y cos 2p(i−1) cos 2p(i−1) (6)
r r
1
D
e
−cos 2p(i−1) sin w (2) Noting that
r
r k e
This has maximum value (Y is the deflection of the ith
i ∑ cos 2p(i−1) sin 2p(i−1)
blade) r r
1

A B
1 r k+e
GC D
P e 2 = ∑ sin 2p(i−1)
3F ∑ Y sin 2p(i−1) 2 r
i r 1
i=1

A B
1 r k−e
C DH
P e 2 1/2 − ∑ sin 2p(i−1) (7)
+ ∑ Y cos 2p(i−1) (3) 2 r
i r 1
i=1
allows summation of the series in terms of the forms
Circumferential mode shape for continuously connected

A B A B
wheel of discrete blades k±e k±e
sin p(r−1) sin pr
r r
By way of illustration, simple representation of a con-

A B
tinuous system with r blades of blade representative k±e
sin p
mass, m, and direct stiffness, C, connected by shrouding r
of stiffness, s, yields for the ith blade
and (8)
m ÿ +cy =s( y −2y +y ) (4)
i i i i+1 i i−1
A B A B
k±e k±e
This is a second-order finite difference equation with cos p(r−1) sin pr
r r
solution

k sin p
Y cos 2p(i−1)
r
where k is the characteristic number called the number
of nodal diameters. This is an exact sinusoidal distri-
bution such that, for example, an r=16 blade wheel can
equally have 3 ‘nodal diameters’ or 13 ‘nodal diameters’,
although not factors of 16, which are perfectly described
by expression (5).
Responsive resonance condition for continuously
connected blading
Substitution of mode shape (5) in the energy input
expression (3) yields
Energy input
A B
k±e
(5) r
Considering the values of these expressions, k±e
is necessarily integer, so that in general the expressions
are zero except possibly if (k±e)/r is also integer, in
which case the ‘cosine’ term is not zero. Hence the energy
input to the wheel vibration is zero in all cases except
when (k±e)/r= j (integer)=0, ±1, ±2, etc., i.e. when
[k= jr±e] (9)
the condition of ‘major critical’ resonance. The physical
significance of this is illustrated in Fig. 14 for a simplified
wheel of r=16 blades. The mode shape of k=3 or
k=13 nodal diameters is exactly the same at the discrete
blade positions, allowing 3 nodal diameters to be in
responsive resonance of excitation e=13 (for example,
g=13 guides)—a condition clearly to avoid.

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