Handbook of Turbomachinery Second Edition Revised - Ventech!

of the component designers must be accounted for. Once the software is in
production as a design tool, the ongoing costs and manpower resources
necessary to maintain and upgrade an in-house program throughout its life
cycle must also be addressed. In contrast, when commercial software is
leased or purchased, program upgrades and maintenance services from the
vendor are often included.
Therefore, except in those circumstances when no commercial
software packages meet the specifications for the CFD analysis tool, or
when it is recognized that other special requirements would dictate in-house
development, it would often be more cost-effective to acquire a commercial
software product.
FUTURE EXPECTATIONS
The preceding sections of this chapter have presented a view of the
characteristics of turbomachinery flow fields and the current status of
analysis techniques used to model these flows. In the following paragraphs,
an attempt will be made to focus on the trends that appear to be developing,
as a result of the increasingly strong interrelationship between the
aerodynamic design of turbomachinery components and the ability to
realistically model and analyze the flow fields associated with those
components.
Trends in Component Design
A primary driver determining the trends in turbomachinery component
design in the near future will be the IHPTET program. With its goal of
doubling propulsion engine performance capability by the year 2003,
relative to 1980s base technology levels, revolutionary advances will be
achieved in terms of reductions in specific fuel consumption (SFC) and
increases in power-to-weight or thrust-to-weight ratios. As an example [79],
for turbine engines in the small/medium size class, the IHPTET goals are to
reduce SFC by 30% and increase power-to-weight ratio by 100%. In
addition to these performance improvements, the engines are expected to be
approximately 70% smaller in diameter and weight than 1980s technology
engines.
While IHPTET represents revolutionary technology, the advances
achieved along the way to the final goals will be progressively implemented
in existing or new engine applications to improve performance. Thus, the
benefits of this advanced technology program will be appearing in the design
of commercial and military engines long before the program’s conclusion in
Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc.