Generation of C-type cascade grids for viscous flow computation

A rapid procedure for generating C-type cascade grids suitable for viscous flow computations in turbomachinery blade rows is presented. The resulting mesh is periodic from one blade passage to the next, nearly orthogonal, and continuous across the wake downstream of a blade. The procedure employs a pair of conformal mappings that take the exterior of the cascade into the interior of an infinite strip with curved boundaries. The final transformation to a rectangular computational domain is accomplished numerically. The boundary values are obtained from a panel solution of an integral equation and the interior values by a rapid ADI solution of Laplace's equation. Examples of C-type grids are presented for both compressor and turbine blades and the extension of the procedure to three dimensions is briefly outlined.