Review of EULiST BIP “Blade Design for Turbomachinery” organised by TU Wien

Students of the EULiST universities participated in the blended intensive programme (BIP) course on “Blade Design for Turbomachinery” at TU Wien, led by Bernhard Semlitsch and Gregor Nicht.
The focus was on learning by doing. Thus, students were tasked with designing the best blade shape for specific inflow and outflow conditions.
To match the design criteria, empirical models were used to generate the initial blade shape, which was then optimised using numerical flow simulations.
The best-performing blade shape was then materialised using 3D printers and tested in a wind tunnel.
The comparison between the numerical predictions and experimental results confirmed the reliability of the models employed.
The course thereby provided students with holistic, practical skills in turbomachinery design.