The streamline curvature method of calculating the axisymmetric flow through conventional turbomachines is adapted to calculate the non-axisymmetric flow in a thin meridional sector of a regenerative turbomachine. The method provides an important tool for investigating the effects of spanwise variations on machine performance. The incorporation of a mixing model and a model for the friction on the passage walls, in addition to the use of a loss model through the blade row, allows an estimation of the relative importance of these sources of loss for the performance of regenerative machines to be made, and the effect of friction is shown to be significant.
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