Centrifugal Impeller Mold with Annular Insert for Composite Vane Formation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing centrifugal impellers for turbomachines face challenges such as complex mechanical structures, high manufacturing costs, limited ability to handle corrosive or erosive fluids, and difficulty in achieving optimal performance at high speeds due to adhesive bonding and restrictive geometry, leading to reliability issues and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal impeller design utilizing continuous fabric elements around aerodynamic vanes to enhance mechanical resistance and aerodynamic characteristics, combined with a mold for efficient production, which includes an annular insert and inner core to facilitate the deposition of fiber elements and filling material, allowing for a single-step infusion process that eliminates the need for secondary joining operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional metal molds and mechanical assembly methods are used to manufacture centrifugal impellers, then structural strength and reliability are improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials consisting of fiber reinforcement (glass, carbon, or aramid fibers) embedded in a polymer matrix to create impellers that achieve both high strength and lightweight properties. This composite construction eliminates the need for complex mechanical assemblies of multiple components, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple manufacturing operations into a single integrated process. The mold incorporates all necessary features for forming the impeller body, vanes, and mounting holes in one operation, eliminating the need for separate machining and assembly steps required by traditional metal molding methods.
2Ease of manufacture
If adhesive bonding is used to join impeller sectors, then manufacturing ease is improved, but mechanical resistance at high rotational velocity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials with continuous fiber reinforcement that provides inherent mechanical strength without requiring adhesive bonding. The fiber-matrix composite structure naturally resists centrifugal forces at high rotational speeds, eliminating the weakness of adhesive-bonded sectors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the adhesive bonding step from the manufacturing process entirely. By using a monolithic composite construction where the impeller is formed as a single integrated piece, the need for bonding agents to join sectors is completely removed.
3Ease of manufacture
If simple geometry impellers are manufactured, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but aerodynamic efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials that can be molded into complex three-dimensional geometries with precision. The fiber-reinforced polymer composite allows for intricate vane shapes and aerodynamic profiles to be formed directly in the mold, achieving high aerodynamic efficiency without additional manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing approach from traditional metal molding to composite material molding, which allows for greater geometric freedom. This parameter change in the manufacturing method enables complex aerodynamic geometries to be produced at lower cost by eliminating the need for expensive metal tooling and multiple machining operations.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are assembled to form the impeller, then adaptability for different impeller types is improved, but manufacturing time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal mold design that can produce different impeller types by simply changing the mold insert or core, rather than requiring entirely different molds for each impeller variant. This single mold system serves multiple functions, enabling flexible production of different impeller configurations without time-consuming remolding operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates preliminary action by pre-forming all impeller components including vanes, hub, and mounting features in a single molding operation. All necessary features are created in advance during the molding process itself, eliminating subsequent assembly operations and reducing total manufacturing time.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a lightweight, high-strength impeller with improved resistance to mechanical stresses and corrosion, capable of operating at high rotational velocities with reduced weight and production costs, while maintaining aerodynamic efficiency and allowing for complex geometries, thus addressing the limitations of traditional impellers.
Implementation Method 1
allowing for a single-step infusion process that eliminates the need for secondary joining operations
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A mold to build a centrifugal impeller for a turbomachine characterized in that it comprises at least an annular insert ( 1 10) able to reproduce an annular assembly of aerodynamic vanes (13) of a finished impeller; said annular insert (110) being used to form aerodynamic vanes (13) and such that it can be readily removed from said mold during the molding process.