Compressor Wheel-Shaft Integration for Low-Imbalance e-Turbo Rotors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrically powered turbochargers face challenges with high mechanical stress and rotational speeds, leading to stringent manufacturing tolerances and imbalance issues due to dimensional variations during production and assembly of compressor wheels and their components.
Innovation Solution
A compressor wheel arrangement featuring a compressor wheel made of a first metallic material, a shaft of a second metallic material, and a permanent magnet arranged in a ring-shaped area around the shaft, with thermal coupling and a shaft-hub connection design that allows for precise manufacturing and assembly, reducing imbalance and improving cooling and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional separate manufacturing and assembly of compressor wheel and shaft components is used, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to dimensional variations and imbalance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the compressor wheel and shaft into a single integrated component manufactured as one piece using additive manufacturing. This eliminates the separate assembly process and associated dimensional variations, directly resolving the contradiction by merging two previously separate components into one unified structure that achieves both manufacturing flexibility and high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs additive manufacturing technology to create the integrated compressor wheel-shaft component, potentially using composite materials or graded materials that optimize both manufacturing flexibility and dimensional precision. The additive process allows for complex geometries and material properties that cannot be achieved with conventional separate manufacturing methods.
2Manufacturing precision
If tight manufacturing tolerances are enforced during production, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to extensive balancing efforts and product rejection
Solution Approach 1:
By manufacturing the compressor wheel and shaft as a single integrated component, the patent eliminates the need for separate balancing operations on multiple parts and their assemblies. This single-component approach inherently reduces imbalance issues and removes the time-consuming balancing and rejection processes, thereby improving productivity while maintaining high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process inherently produces components with high dimensional accuracy and balanced mass distribution. The manufacturing process itself serves the dual function of creating the component geometry and ensuring its dynamic balance, eliminating the need for separate post-processing balancing operations and reducing productivity losses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are assembled to form the compressor wheel arrangement, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases leading to more assembly steps and potential imbalance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the compressor wheel, shaft, and hub into a single integrated additive-manufactured component. This reduces device complexity by eliminating multiple assembly steps, fasteners, and interfaces between separate parts, while the additive manufacturing process maintains design flexibility to accommodate various configuration requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated component performs multiple functions simultaneously - the shaft provides rotational support, the hub provides mounting functionality, and the compressor wheel performs compression. This multi-functional design reduces the number of separate components needed while maintaining the adaptability and versatility required for different application requirements.
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 enhances manufacturing precision, reduces balancing efforts, and improves engine performance by minimizing unwanted noise, vibration, and harshness, while maintaining a compact design with fewer components, thus addressing the challenges of high mechanical stress and rotational speeds.
Implementation Method 1
the permanent magnet is thermally coupled to the compressor wheel. The thermal coupling allows heat transfer from the permanent magnet to the compressor wheel, which dissipates heat.
Data Source
AI summary
A compressor wheel arrangement for an electrically powered turbocharger, which can be connected with a rotor shaft of the turbocharger, having a compressor wheel made of a first metallic material, a shaft made of a second metallic material, which is tightly connected with the compressor wheel, at least one permanent magnet, which is non-rotatably arranged on the section of the shaft, in a ring-shaped area around a section of the shaft that extends behind the compressor wheel, between a casing and the shaft.