Turbomachine Guide Vane Housing Radial Recess Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional turbomachine vane ring housings face challenges in maintaining the shape and stability of partition walls, leading to potential deformation and impaired pivotability of guide vanes, which limits the design and efficiency of turbomachines with a large number of pivotable guide vanes or large vane disks.
Innovation Solution
A vane ring housing design featuring radial recesses between adjacent receptacles minimizes the distance between guide vane plates, eliminating the need for a minimum partition wall thickness in critical areas, thereby preventing deformation and allowing for a more aerodynamically and mechanically improved arrangement of guide vanes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the partition wall thickness is reduced to allow closer arrangement of guide vanes, then the number of guide vanes and blade plates increases, but the partition wall deforms under load during manufacture and operation
Solution Approach 1:
The guide vane housing is divided into multiple segments separated by partition walls, with each segment containing receptacles for guide vanes. The partition walls are further segmented by radial recesses that create reinforcement structures, allowing the housing to accommodate more guide vanes while maintaining structural integrity through the segmented reinforcement design.
Solution Approach 2:
The partition walls are designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, featuring radial recesses that create locally reinforced zones. The wall thickness varies circumferentially, being thinnest at the recess location and thicker at other positions, allowing optimal material distribution that prevents deformation while minimizing overall material usage and enabling closer vane arrangement.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the minimum wall thickness is increased to prevent partition wall deformation, then the distance between adjacent guide vanes increases, but the aerodynamic efficiency and structural advantage of large blade plates is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall thickness is optimized locally rather than uniformly throughout. Radial recesses create zones of varying thickness, with the thinnest point at the recess location where structural support is provided by the recess geometry itself, allowing closer vane spacing without compromising overall wall stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The partition wall design transitions from a two-dimensional uniform thickness concept to a three-dimensional variable thickness structure with radial recesses. This dimensional change allows the wall to achieve greater structural efficiency by distributing material strategically, enabling closer guide vane spacing while maintaining deformation resistance through the added geometric dimension of the recesses.
3Productivity
If the partition wall is made thinner to accommodate more guide vanes, then the manufacturing complexity increases due to risk of deformation, but the design flexibility for aerodynamic optimization is improved
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall is segmented by radial recesses that divide it into multiple zones, each providing structural support. This segmentation reduces the risk of overall wall deformation during manufacturing by creating localized reinforcement structures, making it safer to manufacture thinner-walled housings with more mounting points.
Solution Approach 2:
The radial recesses are pre-formed into the partition wall structure during manufacturing, creating built-in reinforcement zones before the housing is assembled and put into service. This preliminary structural preparation reduces the risk of deformation during subsequent manufacturing steps and operation, enabling the use of thinner walls with more mounting points.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
A guide vane housing 10' according to the invention for a turbomachine has a housing surface 11 extending around a central axis A and facing the axis, in which a plurality of receptacles 12' are arranged, each for a blade plate 21a of a guide vane 20. A radial recess 16 is arranged in the housing surface 11 between at least two adjacent receptacles 12', connecting the two receptacles to each other. A turbomachine according to the invention comprises a plurality of guide vanes 20 and a guide vane housing 10' according to the invention, in the receptacles 12' of which a guide vane plate 21a of the guide vanes is inserted.