Gas Turbine Centrifugal Impeller Blade Thickness Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal impellers in gas turbine engines face challenges in balancing compression efficiency, structural resistance, weight, durability, and foreign object damage tolerance, with existing designs not fully optimizing blade thickness distribution to meet these requirements effectively.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal impeller design featuring blades with a maximum thickness at the hub, a thinner tip edge, and a bulge in the mid-span region, where the tip edge thickness increases by at least 5% within the first 10% of the tip camber line length, and the 50% span camber line thickness reaches at least 58% of the maximum thickness before reducing by at least 5% within 10% of its length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If blade thickness is increased to improve structural resistance and durability, then compression efficiency decreases due to increased weight and drag
Solution Approach 1:
The blade thickness is varied locally along its span, with maximum thickness at the hub for structural strength, reduced thickness at the tip for weight reduction, and a bulge at mid-span for durability. This non-uniform thickness distribution optimizes both structural resistance and compression efficiency by placing material only where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade thickness parameter is changed continuously along the span, transitioning from maximum thickness at the hub to reduced thickness at the tip, with a specific bulge configuration at mid-span. This parameter variation resolves the contradiction by adapting the thickness to the local structural and aerodynamic requirements at different blade locations.
2Productivity
If blade thickness is reduced to improve compression efficiency, then structural resistance and durability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The blade features a bulge at the mid-span region (40-60% span) where thickness increases to provide localized structural reinforcement and durability, while the tip region maintains reduced thickness for compression efficiency. This local quality variation allows the blade to maintain both efficiency and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade is effectively segmented into different functional zones: the hub region with maximum thickness for structural support, the mid-span bulge region for durability and foreign object damage tolerance, and the tip region with reduced thickness for efficiency. This segmentation allows each zone to optimize for its specific function.
3Reliability
If blade thickness is increased to improve durability and foreign object damage tolerance, then weight increases affecting dynamic stability
Solution Approach 1:
The blade thickness is increased locally at the mid-span region to improve durability and foreign object damage tolerance, while the tip region maintains reduced thickness to minimize weight increase. This localized reinforcement achieves improved reliability without significant weight penalty.
Solution Approach 2:
The thickness parameter is changed along the blade span to create a bulge at mid-span, providing localized durability enhancement. The parameter variation ensures that weight is added only where needed for durability, rather than uniformly across the entire blade, thus maintaining dynamic stability.
Data Source
AI summary
The centrifugal impeller can have a hub and a plurality of blades, each of the blades having a span extending from the hub to a tip edge, camber lines extending from an inlet edge to an outlet edge between two opposite faces, including a tip camber line extending along the tip edge and a 50% span camber line extending at 50% of the span, a thickness extending between opposite faces of each blade, the tip edge having, at a location corresponding to 5% of the tip camber line, less than 15% of the maximum thickness, each of the blades having, along the 50% span camber line, a thickness reaching at least 58% of the maximum thickness and then reducing by at least 5% of the maximum thickness within 10% of the length of the 50% span camber line.