Impeller Blade Shroud Bonding via Protrusion Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing impeller technologies face challenges in stably joining complex blade shapes with shrouds, leading to productivity degradation, unsatisfactory welding, and increased manufacturing complexity and cost, especially when the blade member is formed with multiple components.
Innovation Solution
The impeller design features a shroud with a curved shape and a flat portion on its outer circumference, where the outer circumferential end of the blade and the flat portion are joined using a protrusion and through hole mechanism, allowing for a narrow joint range that requires less accuracy and simplifies the manufacturing process, while maintaining high strength and fluid flow efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the shroud is made to correspond in shape to a complicated blade, then the welding quality improves, but the productivity decreases due to high accuracy requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the blade into multiple blade members that can be manufactured separately and then assembled. This segmentation allows each blade member to be produced with standard accuracy while the overall blade shape is achieved through assembly, resolving the contradiction between welding quality and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a shroud as an intermediary component that connects multiple blade members together. The shroud serves as a mediator that enables the assembly of complicated blade shapes without requiring high-precision welding between blade members themselves, thus maintaining productivity while achieving the desired blade geometry
2Adaptability or versatility
If the blade member is formed with multiple components, then the manufacturing flexibility improves, but the manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple blade members and the shroud into a single assembled unit that functions as one integrated blade structure. This combining approach allows flexible manufacturing of individual components while presenting a unified blade geometry, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing flexibility and process complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The shroud serves multiple functions: it connects blade members, defines the outer blade shape, and provides structural support. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components and simplifies the overall manufacturing process while maintaining flexibility in blade design
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
This design enables stable and efficient joining of blades and shrouds, enhancing productivity and manufacturing ease while maintaining high strength and fluid flow performance, even when the blade member is composed of multiple components.
Implementation Method 1
a tip end of the protrusion is deformed to have a larger diameter than an opening diameter of the through hole
Data Source
AI summary
An impeller in which blades and a shroud are bonded in a stable manner. The impeller is provided with a plurality of blades disposed on a base, and a shroud disposed facing the base across the blades. The shroud has a curved shape, wherein the shroud has a flat part in the outer periphery, protuberances are provided to flat surfaces of the blades, through-holes are provided to the flat part of the shroud, and, after the protuberances are inserted through the through-holes, the flat surfaces of the blades and the flat part of the shroud are bonded together by deforming the tips of the protuberances into thermally caulked parts larger in diameter than the opening diameters of the through-holes.