Centrifugal Compressor Impeller Mold Release via Radial Line-of-Sight
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of blades in centrifugal compressor impellers complicates mold release during injection molding, leading to reduced productivity and performance due to the need for multiple molds and simplified blade shapes.
Innovation Solution
The design includes full blades and splitter blades arranged on a hub, where the entire suction and pressure surfaces of adjacent blades and the splitter blade are visible in a specific line-of-sight direction, allowing for molds to be released parallel to this direction, reducing the number of molds required and maintaining blade complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the impeller is made by injection molding with complicated blade shapes, then the performance of the impeller is improved, but the mold release becomes problematic and productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is divided into two distinct surfaces: a suction surface and a pressure surface. These surfaces are formed by separate molds that can be independently released, allowing complicated blade shapes to be manufactured without mold release interference. The segmentation enables each surface to be molded separately while maintaining the overall complex geometry needed for high performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold release direction is changed from the conventional axial direction to a radial direction. By designing the mold assembly to allow release in the radial direction (perpendicular to the rotation axis), the patent enables removal of molds from a different dimensional perspective, avoiding interference with complicated blade surfaces while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
2Ease of manufacture
If the molds are released in the direction of the rotation axis, then the mold release is simplified, but the shape of the blade is greatly restricted and performance is sacrificed
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of releasing the mold in the conventional axial direction (along the rotation axis), the patent inverts the release direction to radial direction (perpendicular to the rotation axis). This inversion allows the mold to be removed from a different direction that does not interfere with the complicated blade geometry, thereby maintaining both ease of manufacture and high performance.
3Ease of manufacture
If the molds are divided into numerous molds to enable release, then the mold release is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blade mold is segmented into two surfaces (suction and pressure surfaces) formed by separate molds. This segmentation is minimal and functional, dividing the mold only where necessary to enable release without creating excessive complexity. Each surface mold can be independently designed and released, simplifying the overall mold system compared to dividing the entire impeller into numerous small molds.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a centrifugal compressor impeller that includes: a hub; a plurality of full blades that are arranged on the hub in a circumferential direction of rotation; and splitter blades provided between the full blades. There is a line-of-sight direction which is a direction parallel to a virtual plane perpendicular to a rotation axis and in which an entire suction surface of the full blade adjacent to a front side of the splitter blade in a rotational direction, an entire pressure surface of the full blade adjacent to a rear side of the splitter blade in the rotational direction, and an entire surface of the splitter blade are visible.