Impeller Weld Range Segmentation for Shroud Blade Accuracy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing impeller manufacturing technologies face challenges in achieving high dimensional accuracy and welding accuracy due to lower molding accuracy near the circumference of the shroud and blade tips, leading to distortion and deteriorated welding quality.
Innovation Solution
The impeller design limits the weld range to the radially inward regions of the mating faces between the shroud and blades, ensuring that only the more accurately formed areas are welded, and configures these regions to be perpendicular to the central axis for enhanced strength and accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the weld range includes the radially outward region near the circumference of the shroud, then the welding coverage is increased, but the molding accuracy and welding accuracy deteriorate due to lower molding accuracy in that region
Solution Approach 1:
The mating face of the shroud is divided into two distinct regions: a radially inward region with high molding accuracy and a radially outward region with lower molding accuracy. The weld range is segmented to include only the radially inward region, excluding the lower-precision radially outward region from welding operations. This spatial segmentation allows the design to achieve adequate welding coverage while maintaining high welding accuracy in the critical welded area.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the shroud's mating face are assigned different quality characteristics. The radially inward region is designed with high molding accuracy suitable for precision welding, while the radially outward region accepts lower molding accuracy. By applying welding only to the high-quality radially inward region, the invention ensures superior welding accuracy where it matters most, while still providing sufficient structural connection.
2Productivity
If the weld range includes areas with lower molding accuracy, then the welding coverage is increased, but distortion increases and welding quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The welding process is segmented spatially to operate only in the radially inward region where high molding accuracy is achieved. This segmentation prevents the inclusion of lower-accuracy radially outward regions in the weld zone, thereby eliminating the source of distortion while maintaining adequate welding coverage for structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The design proactively prevents distortion by excluding the radially outward region with lower molding accuracy from the weld range before welding occurs. This preliminary anti-action approach anticipates and prevents the distortion problem rather than attempting to correct it after welding, ensuring high welding quality from the outset.
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 approach effectively suppresses distortion and enhances welding accuracy and strength by focusing the weld on more accurately formed areas, improving the overall reliability of the impeller assembly.
Implementation Method 1
a shroud and each impeller blade are welded or joined together by heating (e.g., ultrasonic-welding) their mating faces
Data Source
AI summary
An impeller is comprised of a hub configured to be rotated on a central axis, a shroud formed to be opposed to the hub in a direction of the central axis and having a central opening serving as a fluid inlet, and a plurality of circumferentially-equidistant spaced blades interleaved between the hub and the shroud. When a mating face of the shroud with each of the blades is divided into a radially inward region and a radially outward region, and a mating face of each of the blades with the shroud is divided into a radially inward region and a radially outward region, a given weld range is set only in the radially inward region of the mating face of the shroud with each of the blades and the radially inward region of the mating face of each of the blades with the shroud.