Centrifugal Compressor Shroud Impeller Bonding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shroud impellers for centrifugal compressors face challenges in manufacturing complexity, high cost, and structural instability, particularly when dealing with high-speed rotation and pressure variations, leading to flow losses and potential separation of bonded shroud blades.
Innovation Solution
The development of a shroud impeller with an integral shroud bonded onto the blades using a bonding scheme such as welding or brazing, featuring stepped or inclined surfaces, and divided shroud blades with connection ribs to enhance bonding strength and prevent separation under centrifugal load and gas pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a shroud impeller with a closed fluid path is used to reduce flow loss and increase compression efficiency, then compression efficiency is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The shroud is divided into multiple separate shroud segments that can be manufactured independently and then assembled to form the complete shroud structure. This segmentation allows each segment to be manufactured using simpler processes while maintaining the overall closed fluid path geometry needed to reduce flow loss.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple shroud segments are combined through bonding to form the complete shroud structure. This merging approach allows the complex closed fluid path to be achieved by assembling simpler components rather than manufacturing the entire shroud as a single complex piece.
2Ease of manufacture
If an open impeller is used for easy manufacturing and low cost, then ease of manufacture is improved, but structural strength is insufficient for high-speed rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The shroud segments are pre-manufactured as separate components with adequate strength, then assembled to the impeller blades. This preliminary preparation allows each component to be optimized for strength independently while maintaining ease of manufacturing through standardized segments.
3Strength
If the shroud is welded to blades to ensure structural stability under high pressure, then strength is improved, but the welded region is easily damaged or broken under pressure
Solution Approach 1:
A bonding agent or intermediate material is used between the shroud segments and impeller blades instead of direct welding. This intermediary layer distributes stress more evenly and prevents the concentration of forces that cause welded regions to fail under high pressure conditions.
4Ease of manufacture
If casting or HIP scheme is used to manufacture the impeller, then manufacturing is simplified, but the impeller has weak strength and is easily deformed under pressure variation
Solution Approach 1:
The impeller is constructed using composite materials or material combinations that provide both the ease of manufacturing associated with casting/HIP processes and the enhanced strength required to withstand pressure variations. This may involve using high-strength alloys or composite structures in critical load-bearing areas.
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 simplifies manufacturing, achieves high processing yield rates, ensures structural stability, and minimizes flow loss, making the shroud impeller suitable for high-rotation applications with improved compression efficiency and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
bonding scheme such as welding
Implementation Method 2
bonding scheme such as welding or brazing
Implementation Method 3
compressing a fluid by converting kinetic energy into pressure energy through a centrifugal force
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a shroud impeller (10) of a centrifugal compressor and a method of manufacturing the same where the shroud impeller (10) includes a rotary hub (11) connected to a driving shaft, a plurality of blades (12) radially provided about a rotational axis (x-x') of the rotary hub (11), and an integral shroud (13) bonded onto top ends of the blades (12).