Turbine Wheel Undercut Casting for Rotor Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing turbine wheels require an additional machining step to create an undercut in the transition region between the weld peg and the wheel back, which can lead to collisions with the bearing housing and inefficiencies in the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating the undercut into the turbine wheel blank during the casting process, allowing only the region up to the transition to be machined post-casting, eliminating the need for the additional machining step and creating a continuous transition region that enhances the strength of the rotor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the grinding disk maintains a distance from the wheel back during machining, then the grinding operation can be performed, but a corner is formed at the transition region which can collide with the bearing housing
Solution Approach 1:
The undercut is formed during the casting process itself, before the machining operations take place. This preliminary formation of the undercut geometry eliminates the need for the grinding disk to maintain a distance from the wheel back, as the harmful corner is already absent from the workpiece geometry.
2Reliability
If an additional machining step is performed to create an undercut in the transition region, then the corner collision problem is avoided, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The casting process is modified to simultaneously produce both the turbine wheel geometry and the undercut feature in a single operation. By merging the formation of these two features into one casting process, the need for separate machining steps to create the undercut is eliminated, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The undercut is formed during the casting process itself, before the machining operations take place. This preliminary formation of the undercut geometry eliminates the need for the grinding disk to maintain a distance from the wheel back, as the harmful corner is already absent from the workpiece geometry.
3Productivity
If the undercut is created during casting, then the additional machining step is eliminated and manufacturing is simplified, but the casting process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The casting process is modified locally at the transition region between the wheel back and the weld peg. Instead of changing the entire casting process, only the specific geometry of the transition region is designed to form the undercut during casting, while the rest of the turbine wheel is cast using conventional methods.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a turbine wheel (1) composed of a turbine wheel blank (2), having a turbine wheel back (3) and having a weld peg (Z) which is arranged on the turbine wheel back (3) via a transition region (5) provided with an undercut (4), wherein the undercut (4) is already provided in the turbine wheel blank (2).