Optimal Design of the Volute for a Turbocharger Radial Flow Compressor

Abstract

In this research the design methods of radial flow compressor volutes are reviewed and the main criterions in volute primary designs are recognized and most effective ones are selected. The effective parameters i.e. spiral cross section area, circumferential area distribution, exit cone and tongue area of the compressor volute are parametrically studied to identifythe optimum values. A numerical model is prepared and verified through experimental data which are obtained from the designed turbocharger test rig. Different volutes are modeled and numerically evaluated using the same impeller and vane-less diffuser. For each model, the volute total pressure ratio, static pressure recovery and total pressure loss coefficients and the radial force on the impeller are calculated for different mass flow rates at design point and off-design conditions. The volute which shows better performanceand causes lower the net radial force on the impeller, at desiredmass flow rates is selected as an optimal one. The results show the volute design approach differences at the design point and off-design conditions. Improving the pressure ratio and reducing total pressure loss at design point, may result inthe worse conditions at off-design conditions as well as increasing radial force on the impeller.

Experimental and numerical flow field investigation through two types of radial flow compressor volutes

“…These considerations show the good performance at design point and acceptable performance at off-design conditions [10].…”

“…Pfleiderer suggested following relation for predicting tangential velocity component at different circumferential positions of volute cross sections [10],…”

“…Based on design procedure introduce in our previous work, the new external volute is designed considering the same impeller and diffuser as the upstream components [10]. The volute inlet diameter, volute inlet height and exit cone outlet diameter are the geometric constraints and the flow characteristics at design point are used as Table 1.…”

“…They also integrated a procedure for external volute design to define the volute area at exit, circumferential cross section variation, exit cone design and tongue area considerations by studying the effects of these parameters on four characteristics, including volute total pressure ratio, static pressure recovery coefficient, total pressure loss coefficient and the net radial force on the impeller [10].…”

Optimization of the Splitter Blade Configuration and Geometry of a Centrifugal Pump Impeller using Design of Experiment

“…A three dimensional viscous solver is used and the RANS equations are solved iteratively in which momentum equations are discretized using the second-order upwind method. Steady state condition with constant density is considered (Mojaddam et al, 2015).…”