Three-Dimensional Design of Axial Flow Compressor Blades Using the Ball-Spine Algorithm

Abstract

Recently a new inverse design algorithm has been developed for the design of ducts, called ball-spine (BS). In the BS algorithm, the duct walls are considered as a set of virtual balls that can freely move along some specified directions, called 'spines'. Initial geometry is guessed and the flow field is analyzed by a flow solver. Comparing the computed pressure distribution (CPD) with the target pressure distribution (TPD), new balls positions for the modified geometry are determined. This procedure is repeated until the target pressure is achieved. In the present work, the ball-spine algorithm is applied to three-dimensional design of axial compressor blades. The design procedure is tested on blades based on NACA65-410 and NACA65-610 profiles and the accuracy of the method is shown to be very good. As an application, the pressure distribution of the blade with NACA65-610 profiles is modified and the pressure gradient in the aft part of the blade is decreased and selected as target pressure distribution. The corresponding geometry which satisfies the target pressure is determined using the BS design algorithm.

Optimization of the target pressure distribution and inverse design of an axial turbine blade

“…Then, the difference between the target and current pressure distributions is related to the displacement of each ball. Later, Madadi et al 26 developed this algorithm to design the axial compressor blades. This method has several advantages, but the most important is its simplicity.…”

“…In fact, the flow solver is used as a black box, and the designer can use an in-house or commercial flow solver. 26 Furthermore, this method is applicable to both 3D and 2D applications and requires only the wall's pressure distribution as the input parameter.…”

Aerodynamic Inverse Design of Transonic Compressor Cascades with Stabilizing Elastic Surface Algorithm

“…Madadi et al [56] utilized the BSA for the quasi-3D inverse design of an S-shaped duct. In addition, they employed the BSA for the design of 2D cascade blades with sharp [57,58] and blunt [59] leading edges, and for the quasi-3D inverse design of the axialflow compressor rotor and stator blades [60]. They redesigned the rotor blade of an axial compressor with this method, so that the rotor loading coefficient was increased, which led to an increase of the compressor outlet pressure by 10%.…”

Use of computational fluid dynamics to implement an aerodynamic inverse design method based on exact Riemann solution and moving wall boundary

“…Inspired by the work of Thompkins and Tong (1982), Ghaly and co-workers proposed a novel inverse design method based on the virtual velocity or induced velocity (Roidl & Ghaly, 2010) and implemented the inverse design method using ANSYS CFX (Arbabi & Ghaly, 2013;Arbabi, Ghaly, & Medd, 2017). Madadi, Kermani, and Nili (2015) presented an inverse design method based on the ball-spine algorithm, and used it to improve the performance of an axial compressor. These inverse design methods are able to take the viscous effect into account.…”