Concepts NREC SpinOffs | Turbomachinery Blog

Designing Ruled Surfaces for Flank Milling

by Peter Klein on Mar 15, 2019 10:21:00 AM

As discussed in my previous blog post, Flank Milling, How Hard Can it Be?, turbomachinery blades are commonly designed as ruled surfaces, with the goal of making manufacturing easier and faster with flank-milling. While some non-ruled surfaces can be acceptably flank-milled, the programming and machining process for flank-milling is generally more dependable with ruled data. However, the ruled data should be well conditioned, and several pitfalls should be avoided during the design and construction process.

Multisection definition of trimmed ruled surface- MAX-PAC

Topics: CAM Software MAX-PAC 5-Axis Machining 3+2 Roughing Manufacturing Considerations Turbomachinery Design 3D Design CAD Impeller

How the Design of a Wind Turbine Differs from Other Types

by Kerry Oliphant on Mar 1, 2019 10:22:00 AM

Wind power generation is rapidly growing worldwide, and with that growth, demand for wind turbine design engineers is also growing. However, an engineer who has experience designing turbines in most applications, will often have trouble translating their hard-won skills for general turbine design, into the wind turbine design. Why?

Topics: Axial Turbines Diffusers Engineering Optimization 1D Design 3D Design

7 Turbomachinery Themed Valentine’s Day Cards – Which is Your Favorite?

by Barbara Shea on Feb 8, 2019 10:54:50 AM

Valentine’s Day is February 14, and while some cynics refer to it as a “Hallmark holiday”, most people commemorate the day in some way. One of the biggest challenges is finding a card that perfectly captures the way you feel about someone, while also reflecting who you are. Well, Concepts NREC has created some turbomachinery-themed Valentine’s Day cards for engineers. These fall into the Art end of our Art-to-Part Solution.

Topics: CAE Software Axial Turbines Compressors Agile Engineering Design System Software CAM Software MAX-PAC Gas Turbines Turbochargers Engineering Manufacturing AxCent Turbomachinery Design Radial Compressor Design Turboshaft Engines 3D Design Refrigeration Aviation Volutes Centrifugal Compressors Radial Turbines

Reverse Engineering - Going from Part to Art

by Sharon Wight on Dec 7, 2018 9:12:37 AM

Have you ever needed to know the exact geometry of a compressor that has been running for years in your process plant? Perhaps you need to analyze how it would perform if the process fluid had to be changed to meet new government regulations. Or maybe there has been damage to the impeller and a complete mechanical analysis is required before a new one can be put into service. Eventually, everything, even well-designed turbomachinery, needs to be replaced or upgraded.

Topics: CAE Software Turbines Compressors Agile Engineering Design System Software Concepts NREC MAX-PAC Engineering Manufacturing FINE/Agile COMPAL Turbomachinery Design Radial Compressor Design 1D Design 3D Design Refrigeration Aerodynamics CAD Centrifugal Compressors

Material Properties - What Really Matters?

by Kevin Fairman on Nov 9, 2018 10:36:00 AM

As an engineer in the rotating machinery world, it is my job to design things that work for a very long time. To help ensure this, we have evolved the best analytical tools to calculate the stresses and deflection of the parts we have so carefully designed. But sometimes, we lose track of what matters. We know that material strength, weight, stiffness, toughness, thermal conductivity and thermal growth all matter. They are in a material database, so they must.

Topics: Engineering Manufacturing Considerations Turbomachinery Design 1D Design 3D Design Aerodynamics Centrifugal Compressors Impeller Radial Turbines

There is No Such Thing as a Design Point

by Dr. Peter Weitzman on Oct 26, 2018 10:00:00 AM

Most turbomachines need to operate across a range of fluid flow rates and speeds. This is obvious in transportation applications where gas turbine engines and turbochargers need to operate at all of the speeds, altitudes and temperatures that the vehicles they power will encounter. In industrial and refrigeration applications, turbomachines need to have a wide operating range to make them appealing to end users who want efficiency under many operating conditions.

Radial COmpressor Optimization Base Case

Topics: Agile Engineering Design System Turbochargers FINE/Agile Optimization AxCent COMPAL Turbomachinery Design Radial Compressor Design 1D Design 3D Design Refrigeration Range Extension Casing Treatments Impeller

Why are Turbine Blades Twisted?

by Dan Hinch on Oct 12, 2018 10:09:00 AM

It’s a straightforward question, but many turbomachinery engineers can’t easily explain the physics behind blade twist. Some shorter high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades appear nearly 2D in shape (little or no twist). Blade twist is more commonly seen in taller turbine blades, which should give an immediate clue as to origin of blade twist.

Topics: Turbines Engineering Turbomachinery Design 1D Design 3D Design Aerodynamics

Designing Turbomachinery is like Solving a Rubik's Cube

by Barbara Shea on Sep 21, 2018 10:01:00 AM

I think we can all agree that designing turbomachinery is hard. There are just so many moving parts (pun intended) in the design process, and they are all interconnected. When you change the blade shape, it changes the aerodynamics, and could impact manufacturability. Everything you change has a cascading effect across many different areas, because all of the areas are linked; just like a Rubik's® cube! Only, in turbomachinery design, you are not always trying to get all of the sides to be one color. Heck, even a 3-year old can do that.

Topics: CAE Software Pumps Agile Engineering Design System Software CAM Software Engineering Manufacturing Considerations Optimization Turbomachinery Design Radial Compressor Design Compressor Design 1D Design 3D Design Refrigeration Aviation Aerodynamics Impeller

Investing in Designing Gas Turbines for Power Generation

by David Teal on Sep 14, 2018 11:46:08 AM

Gas turbines (or GTs) are important in the power generation sector due to their high efficiency, cleaner emissions and faster startup than old coal-powered plants. These power generators can range from small, local power supplies to huge units, large enough to power a city. Even with the surge in renewable energy sources, there will always be a need for power when the sun goes down, on a windless day or when power peaks are expected. GTs fill this power gap. GTs are very power dense, meaning they can produce a lot of power in a relatively small footprint. This is very useful in a city, offshore, or where vast landmasses are unavailable.

Topics: CAE Software Turbines Agile Engineering Design System Concepts NREC Gas Turbines Engineering 1D Design 3D Design Aerodynamics

Using Curvature Smoothing for Quality Reconstruction of Blade Sections Using Surface Data Tables

by Oleg Dubitsky on Aug 31, 2018 10:17:46 AM

Frequently, there is a need to reconstruct 2D and 3D geometry from reported or measured surface data points. In most cases, the provided surface data include significant amounts of noise for various reasons, including quality of the scanned blade, deviations produced by the measurement system, curve digitization errors, data digital rounding and truncation, and errors in reporting the data. This noise hampers quality surface reconstruction and masks the understanding of the design intent of the profiles. It also affects the accurate representation of the geometry, manufacturing complexity, and aero performance which forms the basis on which a design engineer can execute any design improvements.

Figure 4 Smoothed Curvatures with Bounded Corrections in Surface Data (overlays vs uncorrected curvatures)

Topics: Axial Blade Cooling Engineering Optimization AxCent Turbomachinery Design 1D Design 3D Design Aerodynamics

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Designing Ruled Surfaces for Flank Milling

How the Design of a Wind Turbine Differs from Other Types

7 Turbomachinery Themed Valentine’s Day Cards – Which is Your Favorite?

Reverse Engineering - Going from Part to Art

Material Properties - What Really Matters?

There is No Such Thing as a Design Point

Why are Turbine Blades Twisted?

Designing Turbomachinery is like Solving a Rubik's Cube

Investing in Designing Gas Turbines for Power Generation

Using Curvature Smoothing for Quality Reconstruction of Blade Sections Using Surface Data Tables

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