A Novel Aerodynamic Design Method for Centrifugal Compressor Impeller

This paper describes a new quasi-3D design method for centrifugal compressor impeller. The method links up a novel inverse design algorithm, called Ball-Spine Algorithm (BSA), and a quasi-3D analysis. Euler equation is solved on the impeller meridional plane. The unknown boundaries (hub and shroud) of numerical domain are iteratively modified by BSA until a target pressure distribution in flow passage is reached. To validate the quasi-3D analysis code, existing compressor impeller is investigated experimentally. Comparison between the quasi-3D analysis and the experimental results shows good agreement. Also, a full 3D Navier-Stokes code is used to analyze the existing and designed compressor numerically. The results show that the momentum decrease near the shroud wall in the existing compressor is removed by hub-shroud modifications resulting an improvement in performance by 0.6 percent.