3D optimization of the hollow fan blade internal structure

Abstract

Design optimization to reduce fan impeller mass is an important and urgent task. One way to solve the problem is to design a hollow blade. In addition to lightening the blade this also reduces the fan disk load, that in turn makes it possible to minimize the weight of the disk and the weight of the impeller as a whole. The hollow blade has a complex shape, and this significantly increases development time because modification of the structure in order to define its optimal shape is a very time-consuming and costly task. Therefore, automating this process and transforming it into an optimization task is very important and relevant. In this paper, an approach to optimal hollow fan blade design in the form of an optimization problem in 3D formulation is developed. To do this, a parameterized 3D model of the hollow blade was created in the ANSYS APDL environment. Using the developed model, a comparative optimization of a typical hollow blade was carried out.