Inverse geometric design for a class of rotary positive displacement machines

Abstract

Inverse design techniques in the area of fluid mechanics are normally conducted for continuous flow turbomachines rather than positive displacement devices. However, the work in this article is concerned with a class of rotary positive displacement device referred to as the limaçon-to-limaçon machine. The rotors and housings of these machines are manufactured of limaçon profiles, and are likely to suffer from interference if the rotors are not carefully profiled. Published literature indicates that solutions proposed to tackle the interference problem in these machines will adversely affect their efficiency figures. This notion motivated the work presented in this article, which first introduces the relevant mathematical models of the limaçon-to-limaçon machine and then uses these models to construct an inverse geometric design problem formulation. The proposed model has been coded in a computer program that utilises a Marquardt–Levenberg technique to converge to the required geometric parameters. Case studies are presented at the end of the article to verify the validity of the proposed inverse design model.