Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bladegen Toturials
Bladegen Toturials
Part One
November 2010
ANSYS BladeGen User's Guide Contents ..................................... 3 Introduction ....................................................................................... 4 What is BladeGen? .................................................................... 4 What's New? .............................................................................. 5 System Requirements ................................................................ 5 Special Typefaces Used in This Guide ....................................... 5 Using On-Line Help .................................................................... 6 Hover Help ................................................................................. 6 Getting Technical Help ............................................................... 7 Program Overview............................................................................. 8 User Interface Description .......................................................... 9 Operating Modes and Associated Views .................................. 10 Blade Overview ........................................................................ 12 Layer Overview ........................................................................ 13 Curve Overview........................................................................ 14 User/Data Interaction Summary ............................................... 15 General Usage Guidelines ....................................................... 17 Getting Started ................................................................................ 18 Installing the Software .............................................................. 19 Executing BladeGen ................................................................ 20 Creating a New Blade Model .................................................... 22 Opening a BladeGen File ......................................................... 27 Saving a Blade Model .............................................................. 29 Tutorials .......................................................................................... 30 Creating a Low Pressure Ratio Compressor Impeller ............... 31 Creating an Axial Fan Blade ..................................................... 42 Creating a Radial Pump Impeller .............................................. 52 Creating an Axial Turbine Blade ............................................... 58 Creating a Compressor Impeller with a Splitter Vane ............... 67 View Descriptions ............................................................................ 75 Common Mouse Functions ...................................................... 76 View Layout Control ................................................................. 77 Common Views ........................................................................ 78 Angle/Thickness Mode Specific Views ..................................... 80 Pressure/Suction Mode Specific View ...................................... 83
Introduction Program Overview Getting Started Tutorials View Descriptions Program Details Evaluating the Design Data Import/Export Batch Processing Vista CCD Vista CPD Vista RTD Vista AFD Glossary Definitions
Additional help topics include:
Introduction
This section provides an overview of the BladeGen software and User's Guide. The following topics are covered:
What is BladeGen? What's New? System Requirements Special Typefaces Used in This Guide Using On-Line Help Getting Help
What is BladeGen?
BladeGen is a component of ANSYS BladeModeler. The BladeModeler software is a specialized, easy-to-use tool for the rapid 3-D design of rotating machinery components. Incorporating ANSYS, Incs extensive turbomachinery expertise into a user-friendly graphical environment, the software can be used to design axial, mixed-flow and radial blade components in applications such as pumps, compressors, fans, blowers, turbines, expanders, turbochargers, inducers and others. BladeModeler provides the essential link between blade design and advanced simulation including computational fluid dynamics and stress analyses. BladeModeler contains a rich set of tools and functions for designing a turbomachinery blade from scratch, using industry-specific tools, workflow, and language that the blade designer expects. With BladeGen, the user can re-design existing blades to achieve new design goals or create completely new blade designs from scratch. When either re-designing or evaluating an existing blade design, BladeGen facilitates the import of blade geometry interactively or through user supplied files. BladeGen allows sculpted or ruled element blades with linear or compound lean leading or trailing edges. Over/Under-Filing can be applied and leading and trailing edge shapes are easily specified as a full radius, an ellipse ratio, or a simple cutoff. BladeModeler represents a pivotal link between blade design, advanced analysis and manufacturing. Used in combination with ANSYS analysis software, users can rapidly evaluate the performance of a component. BladeGen model files can be imported into DesignModeler using the BladeEditor feature. BladeEditor provides a seamless path to both structural and fluid analysis, which enables the user to efficiently transition from preliminary blade design, to full 3-D viscous flow analysis, and finally to the users native CAD system.
What's New?
BladeGen 12.0 incorporates the following new features: Vista RTD - a program for radial inflow turbine design. For details, see Vista RTD. Vista AFD - a program for axial fan design. For details, see Vista AFD.
System Requirements
BladeGen is a component of ANSYS Workbench. system requirements for more details. Please check the ANSYS Workbench help on
Hover Help
Hover help is provided in most views for additional information on the data being displayed. The bubble is displayed when the user holds the mouse cursor stationary (hovers) over a data point. The bubble is removed when the user clicks a mouse button or moves the mouse over the bubble. The bubble displays various data depending on the view and data. As a minimum, the bubble displays the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the point. Additional information is available in the Graph Views. The table below describes the information which can be displayed. Symbol X Y Z R T Thk B S M M' C T' L V Description Horizontal Position Vertical Position Axial Position Radial Position Angular Position (Theta) Thickness Blade Angle, Axial (Beta) Meridional Length Fraction Meridional Location M-Prime Location Camber Location Theta-Prime Location Blade Lean Angle Value Views All but Contour All but Contour Graph, Contour Graph, Contour Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Contour
Program Overview
BladeGen breaks the complex, 3-dimensional (3D) geometry of a blade into two or three 2-dimensional (2D) views. The data from these views is used to create the model, one blade's layer at a time. These views, plus an auxiliary view, are simultaneously displayed in the BladeGen window and all views use the same set of zoom and pan keyboard shortcuts and mouse actions.
User Interface Description Operating Modes and Associated Views Blade Overview Layer Overview Curve Overview User/Data Interaction Summary General Usage Guidelines
10
11
Blade Overview
BladeGen allows one or more blades to be defined, where the first blade is the "Main Blade" and subsequent blades are called splitters. Only one blade is active at any one time, but the output always includes all blades. The blades can be defined independently or the splitters can rely on the angle and/or thickness definition of the Main Blade. Related Topics:
Blade Settings
12
Layer Overview
A layer (or streamline) is defined as a meridional curve visible in the Meridional View that represents surface of revolution. Most layer types, shown below, represent curves that are automatically created and updated as the Meridional Envelope (hub and shroud curves, leading and trailing edge curves) are modified. Layers serve two key purposes: 1) Layers are referenced by the working views (Angle, Thickness, and Prs/Sct Views) to provide the meridional location of the view's data sets. 2) Layers specify where streamline data sets are to be constructed for export. Layer Types Description Curve is defined by a constant spanwise position, as specified by a single span fraction. Curve is defined by a normal offset from the hub at a distance specified by a linear interpolation between a leading edge and a trailing edge value. Curve is defined by a normal offset from the shroud at a distance specified by a linear interpolation between a leading edge and a trailing edge value. Curve is initially positioned by a span fraction value, but the user can interactively modify the curve in the Meridional View. This layer type is also used when importing meanline data, as the data may not lie exactly on a streamline. Curve is defined by a Meridional offset (z, r) of the hub curve. Curve is defined by a Meridional offset (z, r) of the shroud curve.
Data Layer
Related Topics:
Layer Details
13
Curve Overview
The curves used in BladeGen are made up of one or more segments (sub-curves). Each segment can consist of a different curve type. By allowing different segment types to be combined into a single curve, BladeGen provides the user with more control over the overall curve shape than would be provided with a single-curve-type restriction. Related Topics:
Curve Details
14
15
Output is created one Layer at a time. A streamline contains Z, R, M, & M' a meanline adds q, Tn, & b. a) The Design Meridional Profile is used to generate the streamline data for the requested Layer (which may come from either the Design or Trim Meridional Profile). b) The Blade's cut-off (or extension) curves are used to trim the streamline curve. c) The angle and thickness data is added to the streamline to create a meanline curve. d) Over/Under-Filing is applied to the meanline in the Z vs. R*q coordinate system. e) Leading/Trailing edges are applied to the meanline in the Z vs. R*q coordinate system.
16
17
Getting Started
This section provides basic information on how to get BladeGen running on a computer. Installing BladeGen Executing BladeGen Creating a New Blade Model Opening a BladeGen File Saving a Blade Model
18
License Manager
BladeGen now uses the ANSYS License Manager to configure and maintain the software license. If you have not installed this software before, or are using an older version, it can be installed by pressing the Install Licensing button on the AutoRun menu and follow the instructions to complete the installation process. Please see the on-line documentation for the License Manager for further information on the operation of the License Manager.
BladeModeler/BladeGen
To install or upgrade BladeGen, press the Install BladeModeler button on the AutoRun menu and follow the instructions to complete the installation process.
19
Executing BladeGen
To execute BladeGen, perform one of the following. available until a license key is obtained. However, certain options will not be
From the Start Menu, start ANSYS Workbench, then choose the Blade Geometry icon from the Workbench Start Page.
20
User Preferences
BladeGen allows the user to customize the modeling environment by setting up default preferences. This is done with the User Preferences Dialog shown below. This dialog can be displayed using the File | Preferences... menu command. It allows the user to set up parameters such as window size, data definitions, viewing options, initial layer definitions and default data directories. These settings are saved between sessions, allowing users to initiate BladeGen with their preferred environment and create new models using the specified settings. Existing models store the settings internally, and will be unaffected by changes to the user preferences.
21
Creating a Blade from Scratch Importing a Blade Model Opening a BladeGen File Saving a Blade Model
22
23
24
25
26
27
The examples that are available may differ from those shown below.
Axial Fan
Axial Inducer
Axial Stator
De-Swirl Vane
Radial Turbine
Centrifugal Blower
Wicket Gate
28
When the active window in BladeGen is not the one containing the model associated with the Blade Design cell: The File | Save menu command (Save model in the active window. toolbar button) acts to save only the .bgd file for the
The File | Save As menu command (Save As toolbar button) acts to save only the .bgd file for the model in the active window, and prompts you for the new file name and location. When operating in Demo Mode (without a license), you are prevented from either saving or exporting data. If the software had a valid floating license and lost it because of a network or other failure, BladeGen notifies you that the license has been lost. In this condition, BladeGen allows you to save your data only once.
29
Tutorials
Welcome to the BladeGen Tutorial Guide. The purpose of this guide is to introduce the new user to the main features of BladeGen in a practical, hands-on manner. This manual includes 5 different tutorials, each highlighting a different approach to blade design in BladeGen. Creating a Low Pressure Ratio Compressor Impeller Creating an Axial Fan Blade Creating a Radial Pump Impeller Creating an Axial Turbine Blade Creating a Compressor Impeller with a Splitter Vane
Further Reading
The rest of the ANSYS BladeGen User's Guide has more detailed information on the commands used in this manual.
30
31
32
33
BladeGen Layout
34
Scroll wheel or Drag with Both Click with Right Drag with Right
35
36
3. In the Trailing Edge tab, enter a Theta angle of 28.9and 60for the Tangential Beta. Beta value will be automatically updated as 30 . All other values can remain as zero. 4. Close the Blade Angle Dialog by selecting OK
37
38
39
Shaded
The toolbar at the bottom-left of the BladeGen window has various display and replication options as described in Table 2 and Table 3. Other data sets describing the model can be displayed in the Auxiliary view. fully documented in Auxiliary View Details. These features are
40
41
42
43
44
4. Double click the hub inlet point (bottom left corner) and enter -47.5 and 30 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 5. Double click the hub outlet point (bottom right corner) and enter 70 and 52.8 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 6. Double click the shroud outlet point (top right corner) and enter 70 and 132 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK.
45
5. If you would like more practice, repeat this procedure on the Hub curve at the base of the blade.
46
47
48
49
Figure 14 Span 0.6 Thickness Profile Define the Blade Thickness at the Hub
1. Repeat the procedure outlined previously. 2. Set the Leading edge thickness to 4mm and the trailing edge thickness to 1.25mm.
50
51
52
Define the Blade Shape at the Hub and Shroud in the Meridional View
The hub and shroud profile for this case are well defined automatically. need for any additional modifications. In this case, there is no
53
4. Double click the hub inlet point (bottom left corner) and enter -10 and 25 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 5. Double click the hub outlet point (top right corner) and enter 91 and 250 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 6. Double click the shroud outlet point (top left corner) and enter 63 and 250 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK.
54
55
2. In the Point Count Dialog, enter 5 points and select OK. 3. Adjust the curve point locations more closely resemble the image in Figure 18, dont worry about getting it exact at this point, more control points will still be added. 4. Right-click the mouse and select Convert Points to.. Spline Curve Points 5. In the Point Count Dialog, enter 8 points and select OK. 6.Adjust the curve point locations more closely resemble the image in Figure 18, at this point, you should be able to achieve the desire profile. Starting at 3 control points, setting the profile and gradually increasing the number of control points makes creating the desired profile easier to achieve than simply adding 8 points from the very beginning.
56
57
58
Figure 21 - Initial Angle/Thickness Dialog Using Figure 21, the initial blade parameters are completed: 1. Enter the nominal wrap angle of 5 degrees, thickness of 5 and 83 blades. 2. Press Enter or select the OK button to display the BladeGen Window.
59
4. Double click the hub inlet point (bottom left corner) and enter 40 and 254 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 5. Double click the hub outlet point (bottom right corner) and enter 110 and 254 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK. 6. Double click the shroud outlet point (top right corner) and enter 110 and 360 for the horizontal and vertical values. Click OK.
60
Figure 22 Shroud Beta Profile 1. Right-click in the Angle view and select Beta Definition 2. Right-click the mouse a second time in the Angle view and select Convert Points to.. Spline Curve Points 3. In the Point Count Dialog, enter 5 points and select OK. 4. Modify the control points by dragging them with the left mouse button so that the beta curve looks similar to Figure 22.
61
Figure 23 Span=0.5 Beta Profile Make the new layer active by select the new black dot at the mid-span location of the layer column. After you have selected it, the dot will turn red. Repeat the procedure defined earlier using Figure 23 as a guide. For the Blade Angles: 1. In the Leading Edge tab, enter a Beta value of -40.7and a Theta value of -1.5 . 2. In the Trailing edge tab, enter a Beta value of 66.88and a Theta value of 2.74 .
62
Figure 24 Inactive Layer Warning By default, BladeGen assumes that the blade thickness profile is uniform from hub to shroud. If you try to make some thickness modifications at any layer other than the hub a warning message as shown in Figure 24 appears. If the blade thickness is to be non-uniform from hub to shroud, additional layers must be activated as follows: 1. Right-click in the Thickness view and select Layer Control 2. In the Layer Control Dialog, check the box beside the layer at Span: 1.000 and Span: 0.500. 3. Select OK.
63
Now, extra control points can be added to create the profile as shown in Figure 25:
Figure 25 Shroud Thickness Profile 1. Right-click the mouse in the Thickness view and select Segment Operations.. Insert Many Points 2. Click the left mouse button near each of the locations indicated by the black arrows in Figure 25. 3. After you have added all 4 points, Right-click the mouse and select Segment Operations.. Insert Many Points again to finish adding points. 4. Click and drag the newly-added points to the locations indicated by the arrows in Figure 25.
64
Figure 26 - LE/TE Ellipse Settings Select Blade | Properties menu commands or the toolbar button located on the left hand side of the BladeGen window to set the blade properties. Set the Leading Edge/Trailing Edge Ellipse tab; adjust the values as shown in Figure 26. All other values can remain unchanged.
65
Figure 27 - Layers at Non-Uniform Span Locations 1. Right-click the mouse in the Angle View and select Layer Control from the pop-up menu. 2. Select the Output tab and click the Create button. 3. In the Layer Dialog, click the Shr Gap tab and enter LE gap of 90.125 and a TE gap of 86.95 as shown in Figure 27. Click OK. 4. Click OK to close the Layer Control Dialog.
66
Figure 28 - Initial Meridional Configuration Dialog BladeGen allows the user to create a blade system from scratch, using one of six standard initial configuration types. For this example, a Radial Impeller is used. 1. Select the File | New | BladeGen Model menu command or toolbar button which will display the Initial Meridional Configuration Dialog (shown in Figure 28) 2. Select the Radial Impeller tab 3. Enter the parameters for the initial blade layout as shown in Figure 28. 4. Be sure to select Ang/Thk mode in the bottom right corner 5. Press Enter or select the OK button to continue
67
Figure 29 - Initial Angle/Thickness Dialog Using Figure 29 the initial blade parameters are completed: 1. Enter the nominal wrap angle of 85 degrees, thickness of 3 and 6 blades. 2. Press Enter or select the OK button to display the BladeGen Window.
68
Defining the Blade Shape at the Hub and Shroud in the Meridional View
Figure 30 Meridional Profile The hub and shroud profile for this case are reasonably well defined automatically, but some modifications are helpful to smooth out the corner radius. This is done most easily by converting the curves to Bezier Segments. 1. Left-click the Hub curve 2. Right-click the mouse and select Convert Points to.. Bezier Control Points from the pop-up menu. 3. In the Point Count Dialog, enter 4 points and select OK. 4. Align the new control points as in Figure 30. 5. Repeat this procedure for the Shroud curve.
69
70
Figure 31 - LE/TE Ellipse Settings Select Blade | Properties menu commands or the toolbar button located on the left hand side of the BladeGen window to set the blade properties. Set the Leading Edge/Trailing Edge Ellipse tab; adjust the values as shown in Figure 31. All other values can remain unchanged.
71
Splitter blades can be dependent on the main blade for their angular and thickness definitions or have their own, independent, definitions. For this example, the splitter blade will be made dependant on the main blade. Create the Splitter Blade as follows;
Figure 32 Splitter Blade Properties 1. Choose the Blade | Add Splitter menu command or the Property Dialog will open (Figure 32). toolbar button. The Blade
2. The default values in the Location/Definition tab will be used. This will place the splitter blade at main blades mid-pitch and set the angular and thickness definition as dependant upon the main blade. 3. Select the Leading Edge/Trailing Edge Ellipse tab, set the Leading Edge Elliptic ratio to 4.0 for both hub and shroud. 4. In the LE/TE Cut-Off, Enable the Leading edge option and enter 0.35 for the hub and 0.4 for the shroud. Click OK.
72
Figure 33 Graphical Layout after adding the Splitter Blade After the splitter has been added, there are some new features in the GUI to note, as annotated in Figure 33.
73
74
View Descriptions
A typical BladeGen Window contains a combination of Working Views and Auxiliary Views. The Working Views are views where all blade-modification tasks are performed. The Auxiliary Views are used for data display only and provide a variety of formats for reviewing the blade design. The operating mode determines which working views are active. The Annotated Window Layout, show below, describes the components of the window. Each view has a unique set of functions and operations that can be accessed using context-sensitive popup menus. These menus are displayed by positioning the cursor in the relevant view and depressing the right mouse button. Some of the functions in these popup menus are accessible from the main menu, but many are unique to the popup menus. See the Menu List in the context-sensitive help for a complete listing of menus. Related Topics: Common Mouse Functions View Layout Control Common Views Angle/Thickness Mode Specific Views Pressure/Suction Mode Specific View
75
Scroll wheel or Drag with Both Click with Right Drag with Right
Common Mouse Functions Applies To Description Working Views only If a point or segment is within selection distance, it is selected. Working Views only If a point is selected or within selection distance, the point is selected and dragged with the mouse pointer. Releasing the mouse button updates the view. All Views Zooms the view in and out. All Views All Views Displays the context-sensitive popup menu. Pans the view. The view moves with the mouse pointer.
76
77
Common Views
The Meridional and Auxiliary views are common to both the Angle/Thickness and Pressure/Suction Modes. These views appear on the top half of the BladeGen window, as shown below, and are described in more detail in the following sections: Meridional View Auxiliary View
Common Views
Meridional View
A typical Meridional View is shown below. The meridional view contains the description of the blade in an axial-radial coordinate system. BladeGen allows the user to define the blade and the inlet/outlet extensions required by CFD programs. See the Meridional View Popup Menu for details of the options and functions available in this view.
Meridional View
78
Auxiliary View
The Auxiliary View is located in the upper-right corner of the BladeGen window, as shown in the figure below. It is used to display various data sets describing the model. The Auxiliary View is automatically updated when modifications are performed in a Working View. The data set to be displayed is selected by the View | Auxiliary View Content menu commands and the Auxiliary Toolbars (displayed by default on the right edge of the window). The user may create additional auxiliary views by invoking the New Auxiliary View (B2B) menu command, either from the View menu or from the popup menu in an Auxiliary View. This will create a new Blade-to-Blade view which can then be changed to the desired type by using the Auxiliary View Content menu command. There are currently five Auxiliary View types. They are described in the Auxiliary View Details section. See the View Menu or the popup menu for the view type for details of the options and functions available in this view.
79
80
Angle View
The Angle View, shown below, describes the angular placement (Theta or ) and slope (Beta or ) of the blade on a layer. See the Angle View Popup Menu for details of the options and functions available in this view. The user can modify the data of the curve directly or use the Blade Angles Dialog to specify common values which will be used to create a curve that satisfies the parameters.
Angle View
81
Thickness View
The Thickness View, shown below, describes the total normal or tangential thickness of the blade along a streamline (called a layer). See the Thickness View Popup Menu for details of the options and functions available in this view. The user can modify the data of the curve directly or elect to specify a NACA Airfoil thickness distribution which will be used to create a curve that satisfies the NACA parameters. The data handled by this view has only a second order affect on the blade surfaces, making the view seem very stable. This is the only view where the piecewise linear segment type is recommended for use.
Thickness View
82
Pressure/Suction View
83