Interdisciplinary design of components with complex functional surfaces under consideration of manufacturing boundary conditions

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Bergs; Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Jeschke
• Subject Area: Metal-Cutting and Abrasive Manufacturing Engineering ; Hydraulic and Turbo Engines and Piston Engines
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461918430

The conventional development of components with complex functional surfaces offers only few pos-sibilities of altering or adapting the design after a fixed geometry has been defined in a highly itera-tive design process. Potentially, there is a considerably larger solution space for the final geometry if the production and thus the knowledge of the machine behavior are already integrated in the early phases of the design-development. The presented proposal deals with the question to what extent the integration of manufacturing constraints in the early phases of the design of components with complex functional surfaces can create added value for component and process efficiency. For this purpose, the edges of the blade airfoils are iteratively optimized using the example of a compressor rotor in the integral "blisk" (blade-integrated disk) design. As a manufacturing technology, the focus is on 5-axis milling machining, as this has established itself as an industry-specific technology for blisk production and the dynamic limits of the machine (jerk and acceleration maxima of the axes) can be easily compared and analyzed with the design specifications of the engineering disciplines of aero- and structural-mechanics, which are involved in the design process. This is done primarily on the basis of aerodynamic CFD calculations by the Institute for Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery (IST) of the RWTH on the one hand and the manufacturing analysis of the 5-axis milling process of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Engineering (WZL) on the other hand. The aim is to develop blade designs with a higher process performance compared to a reference model (e.g. higher metal removal rate and/or higher accuracy) and at least the same overall component efficiency.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants