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Flow control structures for turbomachines and methods of designing the same

  • US 9,970,456 B2
  • Filed: 09/29/2016
  • Issued: 05/15/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A radial turbomachine, comprising:

  • an impeller including a hub and a plurality of blades and having an exit, each of the plurality of blades having a trailing edge proximate the exit and extending in a spanwise direction between the hub and a shroud side of the blade;

    a shroud adjacent said shroud sides of said blades, said shroud and said hub defining an impeller passageway having a width extending from the hub to the shroud; and

    a diffuser having an inlet, a shroud side aligned with the shroud side of the blades, and a hub side aligned with the hub, the shroud side and the hub side of the diffuser defining a diffuser passageway having a width extending from the hub side to the shroud side;

    wherein the diffuser includes at least one pinch region, wherein the diffuser passageway width in the at least one pinch region is less than the impeller passageway width at the impeller exit, the pinch region including a convex surface on the hub side of the diffuser passageway, the convex surface providing a reduction in the diffuser passageway width that is greater than any diffuser passageway width reduction on the shroud side of the diffuser in the pinch region.

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