Automated Design Optimization of Compressor Blades for Stationary, Large-scale Turbomachinery

An automated, multi-disciplinary optimization procedure for sub-sonic gas turbine compressor blades is presented. Evolutionary optimization algorithms are coupled with existing tools for geometry generation, mechanical integrity analysis and Q3D flow analysis for design and off-design conditions. Aerodynamic and mechanical objectives and constraints are formulated based on the standard design criteria. The feasibility of the approach is tested by automatically designing different rotor blades for the subsonic compressor region. First results are promising. All rotor blades show similar profile shapes, which underlines the robustness of the optimization procedure. The blades are characterized by a pronounced front loading which leads to a large (predicted) operating range. A special focus in this paper is on a 3D-blade parameterization, which by default leads to smooth blades, and on the assessment of the off-design behavior. The considered optimization algorithm shows a fast and robust convergence even from randomly initialized blades.