Case study: simulation and optimisation help eliminate compressor blade failure

07.11.2016

Power Systems Manufacturing (PSM) is a provider of aftermarket gas turbine components in the industrial power generation industry

Power Systems Manufacturing (PSM) is a provider of aftermarket gas turbine components in the industrial power generation industry.



In one specific redesign case, an OEM first-stage compressor blade design for a large gas turbine used for generating electricity was not reaching its expected life. PSM designers and engineers worked together to model and simulate the original blade design, taking into account the aerodynamic and centrifugal loads. Using ANSYS simulation software supplied by IDAC, PSM located the highest static stresses in the blade. Using the ANSYS DesignXplorer tool to study a range of design variations, Page Strohl, former lead structures engineer for PSM, defined the blade parameters he wanted to vary, assigned acceptable parameter ranges and identified the variables he wanted to optimise.