A Tool for the Design of Turbomachinery Disks for an Aero-Engine Preliminary Design Framework

Disks in gas turbines are optimized for minimum weight, while satisfying both geometry and stress constraints, in order to minimize the engine production, operation, and maintenance costs. In the present paper, a tool is described for the preliminary mechanical design of gas turbine disks. A novel formulation is presented, where the disk weight minimization is achieved by maximizing the stresses developed in the disk. The latter are expressed in the form of appropriately defined design and burst margins. The computational capabilities of the tool developed are demonstrated through comparisons to calculations with a higher fidelity tool. The importance of accurately calculating thermal stresses is demonstrated and the ability of the tool for such calculations is discussed. The potential and efficiency of the tool are illustrated through a proposed re-design of the disks of a well-documented ten-stage compressor. Finally, the integration of the tool into an overall engine design framework is discussed.