| The design of most volutes, for centrifugal compressors and radial turbines are based on a linear A/R (cross sectional area by centroid radius) distribution together with some empirical experience of the designer. Depending on the particular configuration, the losses in volutes especially at off-design points can be significantly high leading to poor stage efficiency. It is strongly believed that volute performance improvements are possible if an aerodynamic analysis aids the design process. The aerodynamic analysis could be one-dimensional, two-dimensional or three-dimensional in a form of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To analyze a volute aerodynamically, a geometric model of the volute is required. This geometric model should allow the various volute parameters to be systematically defined and to be easily varied.;This thesis has developed the necessary mathematical model to define the geometry of the volute. The model with its procedures has been programmed in Visual Basic with the objective of serving as an aid for volute design and performance analysis. |
