Elastoplastic Frictional Contact Study on Interference Fits of Compressor

The impeller mounted onto the compressor shaft assembly via interference fit is one of the key components of a centrifugal compressor stage. A suitable fit tolerance needs to be considered in the structural design. A locomotive-type turbocharger compressor with 24 blades under combined centrifugal and interference-fit loading was considered in the numerical analysis. The FE parametric quadratic programming (PQP) method which was developed based on the parametric variational principle (PVP) was used for the analysis of stress distribution of 3D elastoplastic frictional contact of impeller-shaft sleeve-shaft. The solution of elastoplastic frictional contact problems belongs to the unspecified boundary problems where the interaction between two kinds of nonlinearities should occur. The effect of fit tolerance, rotational speed and the contact stress distribution on the contact stress was discussed in detail in the numerical computation. The study play a referenced role in deciding the proper fit tolerance and improving design and manufacturing technology of compressor impellers.