Abstract Radial turbines are widely employed in turbochargers, where they can be paired with compressors to improve energy efficiency in power generation and recovery applications. Optimizing turbine rotor design is critical for maximizing efficiency, yet conventional approaches often rely heavily on empirical methods with limited flexibility. This study develops an integrated design methodology that integrates simplified one-dimensional (1D) formulations with advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses to streamline the radial turbine rotor design process. The tool first applies 1D equations to identify feasible initial candidates for key rotor design parameters. It then constructs a design domain by specifying boundary values for every parameter. Within this space, multiple design scenarios are tested using CFD simulations, allowing for detailed performance evaluation and identification of optimal geometries. The tool was applied to the radial turbine in the Borg-Warner K03/05 turbocharger as a case study. Using the methodology, a CAD model of the turbine rotor was generated that met the specified design requirements. The optimized rotor demonstrated an increase in operational efficiency 2% compared to the initial design, the findings substantiate the effectiveness of the integrated framework. The proposed design tool successfully combines 1D modeling with CFD to provide a systematic and flexible framework for radial turbine rotor design. By efficiently exploring a wide design space, it enables the identification of high-performance rotor geometries that improve efficiency beyond conventional designs. This method can be extended to broader applications in energy recovery and turbocharging systems.
Fawaz et al. (Tue,) studied this question.