Thermal Load Sensitivity Analysis and Mass Reduction Design of Heat Pipe Turbine Disk

Turbine disk is an important life-limited component of aero-engine and bears the high centrifugal load and extreme thermal load, which brings huge challenges to thermal protection. The heat pipe turbine disk (HPD) is a conceptual design with the potential to meet the strength and structural requirements. In this study, the effective thermal conductivity is firstly calculated by the heat pipe CFD simulation and then obtain the precise temperature and stress distribution of the HPD. To verify the performance of HPD, selecting the Chebyshev number to measure the thermal load sensitivity and comprehensively analyzing the maximum temperature at the disk rim, the maximum stress at the disk hub, and the notch stress at the heat pipe groove. The results indicate that the HPD could reduce the maximum temperature, temperature gradient, and maximum equivalent stress compared to the traditional turbine disk. At the heat flux of 450 kW/m², embedding heat pipes reduces the maximum equivalent stress at the disk hub for 77.2 MPa, the rim equivalent stress for 422.95 MPa, and the maximum temperature is decreased for 163 K. Furthermore, the HPD could achieve structural lightweight by internal slotting and reducing the thickness of the disk hub. Within the safe usage limit of the material, the mass reduction of the turbine disk can reach 6.46%. The HPD effectively improves the performance of the turbine disk without using new materials or modifying the disk cavity configuration. It is beneficial for achieving the equal strength design of the turbine disk, improving the safety of the future aero-engine.