Automatic axial thrust analysis of turbomachinery designs

1. A method, executed by at least one processor of a computer, comprising:

dividing a cavity of a turbomachinery design into sub-cavities, the cavity describing geometry of a cross-sectional area between rotational and stationary components of the turbomachinery design or between the rotational components of the turbomachinery design;

computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces exerted on rotational faces in each of the sub-cavities, the horizontal components being components along a rotational axis of the turbomachinery design;

determining directions of the horizontal components of the forces based on how many faces a line parallel to the rotational axis intersects between a rotational face of interest and a side of the cavity, the rotational face of interest being one of the rotational faces; and

computing a thrust force on a turbine of the turbomachinery design based on the magnitudes and the directions of the horizontal components of the forces.

2. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein the line parallel to the rotational axis intersects the rotational face of interest at a mid-point of the rotational face of interest and extends through the side of the cavity following a flow direction of the turbomachinery design, and the direction of the horizontal component of the force on the rotational face of interest is positive if the number of the faces intersected is odd and negative if the number of the faces intersected is even.

3. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein the computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces comprises determining static pressure based on computational fluid dynamics, areas of the rotational faces and angles of the rotational faces.

4. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein the turbomachinery design is a gas turbine design.

5. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media storing processor-executable instructions for causing one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:

dividing a cavity of a turbomachinery design into sub-cavities, the cavity describing geometry of a cross-sectional area between rotational and stationary components of the turbomachinery design or between the rotational components of the turbomachinery design;

computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces exerted on rotational faces in each of the sub-cavities, the horizontal components being components along a rotational axis of the turbomachinery design;

determining directions of the horizontal components of the forces based on how many faces a line parallel to the rotational axis intersects between a rotational face of interest and a side of the cavity, the rotational face of interest being one of the rotational faces; and

computing a thrust force on a turbine of the turbomachinery design based on the magnitudes and the directions of the horizontal components of the forces.

6. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media recited in claim 5 , wherein the line parallel to the rotational axis intersects the rotational face of interest at a mid-point of the rotational face of interest and extends through the side of the cavity following a flow direction of the turbomachinery design, and the direction of the horizontal component of the force on the rotational face of interest is positive if the number of the faces intersected is odd and negative if the number of the faces intersected is even.

7. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media recited in claim 5 , wherein the computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces comprises determining static pressure based on computational fluid dynamics, areas of the rotational faces and angles of the rotational faces.

8. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media recited in claim 5 , wherein the turbomachinery design is a gas turbine design.

9. A system, comprising:

one or more processors, the one or more processors programmed to perform a method, the method comprising:

dividing a cavity of a turbomachinery design into sub-cavities, the cavity describing geometry of a cross-sectional area between rotational and stationary components of the turbomachinery design or between the rotational components of the turbomachinery design;

computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces exerted on rotational faces in each of the sub-cavities, the horizontal components being components along a rotational axis of the turbomachinery design;

determining directions of the horizontal components of the forces based on how many faces a line parallel to the rotational axis intersects between a rotational face of interest and a side of the cavity, the rotational face of interest being one of the rotational faces; and

computing a thrust force on a turbine of the turbomachinery design based on the magnitudes and the directions of the horizontal components of the forces.

10. The system recited in claim 9 , wherein the line parallel to the rotational axis intersects the rotational face of interest at a mid-point of the rotational face of interest and extends through the side of the cavity following a flow direction of the turbomachinery design, and the direction of the horizontal component of the force on the rotational face of interest is positive if the number of the faces intersected is odd and negative if the number of the faces intersected is even.

11. The system recited in claim 9 , wherein the computing magnitudes of horizontal components of forces comprises determining static pressure based on computational fluid dynamics, areas of the rotational faces and angles of the rotational faces.

12. The system recited in claim 9 , wherein the turbomachinery design is a gas turbine design.