Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2014: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition

GT2014
June 16 – 20, 2014, Düsseldorf, Germany

GT2014-26683

HOT-TO-COLD CAD GEOMETRY TRANSFORMATION OF AERO ENGINE PARTS

BASED ON B-SPLINE MORPHING

Lilia Gaun, Dieter Bestle André Huppertz

Chair of Eng. Mech. and Vehicle Dynamics Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG
Brandenburg University of Technology D-15827 Blankenfelde-Mahlow,
D-03046 Cottbus, Germany Germany
Email: gaun@tu-cottbus.de

ABSTRACT NOMENCLATURE

Typically, complex components are designed with a CAD CAD Computer Aided Design
system, where free-form surfaces are usually described by B- FE Finite Element
Spline or NURBS surfaces. Especially in turbo machinery, de- k2 matrix condition based on Euclidean norm
sign is performed for hot working conditions. However, for man- N B-spline basis function
ufacturing a cold, unloaded CAD model is required. A deformed NURBS Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline
component with smooth surfaces may also be needed e.g. for flow k·k Euclidean norm
calculations at different operating points. Engine-part deforma- u, v B-spline curve and surface parameters
tions caused by loads and temperature changes are calculated x, y, z Cartesian coordinates
by a finite element program which produces a displacement field x 0 , y0 , z0 Cartesian coordinates in new basis
as output. In such cases the original B-Spline description may A coefficient matrix
be used and the shape of the relevant surfaces may be adjusted B right hand side matrix
via displacement of the B-Spline control-points. The procedure C, b C B-spline curve/morphed curve
is to decompose the solid into part-surfaces, identify correspond- Cu0 , Cu1 isoparametric curve for v = 0/v = 1
ing FE nodes, apply the FE displacement field to the projected C0v , C1v isoparametric curve for u = 0/u = 1
points of the FE nodes, and determine displacements of the con- d0k , ∆dkFE FE nodes and displacements
trol points by solving linear fitting problems. The required posi- e x , ey , ez basis vectors in R3
tion and tangential continuity can be achieved by special treat- e0x , e0y , e0z new basis vectors
ment of the edge curves and their neighboring control points. Ku0 , Ku1 number set of FE nodes for the curves Cu0 , Cu1
Treatment of singularities of the linear fitting problem at trimmed K0v , K1v number set of FE nodes for the curves C0v , C1v
surfaces and inadequate FE meshes requires special focus. The n, n∗ S/Sb∗
unit normal vector of surfaces b
presented generic morphing method was implemented as an ex- pi , ∆pi B-Spline control points/control point displacements
tension to the CAD system Unigraphics NX 7.5 and can now be S, b S, Sb∗ B-spline surface/morphed surface
used as the basis for automated hot-to-cold geometry transfor-
mations. Applications to a compressor aerofoil and an exhaust
mixer segment demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of the
method.

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 ST
b B-spline surface after continuity correction
tu, tv tangent vectors of surface S in u/v direction
t ∗u , t ∗v tangent vectors of surface Sb∗ in u∗ /v∗ direction
t T , nT , tangent/normal vector of surface b ST
U, V B-Spline knot vectors
X matrix of unknowns
1. INTRODUCTION
Usually aero-engine parts of the gaspath are designed under
hot running conditions. Compared to the unloaded state, these
geometries are already deformed by centrifugal loads, pressures
and thermal strains. For manufacturing unloaded (cold) geome-
tries are needed where these conversion is usually done by using
the finite element (FE) method producing a displacement field as
a result.
Typically, complex components such as exhaust mixer
(Fig. 1a) or turbine blades are described as free-form surfaces
and parametrized by NURBS or B-Splines. In this form they
are optimized in the hot state, and the control-point coordinates
are used as design variables, e.g. [1]. This parametric represen-
tation needs to be discretized for hot-to-cold FE transformation
where centrifugal loads are changed to zero and temperature is
set to environmental cold conditions. This results in displace-
ments ∆dkFE calculated for each FE node d0k . However, such a
mesh of displaced FE nodes is not sufficient for manufacturing
which requires a solid model. This is also not sufficient for aero-
dynamic calculations for loaded conditions different from design
conditions as required e.g. in acceptable compressor map com-
putation [2]. In both cases there is a need to impose a discrete
calculated deformation field to the hot parametric CAD geome-
try and adjust the B-Spline description to the displaced FE nodes.
From the perspective of computer-aided geometric design,
generic B-Spline morphing is a surface-reconstruction method.
From the literature, a large number of methods for reconstruct-
ing smooth B-Spline surfaces are known. The most common
methods are based on least square approximation (e.g. [3], [4]).
However, this requires a surface estimate to calculate the surface
parameters (u, v) at the individual points which is a non-linear
problem to be solved iteratively using a sequence of linear ap-
proximation steps followed by a parameter correction for u and
v [3]. The main problem of these methods is the initial guess of
the first surface estimate to obtain initial values for the surface
parameters (u, v).
In addition to these approaches, there are other iterative
methods (e.g. [5], [6], [7], [8]) not requiring a parametrization
of the points. However, these methods also need a good starting
surface or curve with a problem related control-point distribu-
tion. A major disadvantage of these methods is that the starting
solution can have great influence on the result [8].
Compared to the mentioned standard surface reconstruction
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FIGURE 1. DECOMPOSITION OF A SOLID MODEL (a) in B-
SPLINE SURFACES (b), AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE BOUND-
ARY (c) WITH A SINGLE B-SPLINE CURVE (d).
methods, the hot-to-cold transformation method in this paper
uses an existing CAD model with B-Spline descriptions of free-
form surfaces. This offers the great advantage that the parame-
ter values of the surface can be calculated exactly for each FE
node. Therefore, a surface approximation for the starting solu-
tion and the correction of parameters are not needed. In addition,
the number of control points and the knot vectors are already
known from the hot CAD model. A complex optimization of
the knot vectors and variation of the control point number to at-
tain small approximation errors is also not necessary due to the
assumption that only a small deformation of the hot CAD model
takes place. In contrast to the known methods from the literature,
the linear fitting problem of the B-Spline morphing approach is
solved for the small displacement field only.
At the beginning of this transformation, there are individ-
ual engine components which are described as solids in a CAD
system (Fig. 1a). These solids are firstly decomposed into partial
surfaces and parameterized as B-Spline surfaces S(u, v) (Fig. 1b).
To maintain positional and tangential (G0 and G1) continuity be-
tween the surfaces, the boundaries have to be extracted (Fig. 1c)
and decomposed into single B-Spline edge-curves (Fig. 1d).
The basis of the parametric component transformation is B-
Spline morphing. The original B-Spline description is adopted
where only the control points are moved. The new location of the
control points is determined by solving a linear fitting problem.
This is done firstly for the B-Spline boundary curves (see Section
2) and then for the inner region of the B-Spline surfaces, while
preserving the edges which are already known (see Section 3).
Problems may arise at the boundary regions of trimmed surfaces
or due to low FE node density. This will be fixed by inserting
artificial displacement nodes found by interpolation or extrapo-
lation (see Section 4). In order to obtain tangential smoothness
 between adjacent B-Spline surfaces, some control points can be
corrected (see Section 5). The method can be implemented as an
extension to a common CAD system (see Section 6).

2. MORPHING OF A B-SPLINE CURVE

First, the transformation process will be explained in detail
for a B-spline curve [9]

n
X
p
C(u) = Ni (u)pi (1)
i=0

where 0 ≤ u ≤ 1 is an independent parameter of the parametric

curve in the three dimensional space, i.e. C(u) ∈ R3 . The pi ∈ R3
p
are the control points, and Ni (u) are the B-Spline basis functions
of degree p defined on the knot vector

1...1 ]T .
0...0 , U p+1 ...Un , |{z}
U = [|{z} (2)
p+1 p+1
FIGURE 2. TRANSFORMATION OF A B-SPLINE CURVE
THROUGH DISPLACEMENT OF CONTROL POINTS.
The ith B-spline basis functions are defined iteratively by
The main objective is now to find a deformed B-Spline curve
(
1, if u ∈ [Ui , Ui+1 ) C(u) of the same degree and with the same knot vector as the
b
Ni0 (u) = initial curve, however, with displaced control points which ap-
0, otherwise
(3) proximates the points (5) in the best way:
p u−Ui p−1 Ui+p+1 −u p−1
Ni (u) = Ui+p −Ui Ni (u) + Ui+p+1 −Ui+1 Ni+1 (u). n
X
p
C(u) =
b Ni (u)(pi + ∆pi ). (6)
The curve shape is given by the linear combination (1) of the i=0
basis functions with the control points pi . Moving control points
is the most obvious way to change the shape of a B-spline curve. The unknown displacements ∆pi of the control points can be sep-
An important property of a B-spline is the local modification arated from the initial curve (1) as follows:
property, i.e., changing the position of control point pi only af-
fects the curve C(u) on interval u ∈ [Ui , Ui+p+1 ]. n
X
p
n
X
p
n
X
p
It is mandatory for B-Spline morphing that the surface nodes C(u) =
b Ni (u)pi + Ni (u)∆pi = C(u) + Ni (u)∆pi . (7)
of the FE mesh d0k , k = 0, . . . , s, are exactly on the B-Spline sur- i=0 i=0 i=0

face of the CAD model. This is usually not the case, which is
why the FE surface nodes have to be projected exactly onto the The postulate that the morphed B-spline curve passes through the
B-spline curve (Fig. 2). The parameter uk of the foot point C(uk ), displaced curve points (5) leads to the equation system
i.e., the point on the curve C(u) with minimal distance to d0k , is
obtained by solving the minimization problems !
C(uk ) = dk ,
b k = 0, . . . , s, (8)
2
uk = arg min d0k − C(u) , k = 0, . . . , s, (4) or with Eqs. (5) and (7) to
u∈[0,1]

n
where 0 ≤ u0 < u1 < ... < u s ≤ 1. The displaced curve points dk X
p !
Ni (uk )∆pi = ∆dkFE , k = 0, . . . , s. (9)
are then obtained by adding the displacements of the FE surface
i=0
nodes ∆dkFE to the foot points, i.e.,
In order to ensure that the vertices of the edges exactly match
dk = C(uk ) + ∆dkFE , k = 0, . . . , s. (5) the curve end displacements (see Fig. 2), the first and last control

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 point displacements are set to the curve end-point displacements: for the three columns of X and B, respectively. Usually the num-
ber s + 1 of FE nodes is greater than the number n + 1 of con-
trol points, i.e. s > n. Therefore the equation systems (17) are
∆p0 = ∆d0FE , ∆pn = ∆d FE
s . (10)
overdetermined and must be solved as linear fitting problems
2
Therefore, only s − 1 equations remain in (9) for n − 1 inner min Ax j − b j , A ∈ R(s−1)×(n−1) , j = 1, 2, 3. (18)
control-point displacements:
This can be done in various ways [10]. The most-used method
Pn−1 p p
Ni (uk )∆pi = ∆dkFE − N0 (uk )∆p0 − Nn (uk )∆pn ,
p solves the so-called normal equation
i=1 (11)
k = 1, ..., s − 1.
AT Ax j = AT b j (19)

Sorting the x, y, and z coordinates of the control point displace- by a suitable decomposition of the matrix AT A (e.g. LU decom-
y
ments ∆pi = [∆pix ∆pi ∆pzi ]T and the curve displacements position AT A = LU with lower and upper triangular matrices,
Cholesky decomposition AT A = LLT with lower triangular ma-
∆e
dk = [dekx
y
dek
p p
dekz ]T := ∆dkFE − N0 (uk )∆p0 − Nn (uk )∆pn , (12) trix L). However, the procedure assumes that the matrix A is
nonsingular, i.e. Rank(A) = n − 1. Problems arise if the matrix
is ill-conditioned, because the condition of product AT A is even
gives the following linear matrix equation: worse in this case and can lead to unacceptable geometry pertur-
bations.
Alternatively, the linear fitting problem can be solved by a
AX=B (13)
QR factorization of the matrix A = QR where Q is an orthog-
onal matrix and R is a right upper triangular matrix. The solu-
with the coefficient matrix tion is then found by backward substitution as a solution of the
equation Rx j = QT b j , j = 1, 2, 3. In comparison to the method
 p p p above, this strategy has better stability, because the squaring of
 N1 (u1 ) N2 (u1 ) . . . Nn−1 (u1 ) 

.. .. .. .. the matrix condition is avoided. But again it pre-supposes the
A =   ,
 
. . . . (14) full column rank, i.e. Rank(A) = n − 1.
 p p p

N1 (u s−1 ) N2 (u s−1 ) . . . Nn−1 (u s−1 ), The singularity or condition of matrix A dependents on the
FE node distribution within the knot intervals. Singularity of ma-
trix A can be avoided by inserting additional artificial displace-
right hand side
ment nodes into the knot intervals, see Section 4. In a hot-to-cold
transformation, however, an ”almost singular” matrix A may oc-
 ∆d1 ∆de1y ∆de1z 
 ex 
cur, i.e., although the matrix has full column rank, a small numer-
B = [b1 b3 ] :=  ... .. ..  , ical error can lead to rank reduction. Therefore, the method of

b2 . .  (15)
 y singular-value decomposition [10] is recommended for the mor-
∆des−1 ∆des−1 ∆dezs−1
x 
phing method. Here the matrix is decomposed as A = UΣV T
with orthogonal matrices U = [u1 u2 . . . u s−1 ] , V = [v1 v2 . . . vn−1 ]
and the matrix of the unknown coordinates of the control-point and a rectangular diagonal matrix Σ = diag(σi ). The diagonal
displacements elements of the matrix Σ form a descending sequence of singular
values σ1 ≥ σ2 ≥ · · · ≥ σn−1 ≥ 0.
The condition of the matrix A = n−1 i=1 σi ui vi can be deter-
T
P
y
 ∆p1x ∆p1 ∆p1 
z 
mined as k2 ( A) = σ1 /σr where σr is the first non-zero singular

 . .. ..  .
X = [x1 x2 x3 ] :=  .. . .  (16) value [10]. By replacing small singular values σi < ε below some
 x y
∆pn−1 ∆pn−1 ∆pzn−1
 tolerance ε by 0 results in Σ = diag{σ1 . . . σr0 , 0 . . . 0} and this in
a new matrix with better condition:
 T
Equation (13) can be solved as three decoupled linear equation r0  v1 
systems σi ui vTi ≡ u1 . . . ur0 diag{σ1 . . . σr0 }  ...  =: U eT
X h i
e = UΣV T = ΣV
 
A ee
 
i=1 vTr0
Ax j = b j , j = 1, 2, 3, (17) (20)

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 where σ1 ≥ σ2 ≥ · · · ≥ σr0 ≥ ε. The solution of the least square
e j − b j 2 is then given as x j = V eT b j . The

problem min Ax eeΣ−1 U
selection of the tolerance ε is a compromise between approx-
imation error and improvement of the condition which is gen-
erally heuristic. For the used hot-to-cold transformation the
value ε = σ1 · (s − 1) · FLT EPS ILON [11] is chosen where
FLT EPS ILON is a measure for machine precision which is
about 10−8 .
The residuals of the linear fitting problems are not suitable
for an error estimate, since the difference vectors dk − C(u b k ) do
not express the true distance between displaced point and fitting
spline. In order to compute the distance error between the shifted
FIGURE 3. IDENTIFICATION OF THE LOWER EDGE Cu0 (u) (a)
points (5) and the morphed B-Spline curve C(u), b the following
OF A B-SPLINE SURFACE AND OF THE ASSOCIATED FE NODES
optimization problem has to be solved:
(b).
2
∆k = min dk − C(u)
b , k = 1, ..., s − 1. (21)
u∈[0,1] V = [|{z}
0...0 Vq+1 ...Vm |{z}
1...1 ]T . (25)
q+1 q+1
The mean distance and the maximum distance error can then be
obtained as As for curves, each partial surface has its associated FE nodes d0k
with known displacements ∆dkFE which are computed by a hot-
s−1
1 X to-cold FE analysis. Thus, the basic task is to assign a morphed
∆mean = ∆k , ∆max = max∆k . (22)
s − 1 k=1 k B-Spline surface

n X
m
The application of the morphing method to the edges of a com- X
p q
pressor aerofoil shows results with high accuracy. The morphing S(u, v) =
b Ni (u)N j (v)(pi, j + ∆pi, j ) (26)
i=0 j=0
process was tested at the tip curve of the leading edges of the
aerofoil shown in Fig. 8. The errors are ∆mean = 6 · 10−6 mm,
∆max = 7 · 10−5 mm for a blade with a length of 50 mm which is with the same degree, the same knot vectors and shifted control
below manufacturing tolerance. points to the shifted FE nodes. Again, the FE nodes d0k are not
exactly located on the B-Spline surface (23). Therefore, the foot
points S(uk , vk ) of the FE nodes d0k have to be determined by a
3. MORPHING OF A B-SPLINE SURFACE point projection similar to (4):
The main goal of a hot-to-cold transformation is the morph-
ing of all B-Spline surfaces which is similar to that of B-Spline 2
curves. A B-Spline surface is described as a two-parameter func- (uk , vk ) = arg min d0k − S(u, v) , k = 0, . . . , s. (27)
(u,v)
tion

n X
m The base points of the hot-to-cold transformation can then be
obtained analogously to (5) by imposing the displacements dkFE
X
p q
S(u, v) = Ni (u)N j (v)pi, j (23)
i=0 j=0 on these foot points:

where 0 ≤ u ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ v ≤ 1. The control points pi, j ∈ R3 form dk = S(uk , vk ) + ∆dkFE , k = 0, . . . , s. (28)
a bi-directional net (see Fig. 3a) and the B-Spline basis functions
p q
Ni (u) and N j (v) are defined by (3) (e.g. [9]). Here, the degrees Equation (26) can be split similarly to (7) into the initial surface
p and q can be different in the two grid directions and also the (23) and a term with control-point displacements:
two corresponding knot vectors
n X
m
U = [|{z}
0...0 U p+1 ...Un |{z}
1...1 ]T ,
X
p q
(24) S(u, v) = S(u, v) +
b Ni (u)N j (v)∆pi, j . (29)
p+1 p+1 i=0 j=0

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 The postulate that the morphed B-spline surface fits the is the upper edge. By vk > (1−ε) the corresponding FE nodes Ku1
transformed points (28), i.e., will be identified, which define the control point displacements
∆pi,m . Similarly u = 0 and u = 1 define left and right edges:
!
S(uk , vk ) = dk ,
b (30) m
X
q
C0v (v) := S(0, v) ≡ N j (v)p0, j (35)
leads with equations (28) and (29) to the following equation j=0
system for the displacements of the control points pi, j :

n X
m m
X
q
! N j (v)pn, j .
X
p q
Ni (uk )N j (vk )∆pi, j = ∆dkFE , k = 0, . . . , s. (31) C1v (v) := S(1, v) ≡ (36)
i=0 j=0 j=0

Morphing of this edge curves will give the boundary control-

Also here the number of FE nodes is generally greater than the
point displacements ∆p0, j and ∆pn, j of the surface (29).
number of control points, i.e. s + 1 > (n + 1)(m + 1). Therefore,
After these edges of the B-Spline surface are mapped, the
the three overdetermined equations for the x, y and z-coordinates
inner control points need to be adjusted. The boundary nodes of
for the unknown control point displacements need to be solved
the FE mesh already found their way into the transformation by
with the strategies described in Section 2.
the edge curves. Therefore, only the remaining FE nodes with
The least square problems (31) are solved decoupled for
the indices
each partial surface of a solid. Therefore, different solutions may
occur at the surface edges of adjacent surfaces which were ini-
tially identical. This can lead to gaps or overlaps which should K = {0, ..., s} \ {Ku0 ∪ Ku1 ∪ K0v ∪ K1v } (37)
be avoided. The differences can be reduced if edges and inner
control points of surfaces are transformed separately to get com- need to be taken into account for the displacements of the inner
mon edge curves. For instance, v = 0 defines the lower edge of control points pi, j , i = 1, . . . , n − 1, j = 1, . . . , m − 1.
the B-Spline surface (23) as Similar to (11) the displacements of the edge control points
can be moved to the right side as known values in equation (31).
n This gives |K| remaining equations for (n − 1) · (m − 1) unknown
control point displacements ∆pi, j :
X
p
Cu0 (u) := S(u, 0) ≡ Ni (u)pi,0 (32)
i=0
p q
Ni (uk )N j (vk )∆pi, j = ∆dkFE
Pn−1 Pm−1
i=1 j=1
q q
because N0 (v = 0) = 1 and N j (v = 0) = 0 for j , 0 according
p q q
h i
N0 (vk )∆pi,0 + Nm (vk )∆pi,m
to [9]. In order to transform the edges with the strategy described Pn
− i=0 Ni (uk )
in Section 2, one has to identify the corresponding FE nodes of (38)
the edge curve Cu0 (u). This is done by choosing a tolerance ε > 0 −
Pm−1 q
h p p
N0 (uk )∆p0, j + Nn (uk )∆pn, j
i
,
j=1 N j (vk )
Fig. 3a. All foot points calculated by (27) with vk < ε resulting
in the node set
k ∈ K.

Ku0 = {k : vk < ε} (33) This overdetermined linear equation system can be solved by a
least square method analogously to Section 2. Also the error
will be used as the basis for the transformation of the edge curve estimation can be carried out similarly to Section 2. Example
Cu0 (u). Analogously to equation (4) the foot points Cu0 (e uk ) of values for the mean and the maximum distance errors caused by
the FE nodes d0k , k ∈ Ku0 , are calculated first, Fig. 3b. The corre- the hot-to-cold transformation of the leading edge of a compres-
sponding FE displacements will be used for the calculation of the sor aerofoil with the length of 50 mm are also in an acceptable
displacements of the control points ∆pi0 according to equations range: ∆mean = 2 · 10−5 mm, ∆max = 5 · 10−4 mm.
(9) and (10).
Similarly,
4. INTERPOLATION AND EXTRAPOLATION OF THE
n
X DISPLACEMENT FIELD
p CAD parts are often trimmed by intersections, e.g. a com-
Cu1 (u) := S(u, 1) ≡ Ni (u)pi,m (34)
i=0 pressor aerofoil is intersected by the outer annulus and the blade

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 deformation of this patch without the information on associated
displacements. Both problems can be solved by adding artificial
FE nodes in empty patches or in trimmed surfaces. Their dis-
placements may be computed by interpolation or extrapolation
from neighboring FE nodes.
One possible approach is to use barycentric coordinates
well-known from FE analysis [12]. Figure 6 shows an empty
surface patch [Ur , Ur+1 ) × [V s , V s+1 ) where an artificial FE node
S = S(u, v) with

Ur + Ur+1 V s + V s+1
u= , v= (39)
2 2

is defined. The corresponding displacement vector ∆d FE can be

FIGURE 4. TRIMMED AEROFOIL SURFACES DUE TO INTER-
SECTION WITH OUTER ANNULUS AND PLATFORM.
S
computed by an interpolation from the displacements of the near-
est FE nodes or from their associated foot points Sk1 , Sk2 , Sk3 of
the neighboring patches. In order to use barycentric coordinates,
the point S has to be projected onto the plane defined by the pla-
nar triangle 4Sk1 Sk2 Sk3 . This normal vector is formed by using
the cross product of two triangle sides:

n = (Sk3 − Sk1 ) × (Sk2 − Sk1 ). (40)

By projecting connection vector (S − Sk1 ) onto n the distance be-

tween the point S and the triangular plane can be calculated as:

n
µ = −(S − Sk1 )T . (41)
knk

0
The projection point S can be now described by
FIGURE 5. HOT-TO-COLD TRANSFORMATION OF A
TRIMMED SURFACE BY (a) DIRECT APPLICATION AND 0 n (S − Sk1 )T n
S = S+µ = S− n. (42)
(b) INSERTING EXTRAPOLATED DISPLACEMENTS. knk nT n

Generally, if any points r1 , r2 , r3 ∈ R2 with associated func-

platform, see Fig. 4. In this case the cut-off part will no longer tion values f (ri ) span a triangle, then according to [12] for any
belong to the solid model and has no associated FE nodes. There- inner point r ∈ 4r1 r2 r3 its function value can be approximated
fore, these removed surface parts do not have any FE displace- by
ments required for a B-Spline transformation. Setting these dis-
placements of removed surface parts to zero (Fig. 5a, existing FE 3
X
displacements are represented as green lines) will result in unre- f (r) ≈ λi f (ri ) (43)
alistically transformed B-Spline surfaces with disturbed bound- i=1
ary regions. Moreover, singularities may arise in the coefficient
matrix A of the linear least-squares problem (38). where λ1 λ2 , λ3 ∈ [0, 1] are the barycentric coordinates with the
Such singularities can also occur if no FE node is located in properties
a patch of a B-Spline surface to be transformed. A B-Spline sur-
face patch is defined as a part of S(u, v) with (u, v) ∈ [Ur , Ur+1 ) × 3 3
[V s , V s+1 ) , r ∈ {p, ..., n} , s ∈ {q, ..., m}. Local B-Spline surface con-
X X
r= λ i ri , λi = 1. (44)
trol will indicate that there is not enough information about the i=1 i=1

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 Because any three points in the space R3 which do not lie on a
straight line define a plane, the barycentric interpolation can be
extended to space R3 also for the inner points of any triangle. By
a suitable coordinate transformation the problem can be changed
from the standard basis (e x , ey , ez ) to a new base (e0x , e0y , e0z ) [13],
where the triangle plane is parallel to the x0 y0 -plane. For exam-
ple, the new base vectors can be chosen as:

Sk − Sk1
e0x = 3 , (45)
Sk3 − Sk1
n FIGURE 6. CREATING OF AN ARTIFICIAL FE NODE
e0z = , (46)
knk
with
e0y = e0z × e0x . (47)
" #
Sk2 x0 − Sk1 x0 Sk3 x0 − Sk1 x0
T= . (54)
The transformation matrix (x0 , y0 , z0 ) → (x, y, z) is obtained Sk2 y0 − Sk1 y0 Sk3 y0 − Sk1 y0 .
from the coordinates of the new base vectors:
Each additional point S with the parameter values (39) and the
B= [e0x e0y e0z ]. (48) displacement (51) leads to an additional equation

p q
Ni (u)N j (v)∆pi, j = ∆d FE
Pn−1 Pm−1
The x0 , y0 and z0 coordinates of the points Sk1 , Sk2 , Sk3 and S0 i=1 j=1 S
according to the new basis are obtained by p
h q q
i
N0 (v)∆pi,0 + Nm (v)∆pi,m
Pn
− i=0 Ni (u) (55)
   
Ski x0  Ski x  q
h p p
i
N j (v) N0 (u)∆ p0, j + Nn (u)∆pn, j
Pm−1
−
Ski y  = B Ski y  , i = 1, 2, 3,
T j=1
(49)
 0   
Ski z0 Ski z
 0   0 for the linear fitting problem (38) in order to avoid potential
S x0  S x  singularity. This procedure is also applicable for extrapolation
 0  T  0 
Sy0  = B Sy  . (50) where the point S or S0 is outside of the triangle defined by
 0  0 the FE nodes. Such an extrapolation is especially necessary for
Sz0 Sz
trimmed surfaces. For instance, Fig. 5b shows an acceptable
hot-to-cold transformation when artificial displacements (black
Applied to the displacement field, the displacement vector ∆d FE lines) are also generated for the trimmed part of the aerofoil.
S
results from the displacements ∆d FE of the foot points of
S
Sk1 , Sk2 , Sk3 according to (43):
5. CONTINUITY CORRECTION OF SURFACE BLEND-
ING
∆d FE ≈ λ1 ∆dkFE + λ2 ∆dkFE + λ3 ∆dkFE (51) The task of hot-to-cold transformation is not only to approx-
S 1 2 3
imate the cold mesh, but also to preserve the main properties of
where the barycentric coordinates are calculated from the hot solid model. For example, it can be important that smooth
blending between adjacent surfaces remains after the transforma-
 0  tion. This is needed e.g. for a compressor aerofoil especially for
λ2
" #
(S 0 − Sk x0 ) the transition from the leading edge to the suction and pressure
T = BT  x0 1
(52)
λ3

(Sy0 − Sk1 y0 )  sides, respectively.
Normally, two surfaces with a smooth transition have a
slight kink after the morphing transformation, which can be cor-
and
rected retrospectively. The following smoothing strategy is de-
fined under the assumption that the transformed B-Spline sur-
λ1 = 1 − λ2 − λ3 (53) S(u, v) and Sb∗ (u∗ , v∗ ) in Fig. 7 have a common edge marked
faces b

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 as v = v∗ = 0. Let point Q = b
S(uq , 0) ≡ Sb∗ (u∗q , 0) be a point of the
common edge , and let one of the adjacent surfaces be

n X
X m
p q
S(u, v) =
b pi, j
Ni (u)N j (v)b (56)
i=0 j=0

pi, j = pi, j + ∆ pi, j (see Section 3).

with transformed control points b
Then the tangent vectors and the unit normal vector at point Q
may be calculated from

∂b
S
t u := (uq , 0), (57)
∂u

∂b
S
t v := (uq , 0), (58) FIGURE 7. SMOOTHING OF A KINK BETWEEN ADJACENT
∂v
SURFACES.
tu × tv
n := . (59)
kt u × t v k
Now a corrected, transformed B-Spline surface

For the other adjacent surface Sb∗ (u∗ , v∗ ) we get n X

X m
p q
ST (u, v) =
b pi, j + ∆b
Ni (u)N j (v)(b pi, j ) (66)
i=0 j=0
∂Sb∗ ∗
t ∗u := (u , 0), (60)
∂u q
needs to be determined from description (56) which has an in-
∂Sb∗ ∗ variant connecting edge and a tangent vector (64) at every point
t ∗v := (u , 0), (61) Q of the edge curve. Using equation (56) in equation (66) yields
∂v q
t∗ × t∗ n X
m
n∗ := v u . (62) X
p q
t ∗v × t ∗u ST (u, v) = b
b S(u, v) + pi, j .
Ni (u)N j (v)∆b (67)
i=0 j=0

If the surfaces at the point Q are tangent continuous, then they

The tangent vector to this surface may be found analogously to
have a common tangent plane τT in this point and the normal
Eq. (58) from
vectors n and n∗ have zero angle. In reality this is not the case
and the magnitude of the angle can be treated as a measure for
G1 continuity at this point. The common tangent plane may be q
S(u, v) X X p ∂N j (v)
n m
defined e.g. through the average (non-normalized) normal vector ∂b
ST (u, v) ∂b
= + Ni (u) ∆b
pi, j (68)
∂v ∂v i=0 j=0
∂v
nT = n+ n∗ . (63)
or at the point Q as
The corresponding tangent vector t T is defined analogously to
q
equation (42) via projection as ∂b
ST ∂b
S Xn X m
p
∂N j (0)
(uq , 0) = (uq , 0) + Ni (uq ) ∆b
pi, j . (69)
∂v ∂v i=0 j=0
∂v
t T = t v + ∆t v (64)
By assumption, this tangent vector has to be collinear to the vec-
where tor defined by equation (64), i.e.,

t Tv nT ∂b
∆t v = − nT . (65) ST
(uq , 0) = t T . (70)
nTT nT ∂v

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 Using equation (69) and definitions (58) and (64) yields 7.5. The plugin uses the NXOpen C++ API of Unigraphics [14],
which allows to access the whole functionality of the CAD sys-
n m ∂N q tem.
j
X X
p
Ni (uq ) pi, j = ∆t v
(0)∆b (71) Particularly the API allows access the solid body in the cur-
i=0 j=0
∂v rent part. The body class NXOpen :: Body allows to access to
part-surfaces from class NXOpen :: Face, which knows their
for the additional displacements of control points ∆pi, j . Accord- edge curves NXOpen :: Edge. The B-Spline parametrization of
ing to [8] the following simplification can be made: curves and surfaces can be called with UF EV AL ask spline(...)
or UF MODL ask bsur f (...), respectively. The parametrization
m ∂N q can be arbitrarily modified by the existing NXOpen objects, or
X j q new entities with changed description can be created. As men-
pi, j =
(0)∆b pi,1 − ∆b
(∆b pi,0 ) (72)
j=0
∂v Vq+1 tioned above, the B-Spline morphing changes only the positions
of the control points. The FE mesh with corresponding displace-
ments are imported from a text file and are stored in a vector of
where Vq+1 is the first non-zero value in the knot vector (25). A
objects from class Node. Not all surfaces of the real CAD models
comparison with (71) shows that not all control points pi, j have
of the engine components will undergo a hot-to-cold transforma-
to be moved to achieve tangential smoothness. Due to the local
tion. For example for compressor blades, only the deformation
control property of the B-Spline surface it is fully sufficient to
of the aerofoil is important since the deformation of the blade
take only two rows of control points pi,0 and pi,1 into account.
root can be disregarded due to small node displacements, see
Thus, equation (71) may be reduced to
Fig. 8. According to the method currently used by Rolls-Royce
n
Deutschland the fillet between the blade root and the aerofoil is
X
p q newly formed after the transformation.
Ni (uq ) pi,1 − ∆b
(∆b pi,0 ) = ∆t v . (73)
i=0
Vq+1 For the calculation of the foot points and
their parameter values (u, v), the NXOpen function
UF EV ALS F f ind closest point(...) is used. Neverthe-
Since, the common edge curve should be preserved, the control
less, it was also necessary to develop additional numerical
points of this edge must be fixed, i.e.,
routines to solve the linear fitting problems. The methods
described in Section 2 were partially developed or imported
∆b
pi,0 = 0. (74) from the NURBS++ Library [11].
After completing the morphing process, it is necessary to
The final equation for the control point displacements ∆pi,1 in investigate the blending continuity between the initial surfaces.
the second row near the edge curve is obtained by substitution of The type of continuity (tangential transition or kink) is automat-
Eq. (74) in (73): ically analyzed, quantified and restored in case of a tangential
transition between the morphed faces in accordance with Section
n
X Vq+1 5. Finally, the distance error between the FE surface nodes and
p
pi,1 =
Ni (uq )∆b ∆t v . (75) the B-Spline are determined as a measure of accuracy of the B-
i=0
q Spline surface reconstruction. The maximal and average distance
errors are compared with the allowable tolerance. The entire pro-
Although, this relation was initially developed for a single point cess is completed with a visual inspection of the morphed solid
Q of the common edge, this principle is valid for all points of the CAD model by an engineer.
edge curve and thus provides an infinite number of equations. Figure 8 and Table 1 show the geometry changes and the
This is not necessary for the calculation of the n + 1 displace- distance errors of a hot-to-cold transformation of a compressor
ments of the control points ∆ pi,1 , i = 0, . . . , n. From our experi- aerofoil demonstrating the high accuracy surface transformation
ence it is recommended to use twice as many equations as un- of this approach. Figure 9 shows the mean curvature of the origi-
knowns, wherein uq can be distributed equidistantly in the inter- nal (left) and the morphed (right) surfaces. Both surfaces demon-
val [0, 1]. strate a similar mean curvature trend.
Figure 10 and Table 2 show the geometry deformation and
the distance errors after morphing a segment of an exhaust mixer
6. APPLICATION OF B-SPLINE MORPHING TO AN model. The surface curvature in Fig. 11 shows smooth surfaces
COMPRESSOR AEROFOIL AND A EXHAUST MIXER and transitions, although G2 continuity was not part of the mor-
The presented B-Spline morphing method was implemented phing process. The FE data are determined with the FE solver
as an extension (plugin) of the CAD system Unigraphics NX NXNastran integrated in NX 7.5. The solid model has been dis-

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 TABLE 1. ERRORS OF THE HOT-TO-COLD TRANSFORMA-
TION OF A COMPRESSOR AEROFOIL.

FE nodes control ∆max ∆mean

on face points [mm] [mm]
leading edge 1975 9x21 8 · 10−4 2 · 10−5
pressure side 1801 28x21 6 · 10−4 2 · 10−5
trailing edge 1502 8x21 1 · 10−4 6 · 10−6
suction side 1856 27x21 2 · 10−3 9 · 10−5

FIGURE 8.CAD MODEL OF A COMPRESSOR BLADE (RED)

AND MORPHED AEROFOIL (BLUE).

FIGURE 10. A SEGMENT OF AN EXHAUST MIXER MODEL

(RED) AND MORPHED SURFACES (BLUE).

the main problems of usual B-Spline surface reconstruction - the

FIGURE 9.SURFACE CURVATURE ANALYSIS OF THE MOR-
PHED AEROFOIL.
cretized by 10-node tetrahedral elements (183512 elements in
total). The maximal displacement for this deformation ∆dkFE
is approx. 3 mm. Also this part can be transformed with high
accuracy. All in all, both B-Spline transformations give well ac-
ceptable results.
necessary surface parameterization for the mesh surface points
and the mandatory u and v parameter correction. In contrast to
standard surface reconstruction methods, the least square prob-
lems of the B-Spline morphing approach are solved for the small
displacement field of a FE mesh only. Special emphasis is put
on numerical robustness of the overall process and on G0 and
G1 continuous surface blending. The curvature continuity (G2)
of the surface blending, which is especially important for blades
to enable a reliable flow calculation, will be the goal for further
developments of the method. The B-Spline morphing method
is implemented as an automatic process within a CAD system,
which imposes a FE displacement field onto an arbitrary CAD
solid.

7. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK

This paper describes a new method for hot-to-cold trans- ACKNOWLEDGMENT
formation of arbitrary engine components based on a hot solid This work has been carried out in collaboration with Rolls-
CAD model, a FE mesh with associated displacement field, and Royce Deutschland as part of the research project VIT 3 (Vir-
a B-Spline morphing algorithm. The non-iterative method avoids tual Turbomachinery) funded by the State of Brandenburg (grant

11 Copyright © 2014 by Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG

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 Squared Distance Function to Curves and Surfaces. Tech-
nical report no. 90, Institut für Geometrie, TU Wien.
[6] Pottmann, H., and Leopoldseder, S., 2003. “A concept
for parametric surface fitting which avoids the parametriza-
tion problem”. Computer Aided Geometric Design, 20(6),
pp. 343–362.
[7] Pottmann, H., Leopoldseder, S., and Hofer, M., 2002. “Ap-
proximation with active B-Spline curves and surfaces”. In
Proceedings of the Pacific Graphics.
[8] Yang, H., Wang, W., and Sun, J., 2004. “Control point
adjustment for B-spline curve approximation”. Computer-
Aided Design, 36(7), pp. 639–652.
[9] Piegl, L., and Tiller, W., 1997. The NURBS-Book. Spinger,
Berlin.
FIGURE 11.SURFACE CURVATURE ANALYSIS OF THE MOR-
[10] Dahmen, W., and Reucken, A., 2008. Numerik für Inge-
PHED EXHAUST MIXER SEGMENT.
nieure und Naturwissenschaftler. Spinger, Berlin.
[11] Libnurbs - a C++ Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline Library.
TABLE 2. ERRORS OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF AN EX-
http://libnurbs.sourceforge.net/.
HAUST MIXER SEGMENT.
[12] Bradley, C. J., 2007. The Algebra of Geometry: Cartesian,
Areal and Projective Co-Ordinates. Highperception, Bath.
[13] Liesen, J., and Mehrmann, V., 2011. Lineare Algebra.
FE nodes control ∆max ∆mean Vieweg + Teubner Verlag, Wiesbaden.
points [mm] [mm] [14] Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.,
2009. NX 7.5-Hilfebibliothek, version 7.5.3.3 ed.
face 1 2945 32x20 3 · 10−4 5 · 10−5
face 2 10175 56x38 3 · 10−3 4 · 10−5
face 3 11285 62x38 8 · 10−3 7 · 10−5
face 4 8745 54x34 1 · 10−3 4 · 10−5

number 80142272) and Rolls-Royce Deutschland. The authors

would like to thank the State of Brandenburg and Rolls-Royce
Deutschland for funding this work and for permission to publish.

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12 Copyright © 2014 by Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG

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