A numerical investigation of the effects of blade's geometric parameters on the power consumption of the twin-blade planetary mixer

Abstract

Blades act as key components for twin-blade planetary mixer; their geometric parameters (blade-blade clearance and helical angle) and two different rotating modes (counter-rotating mode and co-rotating mode) were investigated numerically via commercial software ANSYS Fluent 14.5 to reveal the effects on the power or torque consumption. The results indicate that decreasing the blade-blade clearance or increasing the helical angle increases the power consumption of the twin-blade planetary mixer. The proportionality constant of power curves depends on the geometry of the blades.