NAFEMS Benchmark Challenge - Project Complete!

With the publication of the solution to the eighth NAFEMS Benchmark Challenge in April's edition of Benchmark Magazine, the initiative draws to a close. Angus Ramsay would like to thank NAFEMS for the opportunity to get involved in this project and, in particular, Ian Symington (Technical Officer at NAFEMS) for his encouragement, support and management of the project.

NAFEMS would like to thank Angus for the time and effort that he has spent planning, authoring and responding to challengers' comments regarding the Benchmark Challenge.

As with all worthwhile projects, the effort required to run the challenge far exceeded the initial estimate but if there are readers out there who now think slightly more deeply about the assumptions and limitations that are inherent in the codes they are using, then we're sure Angus will agree that it will have been a worthwhile exercise.

This NAFEMS Benchmark Challenge looked at 'The Calculation of the Hoop Burst Speed for Rotating Discs'. The findings were interesting in that the simple equation used by many design engineers in the turbomachinery industry is found, on a number of levels, to be erroneous. This work has led to a new RMA project: Design against Burst of Rotating Discs.