Preliminary performance characteristics of a microfabricated turbopump

The demonstration micro turbopump was designed to prove the feasibility of pumping a liquid using a turbopump on the micro scale. This thesis presents the first data indicating positive pumping from the demonstration micro turbopump. Data pertaining to both the turbomachinery as well as the bearing systems for these preliminary tests is shown and discussed. The pressure rise through the pump, turbine pressure ratio, respective powers, and a system efficiency are presented. Bearing theory and static flow test data are discussed. The pump design is detailed. Modelling data is presented to help describe the operational difficulties with the highly coupled aft bearing system. These operational difficulties lead to the redesign of the aft bearing system, which is described in detail. Other operational procedures developed and discussed include the pump start up procedure and the use of the inverted journal bearing.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Diez, Shana, 1980-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alan H. Epstein.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32241

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32241