"Ariane 5" TPLOX Inducer Design Strategies To Enhance Cavitating Performance

Arnone, Andrea and Boncinelli, Paolo and Capuani, Andrea and Spano, Ennio and Rebattet, Claude (2001) "Ariane 5" TPLOX Inducer Design Strategies To Enhance Cavitating Performance. In: CAV 2001: Fourth International Symposium on Cavitation, June 20-23, 2001, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA.

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Abstract

Optimization process in cavitating conditions of the axial inducer of the ``Ariane~5'' main engine liquid oxygen (LOX) turbopump is described in details. Different inducer configurations were set up and investigated, starting from the reference one to produce an optimized final geometry. Both 3D fully--viscous computations and experimental tests in water and LOX were exploited during this activity. Computations allowed the designer to identify cavitation inception on the reference inducer, and to compare its performance to the final one, assessing the effectiveness of the redesign process. Experiments were carried out to study the development of cavitation, investigate the inducer behavior in cavitating conditions, and suggest suitable modifications to the geometry. As a result, an optimized blade leading edge shape was set, which revealed a significant trend to reduce cavitation effects with a good smoothing of the head/cavitation curve.

EPrint Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cavitation, LOX turbopomps, turbomachinery, CFD analysis, water and LOX experimental tests
Subjects:	All Records Session B7 Turbomachinery 1
ID Code:	382
Deposited By:	Paolo Boncinelli
Deposited On:	01 June 2001
Record Number:	CAV2001:sessionB7.004
Official Persistent URL:	http://resolver.caltech.edu/CAV2001:sessionB7.004
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