The present paper reviews recent experimental activities at Centrospazio on cavitation in liquid propellant turbopumps. These activities have been carried out in a dedicated, low-cost, versatile and easily instrumentable test facility, designed in 1996 under ESA (European Space Agency) funding and later refined and realized in 1999-2000 under a 1998/99 Fundamental Research contract by ASI (Italian Space Agency). The first part of the paper describes the characteristics and performance of the three alternative configurations of the facility: the CPTF (Cavitating Pump Test Facility), for general experimentation on cavitating/non-cavitating turbopumps under fluid dynamic and thermal cavitation similarity; the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility), capable of investigating rotordynamic fluid forces under forced vibration experiments on turbopump rotors of adjustable eccentricity and sub-synchronous or super-synchronous whirl speeds; and the TCT (Thermal Cavitation Tunnel), specifically designed for the investigation of 2D or 3D cavitating flows over test bodies in thermal cavitation similarity conditions. The second part of the paper presents some recent results of cavitation tests on helical inducers and hydrofoils. Future activities in this field at Centrospazio are illustrated.
Experimental Activities on Liquid Propellant Turbopumps at Centrospazio
D'AGOSTINO, LUCA
2003-01-01
Abstract
The present paper reviews recent experimental activities at Centrospazio on cavitation in liquid propellant turbopumps. These activities have been carried out in a dedicated, low-cost, versatile and easily instrumentable test facility, designed in 1996 under ESA (European Space Agency) funding and later refined and realized in 1999-2000 under a 1998/99 Fundamental Research contract by ASI (Italian Space Agency). The first part of the paper describes the characteristics and performance of the three alternative configurations of the facility: the CPTF (Cavitating Pump Test Facility), for general experimentation on cavitating/non-cavitating turbopumps under fluid dynamic and thermal cavitation similarity; the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility), capable of investigating rotordynamic fluid forces under forced vibration experiments on turbopump rotors of adjustable eccentricity and sub-synchronous or super-synchronous whirl speeds; and the TCT (Thermal Cavitation Tunnel), specifically designed for the investigation of 2D or 3D cavitating flows over test bodies in thermal cavitation similarity conditions. The second part of the paper presents some recent results of cavitation tests on helical inducers and hydrofoils. Future activities in this field at Centrospazio are illustrated.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
