Turbodesign-1 Helps Jaxa To Redesign Rocket Pump
Jaxa , an independent aerospace-development organisation, has used Turbodesign-1 to design a rocket pump for the LE-7 LOX turbopump used in the H-II rocket. The aim of the design was to achieve high energy density for the centrifugal pump (to achieve the same head and flow rate with a compact-size pump under the same rotational speed as the original) in order to reduce the weight and cost of the rocket turbo pump. In Jaxa's experience, using conventional design governed by the Stepanoff method, further reduction in pump diameter for the same head and speed is difficult to achieve without a large reduction in performance. Jaxa used Advanced Design Technology's Turbodesign to redesign the impeller and diffuser. The impeller loading distribution was optimised to reduce exit flow non-uniformity and the diffuser loading was optimised to increase the static pressure recovery. Using Turbodesign-1 made it possible to reduce the impeller diameter by five per cent without a significa...