A MICRO TURBINE DEVICE WITH ENHANCED MICRO AIR-BEARINGS

X.-C. Shan (1) , Qide Zhang (2) , Y.F. Sun (2) , R. Maeda (3)

1 Singapore Inst. of Manufacturing Technology
2 DSI Institute
3 MEMS and Packaging Research Laboratory Tsukuba

As part of progress in developing a micro gas turbine engine, this paper presents the design, fabrication and testing of a silicon-based micro turbine device, which is driven by compressed air. To improve its rotational speed and stability, the turbine device has enhanced journal air bearing and thrust air bearings. The thrust air bearings are utilized for supporting the rotor from both its top- and bottom- sides. The top thrust air bearing employs pump-in type spiral grooves, and the bottom bearing uses pump-out type grooves. The journal air bearing is a plain journal with a critical short journal length (L) and a small radial clearance (C). Aspect ratio (L :C) above 20:1 is realized using optimized DRIE process. The micro turbine device has been fabricated and tested. The turbine device can sustain stable operations, and a rotation speed of 15,000 rpm has been reported during test.

Mots clés: Micro turbine; micro gas turbine engine; DIRE; journal bearing; thrust bearing; grooves; rotation

Domaines: Architectures Matérielles [cs.AR]

X.-C. Shan, Qide Zhang, Y.F. Sun, R. Maeda. A MICRO TURBINE DEVICE WITH ENHANCED MICRO AIR-BEARINGS. DTIP 2006, Apr 2006, Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy. 6 p. ⟨hal-00189281⟩