Design and manufacturing of micro-turbomachinery components with application of heat resistant plastics

Abstract

The article discusses issues associated with the use of modern plastics for the construction of high-speed fluid-flow machines. Currently available plastics exhibit high chemical resistance as well as dimensional and shape stability across a wide temperature range. This allows them to be used for manufacturing components of micro turbomachinery, thereby reducing production time and costs. This article discusses the criteria for the selection of plastics suitable for a particular machine, namely micro turbogenerator operating in the organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In addition to the initial selection of materials based on their chemical and physical properties, strength calculations of selected turbogenerator subassemblies were carried out. The obtained results confirmed that some plastics can replace traditional materials used in the manufacture of ORC turbogener-ators. This concerns, in particular, the components of the microturbine blade system. After the manufacture of a trial series of such components, it became apparent that, with appropriately chosen plastics, it is possible to shorten the machining time and reduce production costs, all while maintaining the required dimensional tolerances. The results obtained so far prove that it is possible to use plastics to produce components of modern turbomachines, for instance, parts of high-speed microturbines that have to withstand high operating temperatures.