Session: Student Poster Competition

Submission Number: 187098

Design, Build, Ignite: Lessons Learned From a Student-Led, Hands-on Turbomachinery Project 

The end-to-end development of a 15-lbf thrust turbojet runs the gamut of engineering disciplines spanning rotordynamics, thermofluids, control electronics, precision manufacturing, and more. This makes it an ideal project, challenging students to take a complex system from concept to completion and cementing lessons learned in a rigorous, practical, and collaborative context. The Sustainable Engine Team is a student-led build-team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology committed to hands-on education and demonstrating hydrogen combustion in a fully student-driven turbojet design. The team promotes an environment where undergraduate and graduate students from over six departments can work together as colleagues and mentors. In the first year of its inception, the team designed, built, and tested a15-lbf class turbojet manufactured entirely in-house by its members that ran on propane with a nominal operating point of 60,000 rotations per minute. During the design process, first order analyses based on thermodynamics, structural dynamics, and aerodynamics were used for preliminary sizing. Higher fidelity simulations using NPSS and ANSYS were used for validation and tuning of the design. In the prototyping process, the team ran multi-setup turning and 5-axis milling operations on materials like Inconel 718 and Grade 5 Titanium. Other techniques including sheet metal bending, welding, brazing, and tube bending were used to fabricate the combustor. Instrumentation electronics for rotational speed, thrust, and temperature were developed by members of the team. A G1.0 grade spool balance was achieved  by the team following a balancing method using an Erbessd Instruments EI-30 balancing machine. From the first generation engine, many lessons were learned in areas such as sheet metal processes, ignition electronics, gasket selection, fluid simulation, rotordynamics, bearing selection, rotational speed measurements, 5-axis machining, etc. All of these learnings were synthesized and applied to the second generation engine, which is currently in progress. These include best practices such as increased preliminary design reviews, more extensive documentation, and subscale testing as well as new design directions such as a reverse flow combustor to minimize shaft length for rotordynamics and a split casing to facilitate assembly. In addition, many new technologies such as air foil bearings and 3D printed alumina are being explored for the second generation engine. The aim remains to test the second generation engine with the eventual goal of combusting gaseous hydrogen. This poster reports the takeaways from the first engine attempt and progress on design and manufacturing for the second engine. The ultimate ambition of the team is to create a small-scale micro-turbine that demonstrates sustainable propulsion or power generation and serves as a platform for rapid-iteration development.

Presenting Author: John Zhang Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Presenting Author Biography: John Z. Zhang is a PhD candidate with the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering. He grew up with scraped knees in the greater Boston area surrounded by snow and books. His research focuses on electromechanical sensing and actuation in extreme environments from medical implants to space structures. His interests include high voltage, robotics, gas turbines, chips, and mechatronics. He enjoys surprising physical phenomena, reading, film, machining, and projects at the intersection of art and science.

Authors:

John Zhang Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hunter Whaples Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Angela Lin Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cameron Cage Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charlie Bruel Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ricky Hernandez Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Beverly Ma Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wenyu Huang Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yang Chen Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles Yong Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ryosei Takamura Massachusetts Institute of Technology