Desmodromic Radial Vane Pump for Lubrication System Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing turbomachine lubrication systems are bulky and heavy due to the need for multiple recovery pumps, increasing engine weight and fuel consumption, despite the use of compact desmodromic vane pumps.
Innovation Solution
A desmodromic radial vane pump with a stator and rotor, featuring eccentric shaft and paired vanes, allows for a single pump to serve two separate inlets, reducing the number of required pumps and optimizing size and weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple recovery pumps are used to pump oil from each sump, then each component can be lubricated independently, but the system becomes bulky and heavy, increasing mass and fuel consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple pump functions into a single desmodromic pump unit. The pump features a rotor with multiple vanes that create multiple pumping chambers, allowing one pump to handle multiple sumps simultaneously. This merging approach maintains the ability to service multiple components while dramatically reducing the number of separate pump units required.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump is designed with universal applicability to serve multiple functions. The stator cavity contains multiple inlets positioned at different locations, enabling the single pump to draw oil from multiple different sumps. This multi-functional design allows one pump unit to replace what would traditionally require multiple dedicated pumps.
2Weight of moving object
If a single pump with multiple inlets is used to pump from two sumps, then the number of pumps is halved, but the pump complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pump internally segments the pumping function into multiple independent chambers created by the rotor vanes. Each vane defines a pumping chamber that operates independently, allowing the single pump to handle multiple sumps through spatial segmentation of the pumping zones rather than requiring multiple separate pump mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump employs a composite structural approach combining a stator with multiple inlets and a rotor with multiple vanes in a single integrated assembly. This composite design consolidates what would traditionally be separate pump units into one unified structure, managing complexity through integrated design rather than separate components.
3Area of stationary object
If the number of vanes is increased to reduce sealing segment size, then inlet size can be increased, but the vane assembly mass and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the vane configuration by selecting a specific number of vanes (at least six) that provides the optimal balance between sealing efficiency and inlet size. This parameter optimization ensures that the sealing segments are sufficiently small to maintain effective sealing while the inlets remain sufficiently large to minimize pressure drop, without unnecessarily increasing the number of vanes and associated mass.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Halves the number of pumps needed, reducing the lubrication system's size and weight, thereby decreasing engine fuel consumption and enhancing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a rotor, having a shaft, passing through the cavity of the stator eccentrically, that is to say offset from the axis of the centroids of the orthogonal sections of the cylinder
Implementation Method 2
desmodromic vane pumps, whose vanes move radially relative to the shaft and are guided by the internal surface of the stator cavity
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4~5
AI summary
Desmodromic radial vane pump and fluid circuit for turbomachinery comprising such a pump, the pump comprising a stator (40), having a cylindrical cavity (41), and a rotor (50), having a shaft (51), passing through the cavity (41) of the stator (40) eccentrically, and a plurality of vanes (52), arranged in pairs, assembled on the shaft (51) in a movable manner and flush with the surface of the cavity (41) of the stator (40), the vanes (52) of the same pair extending in contact with each other in the same diametral plane of the shaft (51) while being movable in said diametral plane relative to the shaft (51), in which the rotor (50) comprises at least six vanes (52), and in which the stator (40) comprises two separate inlets (43, 44) and a common outlet (45).