Single Piece Centrifugal Pump Housing and Impeller
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Historical manufacturing methods for liquid rocket engine components are inefficient and costly, lacking modernization and resulting in high production costs and inefficiencies, with a need for advanced manufacturing techniques to reduce costs and improve design and manufacturing processes.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal pump is manufactured using a metal additive manufacturing process with a single piece housing, where the impeller is formed within the housing, eliminating the need for multiple parts and machining operations, and incorporating a single piece impeller and housing design with integrated seals and bearings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional manufacturing methods are used for liquid rocket engine components, then manufacturing precision and reliability can be maintained, but manufacturing costs are high and production efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (impeller, housing, seals, bearing supports) into a single integrated part manufactured via additive manufacturing. This merging eliminates the need for separate machining operations on multiple parts and reduces assembly steps, directly addressing the contradiction by improving productivity while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through advanced AM processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The single piece housing structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it serves as the pump housing, contains the impeller, provides bearing support surfaces, incorporates seals, and defines fluid passages. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of parts and manufacturing operations, thereby improving production efficiency while keeping the manufacturing process manageable.
2Ease of operation
If multiple parts are assembled together to form the pump, then functional requirements can be met, but assembly time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the housing and impeller into a single integrated component where the impeller is formed within the housing as one piece. This eliminates all assembly operations between these components, directly reducing assembly time and simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining the necessary functional relationships between the impeller and housing.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional machining processes are used, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but manufacturing time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing approach from subtractive machining to additive manufacturing, fundamentally altering the production parameters. Additive manufacturing builds parts layer-by-layer, eliminating time-consuming machining operations while achieving the required dimensional accuracy through controlled deposition processes and post-processing techniques.
Data Source
AI summary
A turbopump is formed from a metal additive manufacturing process in which both the housing and the impeller are formed as a single piece with the impeller trapped within the single piece housing. The impeller is formed with an axial bore and a shaft is secured by a tie bolt on one end to secure forward and aft bearings within the housing after the impeller and housing have been formed.