Turbopump with a single piece housing and a smooth enamel glass surface
A turbopump for a liquid rocket engine in which an oxidizer is pumped, where the turbopump is formed with a single piece rotor within a single piece housing by a metal additive manufacturing process, and where surfaces exposed to the oxidizer is coated with enamel glass to provide a smooth surface over the rough printed surface and to provide burn resistance to the base metal from exposure to the oxidizer such as oxygen. A Mondaloy coating can be used below the enamel glass coating to add additional burn resistance to the base metal.
1 . A liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump comprising:
a housing with a liquid oxygen inlet and a liquid oxygen outlet;
an impeller rotatable within the housing;
a forward bearing and an aft bearing to rotatably support the impeller within the housing;
both the housing and the impeller are formed as a single piece with the impeller trapped within the housing; and,
surfaces of the oxidizer pump exposed to an oxidizer during pumping having a composite coating of enamel glass to prevent reaction of the oxidizer.
2 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 1 , and further comprising:
the surface of the oxidizer pump includes a coating of Mondaloy material below the enamel glass coating.
3 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 2 , and further comprising:
The Mondaloy coating is Mondaloy 100 or Mondaloy 200 .
4 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 1 , and further comprising: The oxidizer pump is a centrifugal pump.
5 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 2 , and further comprising:
the composite coating of Mondaloy material and enamel glass is a mixture of Mondaloy powder and enamel glass powder that is deposited using a thermal spray process.
6 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 2 , and further comprising:
the Mondaloy and glass includes an oxide in the coating.
7 . The liquid rocket engine oxidizer turbopump of claim 2 , and further comprising:
the oxide is one of aluminum oxide or yttria stabilized zirconia.
8 . An oxidizer turbopump comprising:
a single piece housing with an oxidizer inlet and an oxidizer outlet and a forward opening and an aft opening;
the single piece housing having an inner minimum diameter;
a single piece impeller having a maximum outer diameter greater than the inner minimum diameter of the single piece housing;
a forward bearing and an aft bearing to rotatably support the single piece impeller within the single piece housing; and,
surfaces of the oxidizer pump exposed to an oxidizer during pumping having a coating of enamel glass to prevent reaction of the oxidizer.
9 . The oxidizer turbopump of claim 8 , and further comprising:
the single piece impeller includes an axial bore;
a shaft is inserted within the axial bore; and,
a shaft tie bolt is threaded on one end of the shaft to secure the forward and aft bearings between the housing and the impeller.
10 . The oxidizer turbopump of claim 8 , and further comprising:
a forward cover plate encloses a forward opening of the housing; and,
an aft buffer seal encloses an aft opening of the housing.
11 . The oxidizer turbopump of claim 10 , and further comprising:
the forward cover plate forms a support surface for the forward bearing; and,
the aft buffer seal forms a support surface for the aft bearing.
12 . The oxidizer turbopump of claim 8 , and further comprising:
a Mondaloy coating is used below the enamel glass coating.