2023 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 285-290
Recently, reusable rockets are receiving a lot of attention. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) is often used as a fuel of rockets and turbopumps using it needs high-speed rotation. However, it often brings vibration problems. Oil dampers or rubber dampers cannot be used because LH2 brings cryogenic environments. Therefore, wire-mesh dampers have been used for rocket dampers by friction force, but these dampers get worn down, so these are not for use of reusable rockets. We propose a multiple-degree-of-freedom eddy current damper for liquid hydrogen turbopumps. The proposed damper can reduce vibration in no mechanical contact using electromagnetic force and doesn’t need any maintenances. In this paper, the structure and principle of this damper are proposed. In addition, the damping performance in cryogenic temperature is evaluated using a three-dimensional finite element method analysis.
