Abstract
In order to develop Stirling cycle machines with high efficiency, suitable regenerator for each machine must be designed. To realize the flexibility of design and to improve the performance of regenerator, a new matrix, mesh sheet was proposed. It is a plate type with electrically etched holes. Each small hole is connected with neighboring holes by grooves on the plate. The performance test of cooling mode was carried out with a 3-kW Stirling engine in order to measure its cooling performance. Three types of the mesh sheet were developed and two of them were respectively stacked to install in the machine. Also, the pressure and regenerator losses were compared with conventional stacked wire gauzes and the mesh sheets. From the results, it was clarified that the performance of the cooling mode was improved about 5 to 40 % by the mesh sheet. In this paper, the relation between the dimensions of the mesh sheet, the pressure and regenerator losses were also clarified.
