Micro Blade Jets

High altitude experiment a SUCCESS!!!

2012-01-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

On the 31st of December I launched the Black Sky project payload with two HD cameras. I recovered the rig ~240km away downrange (320km on the highway) in excellent condition from a hill in a remote area.
I wasn't able to use the NewTrent external battery for extra camera videotaping time so the 2:20 h video cuts out before the balloon burst at about 30-33km.

I used a 1600g balloon with a SPOT GPS tracker for the recovery.
I will submit a more detailed post after the 16GB in flight video is edited and uploaded to youtube, the ''payload'' was a LEGO space shuttle.

THE VIDEO I GOT BACK IS F ANTASTIC!

Update

2011-11-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that I've received funding for launching a small payload on a weather balloon to ~35 km altitude and film the entire flight using a Go Pro Hero HD camera. The project is expected to be completed within 24 days of this posting .
Special thanks to my friend Steve Sammartino for the support.

This is what I'm aiming for:

Intake Rings

2011-11-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

I made the 1st part of the re-designed jet engine starter on my lathe, the hardest part was turning a 3.5mm radius, without any cutting tool to do that I used a pice of 20x20x1.5mm AISI 304 that I drilled with a 7 mm drillbit. Afterwards I just cut the hole in half and filed a sharp edge. The tool was quite inefficient but it did an awsome job on the soft 6000 series aluminum. I made 3 rings untill I got it to 0.02mm error which was ''too-exact'' but when I bought the lathe I decided to aim for nothing less than pefect with the parts I make and get the max out of my machine-tool.
For the 6 M3x0.5 holes I used Rhinocerous CAD to printout an exact 1:1 of the hole layout on cardbor d then used it as a template.

Glider flying competition

2011-10-17T09:22:00.001-07:00

On the 15th of octomber I participated in a glider competition for on-spot landing and overall corect flight (ranking each step of a standard runway tour: winch takeoff, flightpath, glideslope, landing etc.) in which I won 1st place ahead of 15 other pilots. Last time it was held 2 years ago(my 1st year) I got 3rd place which makes me prowd of the my overall skill.

Recently bought SN320 lathe

2011-10-01T02:06:00.000-07:00

After significant hussle I managed to get the SN320 lathe I was talking about earlier. I had to hire a large forklift to transport it on public roads and get 4 people to push it in, after that I hired an electrician to wire it up and a lathe mechanic to tune the clutch. All in all it took about a week and although I only have 2 knifes I already started making some chips and I can allready say I'm in love with machining!!!
Unfortunately I only got 2 live centers for it and a 200mm 3 jaw chuck so I got quite a bit of collecting untill I can machine real parts.

Getting a lathe!

2011-09-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

I will soon be back to work because of generous people like Markus Bindhammer, and the folks at ARCA without them my work wouldn't be possible so I wish to thanke them again with this opportunity. In 2 weeks time I will buy a second hand romanian lathe from the late 80's named SN-320.
Basic parameters:
Swing over bed: 320 mm
Distance between centers: 750 mm
Through hole: 34 mm
Power: 3 kW 380V motor
Mobile center has a morse nr. 3
Weight: 900kg
It comes with a 200mm 3 jaw chuck, 80 mm mobile rest and 100 mm steady rest, dead center, live center, and hopefully some cutting tools!

Things I need to buy extra: 4 independent jaw chuck, drillbits, an array of cutting tools, taps, reamers, dial indicator with support, 2 micrometers, a good digital caliper, thread indicator and a lot of things I'm not even aware of right now.
This is how the SN320 looks like:

All activity suspended for unknown period & R-50B SRM plans

2011-08-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

For the past 4 months I have been trying to make some parts for the jet engine starter and a new shaft tunnel and after trying all machine shops in the area only to be dissapointed again and again today I decided to give up on both jet and rocket projects untill I buy my own lathe because it is pointless to dream of gas turbines and space rockets if I have to count on half-retarded lathe operators seeking only to rip me off.
I apologise for this language and sadness but I am very frustrated, I belive my future will relly strongly on this projects and when I just lost 4 months producing nothing I shed a tear of despair.
Here is one of the solid rocket motors I designed but will probably take another 5 years to make at this phase, the casing is welded 50*1.5 mm SS 304 tube but the inside needs machining to 47.6 ID to cancel out the weld seam for the O-rings in the nozzle portion, also both the nozzle and bulkhead max OD have to be 47.6. The engine runs on a KNSB 0.8kg grain with exposed ends and 16 mm core at 125 bar (theoretical) chamber pressure and has a teoretical total impulse of 1650 N-s. The engine bulkhead holds a small initiator grain to light the large fuel grain core.
The nozzle and bulkhead can be SS or mild steel. Also please check the O-ring sizes you have there and edit the design accordingly.
Here are downloadable PDF A3 drawings :
Nozzle and bulkhead
Motor Assembly
Casing and aft ring

Note: I am NOT responsible for the eventual injury caused by the presented rocket motors nor do I guarantee they work as stated so if you proceed building them do so at your own risk and please be safe.

Free Steam engine plans

2011-07-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

The G8 steam engine, I would be very happy if someone went ahead and built this, this is my latest and posibily last steam engine design. Any questions please send me an email. Because I noticed people talking about this design on a forum I ask you to send me an email with any questions you might have.

Update

2011-07-10T14:06:00.001-07:00

Dear followers, I apologise for not posting anything lately but I was/am very busy. I changed the hybrid bearings with new ones from GRW, the engine rotor is being balanced and new parts are being made for my turbine.
I have been studying Sutton's Rocket Propulsion Elements intensively and aquiring general knowledge about rocketry also changed my design tool from SolidEdgeV20 to AutodeskInventor 2012 and getting more expirienced with Ansys.
I am getting more support from a romanian aerospace organisation but I need a serious sponsor for a large rocket engine development program.
I will post an update as soon as I find one.

Here are some of the things I designed lately:

Jet engine accesories

2011-04-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a friend from Spain, Abraham Salas, I just got hybrid bearings and a starter motor. The motor dosen't have any cluch, it's held by hand with a metal-rubber coupling spining the compressor nut. A new hybrid bearing is somewhere arround 70$ or 50 euro. I will install them, re-work my fuel valve and startup procedure and do testing middle next week.

Jet engine case

2011-03-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Still need to weld it and put 15 holes in (2 for combustion chamber supports, 1 for sparkplug and 12 at the rear for the exhaust cone) but either than that the cutting and rolling part is done!...It will be started for SURE next week if everything goes to plan ( which usualy dosen't ) . The case features a 155.6 dia X 170 cilinder + 45 degree frustum cone and a flange for ngv mounting, everything made from 0.8 mm stainless steel.

Fuel and lubrication system

2011-03-13T11:41:00.001-07:00

I made this myself over the course of 2 days. I bought 1 m of 6mm dia brass pipe and rolled up into a ring, soldered the ends together, drilled 11 holes ( 8 for liquid, 1 for gas and 2 for bearing lubrication) then soldered 2 mm brass pipe with 0.9 mm needles at the end to act as injectors.
The fuel nipples are made from 316 stainless and have been machined on a lathe.
Before bending the 2 mm brass for shaping lube lines I de-hardened it using a blowtorch to heat it up and then let it slowly cool.
Everything is silver-soldered with a 80% silver alloy.

Update 6.03.2011

2011-03-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

Right now, when I am soldering up the fuel system for the jet engine, when a new case is being welded and everything seems to come together for the 1st startup of my turbine this coming week, I decided to share with you some of my progress with other projects.

I am learning how to use the Ansys V12 features, witch will allow me to run accurate CFD, stress, buckling, rotor dynamics, vibration and all kinds of mechanical simulations in order to aid the design process of propulsion systems.

The pics shown are the 10kgf liquid rocket motor and the 1.5 kgf hybrid.

My flying activities

2011-02-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

This is a little off topic but I decided to share with you my flying experience from 2009 onwards. I got my glider pilot license at 16, back in the autumn of 2009, did my 1st solo after 64 runway tours which is very good around here and finished the year with 112 takeoffs and landings ( ~ 11 hours). 2010 was a weak year but I was lucky and did 7 hours of thermal flying both alone and with my instructor plus the regular runway tours . He was kind enough to also take me flying with his Trike and teached me the basics of hangglider flight ( had a little crash in my 1st solo with that!). This year I want to get my Silver C qualification for doing 5 hours in a single flight + 50 km and landing outside the airfield zone in a second flight.
Here are a couple of videos and photos taken at the Saulesti Airdrome, my city Deva and on a hillside nearby.

3rd shaft extension (final one!)

2011-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

A proper, final shaft extension was also made in the same order as the exhaust cone. It is machined from 316 and needs to have a coaxiality of 0.01 mm . The OD is 19 mm leaving a 0.5 mm space between the shaft spinning at incredible velocity and the static shaft tunnel. The 1st shaft extension was good but I changed the compressors and the current one has a 11.1 mm bore instead of 10 mm, the 2nd extension had large axial play and was unusable. If anyone wants the 1st shaft extension witch is perfectly fine for a 10 mm bore compressor and a 12 mm output turbine shaft I can sell it cheaply with it's associated drawi ng.

Exhaust cone

2011-01-31T15:24:00.000-08:00

After a 4 month wait, a local firm that machines parts for the aerospace field has made my exhaust cone and the 3rd shaft extension. The cone has a 1 mm wall thickness and a flange machined as a monoblock from a 140 dia X 120 mm lenght pice of 316 steel. It is very precise, within 0.01 mm. The lip at the back of the flange fits inside the NGV (still need to adjust the NGV a bit because it has warped from the heat) and is close to the output turbine blades. The cone + shaft extension was $ 120, of which I still owe $ 80, so now I am a total of $ 300 in debt because the cold section isn't fully payed. I will post a manifest shortly with all my spendings on this project.

New succesfull 30mm rocket motor test

2011-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is the 4th test of the 30mm rocket motor, I got a peak thrust of 5.5 N and a great looking orange jet.

Fuel pump

2011-01-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

A fellow jet engine builder from Spain donated me 2 used fuel pumps. They work great on 7.2 V and I'm looking for 6 bar 0.8 l/min. Will test shortly and update. Also I want to mention that I renamed my engine from R-15 to RTJ80.

Kno3 rocket motor test

2011-01-15T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here is just a PVC rocket motor that uses KNO3 + sugar as fuel and kitty litter for end caps. Weighs 72g and has ~ 40 g of fuel, 30mm diameter and 80 mm length. Don't know the thrust rating but it seems enough to get my rocket off the pad.

Gas turbine design theory

2010-12-28T08:50:00.000-08:00

I want to share with you 2 eBooks that will help you learn more about gas turbine engineering engineering:

Gas Turbine Design Theory by P. Boyce. 2nd edition ( ~800 pages)
RollsRoyce: The Jet Engine 5th edition ( ~300 pages)

On the link page you go to the bottom of the page where it is wrote: Save file to your PC click here.

NOTE!: These are older versions of the manuals, if you want the newest version or like this manuals please buy them in paper version from amazon.com .

RTJ 80 in 3D

2010-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

It took me quite a while to make this! still has some inconsistencies due to some .part errors when I moved the parts from 1 folder to another and it dosen't have accurate vaporizers or a fuel ring yet. Also I couldn't make the centrifugal compressor or output turbine to spec because they are stock and I don't have the exact factory dimensions on the curvatures and that sorta stuff.

Update

2010-12-28T04:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted everything in a while now but I want to reassure my visitors that I'm still working on my projects.

1st: The gas turbine :the project still needs a new shaft extension for the centrifugal compressor and the exhaust cone (which is not that ''necessary'') in order to start it up for the 1st time. In late September I went to a local firm that makes turbine disks for the RR Trent 800 which by pure coincidence is a 10 min walk away from my house! anyways they agreed to make my parts for my little jet engine at a minimum price, I just had to find the materials needed. After a really long walk to all the milling shops in the city I found a perfect 316 steel supplier and got a 140 dia X 110 mm lenght of stainless steel for 30 $. It was really hard to bring it home because that thing had 14 kg! After bringing it to the firm which is called Aeroconsulting , I was told it will only take a couple of days to make the parts I need. That was in SEPTEMBER!!! and I've been there every week or so to check if they made them but no luck, they are behind schedule on the RR parts so they are waiting for a production break to deal with mine ( this will happen just after the new year before they get an order for a new batch of parts)
They are prettymuch my last hope.

Since my last post I made a 2nd shaft extension but it's way off center and useless, I also found perfect springs for the bearing pre-load.

2nd: Software and design theory :

In the past months I have improved my CAD skills by doing the whole turbine in SolidEdge V20, I also recently got SolidWorks 2010 and I am currently adapting to it. Also a interesting program for CFD is Ansys V13 which I'm still trying to figure out how to install since I don't have a license.

I have read RollsRoyce: the gas turbine .pdf book and printed out and currently working my way through Gas Turbine Engineering Handbook by Meherwan P. Boyce which is great book for gas turbine engineering.

3rd: Steam engines :

I have dropped my 12 cylinder radial engine for a much simpler and well build 6 cylinder radial. I got all the brass and copper I need for it, the only problem is that I tried and failed to make a hexagonal frame to dimensions. I am getting very frustrated by my utter lack of tools the vise I used to hammer the brass flat bar into a ring for the 12 cylinder project has broke in half because it was poorly made. I will try to get a small new one and then continue because if I don't make the frame right (which happened the last time) everything will be off' .

R-15 with case

2010-06-29T04:20:00.001-07:00

The case is made from 316 1mm thick sheet rolled and MIG welded and still lacks the NGV holes or the holes for mounting the comb chamber supports/sparkplug. After a good sanding and hammering I got the engine ''guts'' to fit inside quite smoothly. Still need a few components before I turn this baby on!

Exhaust ring/cone

2010-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

This are the final parts for the hot section of the engine...The exhaust ring fits on the NGV and around the output turbine, also welded to it there is an exhaust cone, without it the engine won't produce almost any useful thrust. I am trying to get a friend from the US to make the ring/cone or if that isn't possible it will take longer because I have to order the material for the ring and I don't think that anybody here will respect the dimensions of the cone. The exhaust ring is 316 steel . The cone is made from 0.7 mm stainless sheet.

The R-15 gas turbine

2010-05-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am proud to present the R-15, a year and a half into this project and a considerable sum of money later here it is: the hot section ,cold section and engine core finally meet into a very nice example of engineering. I estimate 80-100 $ are needed to ready the engine for the 1st start up. A case and exhaust cone needs to be machined + I need a digital tachometer and a temperature gauge and a fuel pump. I also will make the fuel rings and injection needles which are relatively cheap.

R-15 new shaft tunnel

2010-05-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

New shaft tunnel designed for my R-15 gas turbine incorporating all the changes I made to the overall design in the past year. It's made from 316 steel and was 150 $ (also had a shaft,compressor and turbine spacer + 2 washers and a bearing cap)
Everything fits nice but the rear flange of the shaft tunnel has 2 sets of holes due to a machining error, the bearing cap also but this dose not affect it in any significant way.

Repaired output turbine thread

2010-05-16T02:47:00.000-07:00

The M10*1.5 thread on the exhaust turbine was perfectly fine until the lathe operator making the shaft extension for it didn't bother to check what was it's step and used M10*1.25 resulting in a woooping 2.5 mm difference each 10 coils. After making the extension he forced it in which worked for 4-5 coils and then jammed. I took it to another lathe shop in the city and it was a 5 minute fix, now I assigned them to make my shaft tunnel.

New shaft tunnel design

2010-05-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

I bought a 55mm diameter * 200 mm lenght bar of 316 steel that will be machined in 1-2 weeks into the shaft tunnel of my jet engine, also many of spacers,bearing cap and washers will be made. After this I only need a case + exhaust cone to start up for the first time!

Radial engine crankshaft excentric & finished pistons

2010-05-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

This is the crankshaft excentric that connects all the 12 piston bolts to the crankshaft. It has 29 individual parts and is handmade, still have to solder the center pipe to the 2 plates.

12 pistons for a radial engine

2010-05-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

The 3 photos show 3 different stages of making/finishing handmade pistons for my radial steam engine.Still need to bore the crankshaft lever bolt in the side.

Small steam engine powering a lightbulb

2010-04-18T08:37:00.001-07:00

This is my smallest steam engine and my newest. It has a 14 mm piston and hooked up to a small electric motor that acts as a generator via a elastic band and some gearing produces 2.2V without load and 0.8 V with the lightbulb. The engine has far more potential but I don't mess with steam under pressure while having no safety valve or pressure reading.
If you would like to build this little machine contact me and I will help you with everything you need to know for free.

P.S: you only need a soldering lamp and some drills to build this. no lathe or machining required.

15 mm steam engine

2010-04-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Another weekend project, a little/simple steam engine made from 15 mm copper piping and brass bits and pices. It's almost finished just have to cover the hole in the valve cylinder ( it is a remnant of the construction process and also helps when your doing the valve timing ) and to change the valve rod/make engine board smaller. Also a smaller metal flywheel would be better for looks.

Cold section done.

2010-03-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

The cold section (intake cone, diffuser, intake ring) was machined in the US and will ship in 1-2 weeks. Here are a couple of photos also featuring a new compressor. The material for the cold section is 6061 aluminum and 7075 for the compressor. All this was possible due to a sponsorship by ARCA and brings the finishing term to ~ 2 months with just the shaft tunnel and case to be made.

Back to work!

2010-03-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Now that the jet engine funding has been approved I will resume work on the steam engine and post as often as I make progress on it. Also you will see great progress on the jet engine which I presume will be 90% complete in the following weeks. Hurray for ARCA!

Here is the former shaft tunnel, now all rusty due to ''mistaken'' material by the fabricator.

Blog update

2010-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

I have not posted new articles recently because all my work has stoped for a couple of days now.
Big changes are ahead as ARCA ( romanian aeronautics and cosmonautics association ) has offered help and I am currently working to get a considerable sum of money for my turbojet engine.
I will also participate in the summer at the Competition Ten which offers a 10.000 Euro prise for the longest glide in a all paper built airplane with only non-fibrous glue.
If I win, I will have enough money to built a sub-orbital launcher which is the slightly longer term dream I have.

12 cylinders mounter on engine frame

2010-02-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Still need to bolt 9 of them! Not bad for a week's work, everything is done by hand.

Priests bless ski slope from teleski

2010-02-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

Orthodox priests bless a ski slope from a tele-ski. This is ridiculously stupid.
The video starts at 0:08 , skip there if you don't wanna hear the romanian comments.

A few questions:
1. Is now a Holy ski slope?
2. Can the spraying of holy water used as a artificial snow installation?
3. Why do people ask priests to bless their cars? they even did a work-gym

I don't do religious or funny videos but I thought this would be interesting.

6 cylinder radial steam engine

2010-02-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

3 cyl's are bolted and another 3 that I've made today are fixed with sticky rubber, just so I can make an idea of how it will look overall.

Radial engine 3 cylinders bolted in

2010-02-09T07:44:00.001-08:00

This is as far as I got with the radial steam engine.

Radial engine work

2010-02-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

I've done 2 cylinders today (still have to sand out a bit of the solder), also had to reform one of the engine frames so it fits spec.

Radial engine frame

2010-02-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

The frame is made from a 38cm pice of brass 2.5^7 mm flat bar bent at 30 degree's . The engine requires 2 of this.

100% BioDiesel gas turbine

2010-01-31T13:01:00.000-08:00

This is a video I found on youtube of a TRI-60 a expendable turbojet mainly used for UAV's.
It first ran in 1974 producing 3.5kN-5.3kN (350-530 kgf) and now was converted to run on BioDiesel.

Steam engine finished

2010-01-23T16:26:00.001-08:00

My 5th steam engine is 99% finished, a modified version of this prototype will be the engine unit for my 12 cylinder radial project. I built this prototype to learn how I can make the engine distribution and a more efficient piston.

Steam engine mount

2010-01-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

Just the camshaft, valve lever/sync and shaft mount to do :)

Steam engine crankshaft

2010-01-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

The crankshaft is made from 5 pices, 2^7 mm plate and 6 mm round bar. It has a 22 mm stroke, just like the cylinder diameter. Also the engine distribution has made a bit of progress.

Steam engine distribution finished.

2010-01-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

I did the 2 valve cylinders,valves, inlet/outlet pipes and valves. Tried a couple of different options but this simple one works best, still have to fine-tune for better seal.

3 engine valve deigns

2010-01-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

I already tried to build the 1st one from the left to the right and it won't work...I think the best option is the 3rd featured on many engines with a spring above the valve cylinder.
A working engine prototype is still 1-2 weeks off.

New cross section, just to show how big the frame should be built so all 12 cylinders fit on it.

12 cylinder radial engine part 1

2010-01-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

After 2 days of work I am close to a working prototype for the basic 1 cylinder units that make up the bigger engine. After this it will be tested and improved before make 12 of these. Also a the final version will be much more clean solder.

Steam engine handmade piston

2009-12-31T08:10:00.001-08:00

This is the piston prototype for the 12 cyl radial engine I am building. I's all made from brass and copper pipe/round and flat bar. Took me about 3 hours to build it with basic tools.

All the components and a size comparison with a 1 euro coin.

12 cylinder radial steam engine

2009-12-29T10:35:00.000-08:00

My latest project is a handmade 12 cylinder radial steam engine. The materials needed have been ~ 30 $ . This is the hardest challenge I've ever faced except the jet engine. If all goes to plan in 2-3 weeks I will post a video of the engine completed and running.

Materials:
Brass: 6mm^1 m tube
4mm^1 m tube and round bar
2^7mm plate
2mm^1 m tube
Copper: 50 mm of 22 mm bore pipe.
The shaft will be made from iron 6 mm nails and brass.

A basic sketch of the engine's inner workings.

2 piston steam engine, a bitch to solder

2009-12-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

I did this shaft for a older 2 piston engine...It's made from 13 parts each within 20 mm of each other a total bitch to solder! It took me about 20 tries to make it happen.
After 2 weeks of work on this engine with blood sweat and tears, it was a failure it barely produced any power at all and required a compressor to run.

A more technical christmas tree...

2009-12-27T12:06:00.001-08:00

Since I have decided not to buy a christmas tree this year I did a little decorating on my turbine components and I'd recon this is the best tree I have ever had!

Ho Ho Ho

Steam engine cylinder/piston

2009-12-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

The inside of my double acting steam engine

Homemade double acting steam engine

2009-12-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

This steam engine is made from copper pluming parts and 3 mm spool wire.
The cylinder: 22mm copper pipe
The valve cylinder: 10 mm copper pipe
Piston: A coin soldered on a nail
Valves: 2 nails
Crankshaft: 3mm spool wire
Camrods: 3mm spool wire
This are the main parts of it, the L supports and other components are made from copper pipe turned into sheet metal.

How to design/build your own steam engine

2009-12-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

A little toy steam engine is the best project for christmas, it is quite simple to make and requires only basic tools to get it cranking.
I built my first steam engine a year ago, a bicycle pump served as piston and cylinder while a pen that acted as a valve was slowly melting away.
I have come quite a long way from the early days, built 3 more each better than the last(1 piston full metal , 2 piston, 1 piston double acting )

For this project you will need: a air pump and some various metal bits and pices .
A nail will act as the valve, and some wood to build the stand .

800 Hp Turboshaft engine

2009-12-19T06:53:00.000-08:00

Waaaaaaaat? 700-1000 hp from that sweet turboshaft? The RR Allison 250 has 3 axial and 1 centrifugal compressor and a 2 stage output turbine. The 2nd stage is used for the H65 turboprop. The engine is currently used for small helicopter applications.

R-15 complete CAD crossection

2009-12-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

Romanian Birds

2009-12-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

IS-28B2 and IAR-35 Acro gliders, just some random pics from the airclub.

Shaft tunnel plans for the R-15

2009-12-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Most of the drawings I offer are badly designed or won't fit try to build this and your jet won't work, all the drawings I offer are purely for documentation reasons.

This shaft has already been machined and is a faulty design because the axial swing is 8-10 mm instead of 0.15 to acomodate the shaft dilating under the heat.
But this are the fundamentals of a shaft tunnel. Both front and rear bearings are
springloaded under 30 N .

Click for full size.

Diffuser plans for the R-15

2009-12-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

This are my first drawings of the R-15 diffuser. It is a 2 stage aluminum diffuser.
The total diameter is 182mm and the material is 6061 aluminum. On the far right you see the bearing cap used to hold the front bearing in the shaft tunnel.

NEW shaft assembly!

2009-12-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

This is the 2nd shaft I made, it's a extension for the output turbine shaft. Modifications: the compressor is bored to 10 mm and the bearings now are 12^8^28 instead of the much smaller 8^7^22. The material is still 316 steel.

H65 turboprop and crossection.

2009-12-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

My jet engine will be similar in power with the h65 presented here in a turboprop configuration and a MW-54 turboprop cutaway.

6.5 million $ gas turbine droped.

2009-12-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

The fun bit is at 2:30

Shaft drawings

2009-12-18T06:59:00.001-08:00

Click on the images for full scale.
The material can be either 316 steel or AISI4140.

This also includes the compressor nut (any aluminum will do) and compressor spacer made from the same material as the shaft.

R-15 NGV an output turbine

2009-12-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

The NGV has a radial flow and is made from 304 steel. The output turbine is Inconel 713C.

R-15 combustion chamber

2009-12-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

The R-15 combustion chamber is made from 1mm 304 steel sheet it has 8 vaporiser (J) tubes and a radial flow NGV .

R-15 1st Shaft tunnel

2009-12-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

The 1st variant of the shaft tunnel made from mild steel.

R-15 1st shaft and shaft assembly.

2009-12-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

R-15 Shaft

The 1st shaft I made at a local CNC shop from 316 steel

Types of jet engines

2009-12-17T13:54:00.000-08:00

The turbojet:

This is the standard jet engine, all it's power comes from the hot gas stream produced.
It is used to power turboprop's and turbofan's.

Turbofan:

Most commonly used in comercial
aviation it is a high bypass ratio engine ideal for subsonic speeds.
It has a big fan encased in a duct mounted in the front that is driven by a gas turbine.

Turboprop:

A jet engine in the turboprop assembly has the role of a gas generator, most of the exhaust gases are turned into shaft power by a secondary turbine that is connected to a gearbox and propeller. The hot exhaust jet provides only 10% of the power in a turboprop most of it's energy taken by the secondary turbine.

Ramjet

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill.

Ramjets are used mainly in experimental aircraft.

Pulse jet:
It is a jet engine know by it's simplicity and low cost, not used in many commercial applications for high fuel consumption and low performance.
In this engine combustion occurs in pulses hence the name pulse-jet. This engine can either have a valve on the fuel intake or be valveless in which case there are no moving components resulting in high reliability

Scramjet:

This is a variation of the ramjet, It is under development at NASA for experimental hypersonic aircraft like the X-43 , X-30.
essentially consists of a constricted tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a combustion chamber where fuel is combusted, and a nozzle through which the exhaust jet leaves at higher speed than the inlet air.

How dose a jet engine work?

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Wikipedia elaborate answer:

A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton's law of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojet, turbofans, ramjets, thermojets, and rockets . In general, most jet engines are internal combustion engines but non-combusting forms also exist.

For dummies:

You see a jet engine is just a engine that works by pushing some fluid out the back end. A jet engine is quite simple component-wise, you got 2 fan's mounted on a shaft with a combustion chamber in the middle. The 1st fan puts air in the combustion chamber where it burns with fuel and the expanding hot gases drive the exhaust fan, in turn turning the 1st one.
If you have fuel it will keep going!