"Ariane 5" TPLOX Inducer Design Strategies To Enhance Cavitating Performance

Abstract

Optimization process in cavitating conditions of the axial inducer of the ``Ariane~5'' main engine liquid oxygen (LOX) turbopump is described in details. Different inducer configurations were set up and investigated, starting from the reference one to produce an optimized final geometry. Both 3D fully--viscous computations and experimental tests in water and LOX were exploited during this activity. Computations allowed the designer to identify cavitation inception on the reference inducer, and to compare its performance to the final one, assessing the effectiveness of the redesign process. Experiments were carried out to study the development of cavitation, investigate the inducer behavior in cavitating conditions, and suggest suitable modifications to the geometry. As a result, an optimized blade leading edge shape was set, which revealed a significant trend to reduce cavitation effects with a good smoothing of the head/cavitation curve.