Design and Performance Analysis of Rotor Blades of

Turbo Molecular Pump under Dynamic Loading

Conditions

By
Sahab Hafeez (170501049)
Azhar Hussain (170501043)

Supervisor
Dr. Muhammad Umer

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Institute of Space Technology
2021
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost we are extremely grateful to our supervisors, Dr.M. Umer (internal) and Dr.
Abdul Wasay (external) for their invaluable advice, continuous support, and patience during our
thesis study. Their immense knowledge and plentiful experience have encouraged us in all the
time of our academic research and daily life. We would also like to thank Dr. Talha Irfan and Dr.
M.Anwar for their technical support on our study. We would like to thank all the lab instructors
in the CNC Lab. It is their kind help and support that have made our model possible. We would
also like to thank whole mechanical department especially Dr. Asif Israr, HOD mechanical
department for his valuable suggestions, ever encouraging and motivating guidance. Finally, we
would like to express our gratitude to our parents, colleagues and friends. Without their
tremendous understanding and encouragement in the past few years, it would be impossible for
us to complete our project.

i
 ABSTRACT
Turbo Molecular Pump (TMP) performance is strongly linked to the rotational velocity of the
rotor blades. With the increasing of Rpm, rotor blades deflection starts to appear. To obtain the
stable performance of TMP at higher Rpm, its material quality and blade design needs to be
optimized. So in order to improve the performance and reduce the deformation, different
materials are used and blade design has been modified. The improved design of rotor blade is
modeled in CAD software. The structural analysis is performed in ANSYS workbench to analyze
and check for structural integrity by using different materials. It was observed that aluminum has
less deformation as compared to titanium and structural steel. High cycle fatigue of turbo
molecular pump rotor blade is a significant design problem because fatigue failures can occur as
TMP rotates and hence resulting in formation and propagation of cracks in the high stress region.
Fatigue failure when part is subjected toting stresses, and material Imperfections. Stress-range
diagrams are used to quantify the allowable alternating stress amplitudes to avoid fatigue
damage. Fatigue analysis of rotor blades is performed and optimized by modifying blade design
and using different material. Different materials like Titanium alloy, aluminum 7075 and
structural steel are used for our analysis. The analysis is performed at 30,000 rpm using ansys
workbench.

ii
 TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: TMP cross sectional view............................................................................................................3
Figure 2: compound turbo molecular pump.................................................................................................4
Figure 3: principle of operation...................................................................................................................5
Figure 4: (a) literature collisions (b) Reality................................................................................................5
Figure 5: molecules leaving surface of blade...............................................................................................6
Figure 6: molecules leaving rotors/stators...................................................................................................6
Figure 7: open blade....................................................................................................................................7
Figure 8: close blade....................................................................................................................................7
Figure 9: general concept of absolute and relative velocity.........................................................................8
Figure 10: Geometry of Blade...................................................................................................................10
Figure 11: blade profile (a) original (b) modified......................................................................................13
Figure 12: Table_1....................................................................................................................................14
Figure 13: experimental setup...................................................................................................................14
Figure 14: FBD..........................................................................................................................................15
Figure 15: CAD modal..............................................................................................................................17
Figure 16: total deformation of aluminum.................................................................................................18
Figure 17: Total deformation for structural steel.......................................................................................18
Figure 18: Eq.von misses stress for structural steel...................................................................................19
Figure 19: Total deformation for titanium.................................................................................................19
Figure 20: Eq.(von misses) stress titanium................................................................................................19
Figure 21: Eq. (von misses) stress aluminum...........................................................................................19
Figure 22: Table_2....................................................................................................................................20
Figure 23: Total deformation along blade’s edge length............................................................................20
Figure 24: Eq. (Von misses) stress along blade’s edge length...................................................................21
Figure 25: Deformation and stress along blade’s edge length....................................................................21
Figure 26: Aluminum with modified blade Total deformation..................................................................22
Figure 27: Eq. (Von misses) stress............................................................................................................22
Figure 28: table_3......................................................................................................................................22
Figure 29: comparison between original and modified blade....................................................................23
Figure 30: graph of stress amplitude Vs mean stress.................................................................................24
Figure 31: Fatigue damage of Aluminum..................................................................................................24
Figure 32: Fatigue life of Aluminum.........................................................................................................24
Figure 33: FOS of Aluminum....................................................................................................................25
Figure 34: graph for aluminum: load vs. life.............................................................................................25
Figure 35: Titanium...................................................................................................................................26
Figure 36: fatigue life aluminum (modified blade)....................................................................................26
Figure 37: FOS Titanium...........................................................................................................................27
Figure 38: FOS (aluminum) modified blades............................................................................................27
Figure 39: load vs. life (a) aluminum (original and modified). (b) Titanium............................................27
Figure 40: load vs. life Titanium (original and modified...........................................................................28
Figure 41: load vs. life aluminum (original and modified..........................................................................28
Figure 42: experimental setup...................................................................................................................29

iii
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: rotor stages with pressure............................................................................................................14
Table 2: comparison of materials...............................................................................................................20
Table 3: deflection and stresses in original and modified aluminum rotor.................................................22
Table 4: comparison of procedures with maximum deformation...............................................................29

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i
ABSTRACT ii
LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
iii
LIST OF TABLES ..iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS .v
LIST OF ACRONYMS
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..vi
CHAPTER 1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1

INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 .motivation ..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
1.2 .overview ……..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
1.3 .research objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
1.4 .outline and methodology …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2

CHAPTER 2 ……………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2

LITERATURE REVIEW………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

2.1. History of TMP

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

2.2. Principle of TMP ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

2.3. TMP operation …………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

2.4. Analysis techniques for TMP structural design …..…………………………………………………………………………….7

2.4.1. Analysis technology TMP …………………………………..………………………………………………………………………….7

2.5. Vibration analysis of rotor ……………………………………..………………………….

……………………………………………..7

2.5.1. Blade vibrations …………………………………………………..……………………….……………………………………………….7

2.5.2. Dynamic vibrations of rotor ………………………………….…………………….…………………………………………………8

2.5.3. Rotor vibrations of blade ……….………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………..8

v
2.6. Inside TMP ………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………..9

2.7. TMP velocity triangles ………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………….9

2.8. Application for TMP ……………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………....9

2.9. Characteristics of TMP …………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………9

2.9.1. Gas loads

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9

2.9.2. Critical backing pressure ……………………………………………………………….……………………………………………..9

2.9.3. Compression ratio ……………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………….9

2.9.4. Pumping speed of TMP ………………………………………………………….….………………………………………………..11

2.9.5. Specific pumping speed ………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………..11

2.9.6. Emptying of chamber in high vacuum region …………………………..………………………………………………….11

2.9.7. Determination of suitable backing pump ………………………………………..…………………………………………..11

2.10. Material fatigue ………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………….12

CHAPTER 3 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

3.1. Design and CAD model ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

3.2. Ansys analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………14

3.3. Fabrication …………………………………………………………………………………………..………………..........................14

CHAPTER 4 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15

ANALYTICAL MODELLING ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

CHAPTER 5 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………17

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES ADAPTED ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

5.1. CAD modelling ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

5.2. ANSYS workbench analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

CHAPTER 6 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18

EXPERIMENTATION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18

6.1. Assumptions …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18

6.2. Boundary conditions ….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….18

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6.3. Structural analysis and results ……………………………………………………………….………………………………………18

6.4. Optimization by rotor’s blade modification ….……………………………………….……………………………….………22

6.5. Fatigue analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………23

CHAPTER 7 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...28

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28

7.1. Experimental setup …..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28

CHAPTER 8 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………29

Societal impact, environment and sustainability …………….…………………………………………………………………….29

CHAPTER 9 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………30

CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..30

CHAPTER 10 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….30

FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………30

REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….30

vii
 LIST OF ACRONYMS

M molar mass of the gas.

VB The average tangential velocity of the blades.
KB Boltzmann’s constant
NA Avogadro’s number
T Operating Temperature
fα Blade angle
n total number of blades
Df blade thickness factor
ć Mean thermal speed of molecules

A inlet area
K compression ratio
Q gas evolution

viii
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Motivation:
The work described in this thesis was conducted at the institute of space technology,
Islamabad. The reasons for conducting the research work on turbo molecular pump was its usage
in a wide range of high and ultra-high vacuum applications, research and development
organizations and in semi-conductor industry where the pumps have to bear corrosive gases or
critical conditions. TMP pumps are easy to operate and have low maintenance cost. As compared
to many pumps they have low vibration, no hydrocarbon operation with no regeneration
phenomenon. They can provide pumping speed up-to 4000 l/s in high, ultra-high and extreme
high vacuum ranges. To provide the industry with improved TMP pumps is our main motivation
behind our research. At high rpm of TMP its blades starts to deflect, so to improve the
performance and minimize the deflection at higher rpm is our first task. Secondly Fatigue
analysis of rotor blades of TMP needs to be done under different material conditions. Different
materials were analyzed under different parameters. Our motivation behind this project is to
improve the performance of TMP at higher speed and to avoid fatigue in pumps.

1.2 overview:
The project is related to design and performance analysis of rotor blades of turbo-
molecular pump under dynamic loading conditions. TMP is a pump which is used to create ultra-
high vacuum. It is just like a turbine with rotor blades. On high RPM, its rotor blades subjected
to deflection. In order to have stable performance of TMP on high RPMs, its material quality and
rotor blade design needs to be improved. To improve the rotor blade’s design, CAD software is
used to model the rotor blade. Another software ANSYS workbench is used to done structural
analysis to verify the structural integrity by using different materials. Another design problem
which can be experienced by TMP is high cycle fatigue, as fatigue failure propagates when due
to rotation of rotor blades results cracks in high stress region. Different materials are analyzed for
fatigue analysis on parameters like fatigue senstivity, factor of safety, life and von misses
stresses. The analysis was performed on 20,000 RPM using ANSYS workbench.

1.3 Research Objectives:

 Design and performance analysis of rotor blades of TMP under dynamic loading
conditions.

 Structural analysis of the rotor of TMP.

 To vary the blading configuration and rotor physical parameters.

 Fatigue analysis of TMP

1
 1.4 Outline and methodology:
Turbo-molecular pump is a type of vacuum pump which is used to create high vacuum.
TMP is just like a turbine with blades. The gas molecules are given momentum with the help of
rotating blades. When working on high RPM its rotor blades experiences deflection. The stability
of TMP is effected due to deflection of rotors at high RPM. Detailed literature review is done in
order to understand the working of TMP. To have stable performance of TMP its blade design
should be improved and its material quality should be replaced. For modeling of rotor blades,
SolidWorks (CAD) software is used. Static structural analysis is done on ANSYS workbench to
prove its structural integrity. Different materials like Titanium, aluminum and steel is
incorporated. Fatigue analysis is done in ANSYS workbench of different materials and results
are compared. Different materials are analyzed for fatigue analysis on parameters like fatigue
senstivity, factor of safety, life and von misses stresses. The analysis was performed on 30,000
RPM using ANSYS workbench. The design and analysis of TMP’s rotor blades is done while
maintaining sustainability and developments goals in mind. Good jobs, economic growth,
innovation and infrastructure are main SDGs of our project.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 History of TMP:

Turbo-molecular pump was invented by Becker in 1857 which was just like the turbine in
terms of construction. The older molecular pumps were developed by Wolfgang Gaede in 1913,
Fernand Holweck in 1923 and Manne Siegbahn in 1944.

2.2 principle of TMP:

Turbo-molecular pump is used to create and maintain ultra-high vacuum in different
systems. The gas molecules are given momentum with the help of rotating blades. The gas
molecules are given directional motion. The gas molecules are directed from inlet port to exhaust
port. At exhaust port, a backing pump is installed which is used to evacuate the chamber which is
already in vacuum range. Below 10-3 mbar which comes under molecular flow range. In gas
molecules flow in TMP, the mean free path of gas molecules is larger than the distance between
rotor and stator blades, gas molecules collide with rotor blades and their thermal velocity is
increased due to momentum from rotor blades. When the momentum of gas molecules is
increased, molecules move from one rotor blade to another until they reached at exhaust port. As
molecular flow must be continuous in TMP, so molecular collisions should also be continuous.
Mean free path should be always larger than rotor-stator blade spacing. Molecules of TMP does
not collide with themselves but with rotor.

2
 Figure 1: TMP cross sectional view

2.3 TMP Operation:

TMPs are used for high speed, free oil pollution and TMPs are widely used for vacuum
systems and room cleaning, mainly in semi-conductor industry, this guarantees the ultra-clean
environment for high precision working. The cost of TMP is US$25,000. During manufacturing
if TMP got damaged, this results the economic loss and the corresponding repair cost. TMP is
usually damaged by vibrations during high RPM of up to 30000 RPM with inevitable
disturbances due to opening and closing of chamber doors to feed/eject chamber. At pressure
below 10-3 mbar in range of molecular flow, the distance of mean free path is always larger than
the distance between stator-rotor assemblies. That’s why molecules of gas collides with rotor
blades and not with each other. For this reason pump works best in above mentioned range.
When pressure exceeds the above mentioned limit i.e. in laminar region at pressure above 10 -1
mbar intermolecular collisions will be greater. That’s why TMP cannot evacuate the system
when it is on atmospheric pressure. Another fore vacuum pump is attached with TMP which
shifts the atmospheric to cross-over pressure. On cross over pressure, we can further operate
TMP on pump down process. Its RPM can vary from 30,000 to 90,000 RPM. 1 Torr is basically
the cross over pressure of TMP. The above factor is ten times higher pressure than the maximum

3
designed cross-over pressure for most oil vapour diffusion pump (100 Torr). When the pressure
will be above 1 Torr, TMP blades will get slow by collisions with gas molecules. Due to this
motor will get overload and speed of TMP blades will get slow that will be ineffective for
pumping gas. Just like diffusion pump, TMP have some moving parts that can cause vibration
which badly effects precision instruments like electron microscope and surface science probes. A
mechanical backing pump at exhaust cause vibrations of about 60 or 120 Hz. Due to imbalances
in TMP high frequency vibrations occurs. For many vacuum applications this minute amount of
vibrations is ignorable. When vibrations remain minimum and pumping characteristics are
required, a magnetically rise rotor design can give the solution. Such type of TMPs can use oil
free bearings on starting and exiting of turbo. On normal routine, the rotor is usually on top of
bearings with the help of strong magnets, this will eliminate mechanical vibrations. Magnetically
rise TMPs are used to operate for long time durations with few problems. The oil free
mechanical bearings needs to be replaced due to wear and tear, when magnetically rise TMP is
started or stopped. After minimizing of vibration, the magnetically rise rotor design give the
option of mounting in any direction, as no oil sumps are found in most conventional turbo
pumps.

Figure 2: compound turbo molecular pump

4
The internal view of compound turbo molecular pump is shown in figure 2. They can reach to
UHV and exhaust approximately 0.1mbar. The exhaust pressures and throughputs can be
increased by (>20mbar).

Figure 3: principle of operation

The molecules travel in the direction of the arrow. Each length of the arrow shows the chances
that molecules will travel in that direction.

Figure 4: (a) literature collisions (b) Reality

When high rotational speeds (>1000 Hz) tip velocity = molecular thermal velocities.

5
 Figure 5: molecules leaving surface of blade

For proper motion, blade speed and molecular velocity needs to be same. In figure 5, it shows
there is chance that molecules will leave the surface of blade in downward direction.

Figure 6: molecules leaving rotors/stators

6
 Figure 7: open blade
 The blades attached at the upper end of the pump are called open blades.
 The open blade structure will give high pumping speed and low compression ratio.

Figure 8: close blade

 Those blades which are at the bottom of the pump have closed blade structure.
 The closed blade structure will give low pumping speed and high compression ratio.

2.4 Analysis techniques for TMP structural design:

2.4.1. Analysis technology TMP:
Due to advanced capabilities of computer systems and processing capability of mechanical
analysis tools, to design the complicated systems like TMP using FEA techniques is wide spread.
These techniques are used to analyze the TMP 100,000 up to 250,000 rpm. The following areas
are:
 Magnetic bearing’s static analysis
 Rotor blade’s modal analysis
 Full rotational system’s modal and harmonic analysis
 Blade rotor’s full modal analysis
 Blade rotor’s stress analysis
 TMP’s thermal analysis

2.5 Vibration analysis of rotor:

Life of TMP and its system performance largely depends upon dynamic stability of rotor at high
rotational speeds. Dynamic stability can be analyzed in three ways:

2.5.1. Blade vibrations:

Vibration issue is the common problem in turbo-machinery. Here single blade protruded
in its natural frequency. It causes rubbing of tip, and show high cycle fatigue.

7
2.5.2. Dynamic vibrations of rotor:
Turbo-machinery rotating systems, including bearings and rotor, can produce vibrations
of different mode. In such dynamic behavior, stiffness of bearings and hosing becomes critical.

2.5.3. Rotor vibrations of blade:

In some circumstances, combination of rotor and blades structure develops higher modes
in the rotor. It can produce high cycle fatigue.

2.6 Inside TMP:

TMPs can be used in wide varieties of high vacuum technologies between 10 -4 to 10-10
Torr. TMP have rotor blades ranging from 25 to 60 blades, piled with alteration with rows of
stator blades and gas molecules would be pumped between path ways. The rotor is attached to
the shaft, with a dc brushless motor and motor would be driven at blade-tip speed as near to the
thermal speeds of the gas molecules to be pumped. TMP experiences problems related to rotor
dynamics. For achieving 15%-20% critical speed margin, rotor dynamic design is of great
concern. To evaluate the dynamic characteriscs of TMP, rotor bearing analysis would be
investigated.

2.7 TMP velocity triangles:

Velocity triangles are used to describe the kinetics of the flow in a turbo machine. As a
change in head is due to a change in tangential velocity components times the tangential speed at
the respective location. For that purpose it is essential to know the velocities in the absolute and
relative frame of reference.
 Absolute frame of reference: non-rotating, fixed with respect to ground.
 Relative frame of reference rotating with rotor, i.e. the frame of reference if you as an
observer sit on the rotor.
In a rotating machine it is the circumferential velocity components that relate absolute and
relative velocities. Absolute velocities are commonly denoted by “c” whereas relative velocities
are denoted by “w”. The general concept is illustrated in above figure 9.

Figure 9: general concept of absolute and relative velocity

8
2.8 Applications for TMP:
TMP has many applications in industries like semiconductor equipment manufacturing,
deposition of thin film and detection of leak in manufacturing. With the help of throttled turbo-
molecular pumps, as it has characteristics of high pumping speed, sputter deposition methods are
done in coating industries based on the flow of process gas, normally at pressures of 3 to 50
millitorr are normally done. Turbo pumps are efficient in pumping argon gas. Turbo pumps are
also efficient in detecting leaks. In vacuum field, turbo pumps are preferred for detecting leaks
due to high vacuum pump. They have another application of detecting leaks in atmospheric gases
(oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) to compare it with helium (light gas) as TMP have high
pumping speed for atmospheric gases. Helium is used in some cases for leak detection as it has
small molecular size, it is rare in atmosphere and have low toxicity. Almost 90 percent of
applications related to high vacuum uses turbo-molecular pumps which usually replace oil based
diffusion pump.

2.9 characteristics of TMP:

2.9.1. Gas Loads:
Pump transports the gas flow which is given by:
dV
q pv =s∗p= ∗p
dt
The above equations shows the gas load of the pump. As gas load has direct relation with
pressure. When the gas pressure is on critical condition, the turbo-molecular pumping speed
decreases and finally reaches to zero. TMP’s gas load depends upon the nature of gas and type of
cooling. Noble gases which are heavy and have low specific heat, only few heat is released in
surrounding. Due to this phenomenon stator and rotor blades gets heat-up and unless effective
cooling is done. In order to avoid this, we should regularly check the temperature of the rotor and
RPM should be controlled in order to ensure the safety of the pump.

2.9.2: critical backing pressure:

It is basically the maximum backing pressure provided by backing pump at exhaust of TMP,
further this the pump’s compression declines. Nitrogen’s maximum critical backing pressure is
always specified.

2.9.3: compression ratio:

p outlet
The compression ratios for TMPs is noted as: k =
P intake
n
V B√M
{ [
k max= exp
( √2 2 K B N A T ) ]}
fα

9
Where,
M = molar mass of the gas.
V B = is the average tangential velocity of the blades.

K B= Boltzmann’s constant

N A = Avogadro’s number

T= Operating Temperature
f α = blade angle

n = total number of blades

Maximum compression has exponential relation with root of molar mass (M) and blade speed
VB.

Figure 10: Geometry of Blade

v
K max =exp [ ć∗g∗t∗sinα ]
Above relation shows that maximum compression has an exponential relation with root of molar
mass (M) and blade speed VB.

8 RT
Mean thermal speed of molecules, ć=
√ πM
As the molecular mass of nitrogen is greater than oxygen, similarly compression ratio for
nitrogen is higher than oxygen.

10
2.9.4. Pumping speed of TMP:
TMP’s pumping speed S0 has a direct relation with inlet area (A) and the blade speed v.
S0 = A*v*sinα*cosα, as α is blade angle. The above pumping speed is less than above due to
ć
entry conductivity. The entry conductivity is represented by LBm = ∗A and the blade angle is
4
450, then the TMP’s whose molecular weight>20 has effective pumping speed Seff calculated as:
S 0 + LBm A .v
=
Seff = S 0∗L Bm v
[ ]
4∗ +1
ć

2.9.5. Specific pumping speed:

It is the ratio between pumping speed and area of the uppermost disk is called specific pumping
speed. Thickness of the blade causes the actual area to be reduced. Relation becomes:
S eff d . vπ
= f
SA = A v
[ ]
4∗ +1
ć

Df = blade thickness factor≈ 0.9. Its unit is 1/S.cm2

2.9.6. Emptying of chamber in high vacuum region:

To achieve the desired high vacuum pressure, outgassing from internal surface occurs and also
preheating as it has much importance in high and ultra-high vacuum pumps. Large amount of
outgassing occurs from regions having holes. That’s why the surfaces needs to be cleaned and
smooth. The choice of material and surface conditions depends on gas evolution rate. With the
help of pressure rise method: first the system is emptied, then valves are separated from the
chamber. Time is noted down as the pressure rise up with certain amount in chamber of volume
V. The gas quantity that rose up per unit time calculated from:
∆p . v
Q= t
, ∆ p is measured pressure rise. When gas evolution Q and desired pressure Pend are
known, we can find out the pumping speed by above relation:
Q
Seff = P end

2.9.7. Determination of suitable backing pump:

The backing pump function is to handle the gas or vapour quantity. During high vacuum pump
operation, the maximum permissible backing pressure must never exceed. The high vacuum
pump, pumps the effective quantity of vapour Q, with an effective pumping speed Seff at the inlet

11
pressure Ph, the backing pump transport the gas quantity with pressure PV and pumping speed
SV. For the effective quantity of Q, according to continuity equation:
Q = ph*Seff = Pb*Sb
The pumping speed of the backing pump can be calculate from
Ph
Sb = ∗S
P b eff

2.10. Material fatigue:

Due to cyclic load structure becomes fail and material fatigue phenomena occurs. The structural
damage occur due to experienced stress range which is far below from static material strength.
The mechanical structures fail due to fatigue. The failure of component by repeating load, can be
divided into three stages:
 The large number of cycle produces damage on microscopic level and after that it
becomes macroscopic crack.
 The macroscopic cycle becomes large for every cycle, until it reaches, its ctitical length.
 The cracked component break as it never sustain the peak load.
In some cases second case cannot be experienced. Due to microscopic crack, sudden material
failure occurs. The last two stages are involved with in the topic of fracture mechanics. In first
stage fatigue applies. There exist some overlap between the branches and the measured number
of cycles to fatigue usually includes the last two stages as well. As the largest part of the
component's life is spent before it is possible to observe a macroscopic crack, most designs plan
to avoid ever encountering such damage. When there is no constant external load, the condition
in the material also changes with time. The condition at a point in the material can have many
different variables such as stress, strain, or energy dissipation. The fatigue process is typically
viewed as controlled by a specific such variable. A load cycle is defined as the duration from one
peak in the studied variable to the next peak. In a general case, all cycles do not have the same
amplitude. For a superficial discussion, it can, however, be assumed that the fatigue-controlling
state variable has the same value at the start and end of each load cycle. In elastic materials, a
cyclic load causes a periodic-cyclic stress response. For such cases, the load cycle is easily
defined. This is illustrated by the figure below, where stress is the fatigue-controlling state
variable. The stress varies between a maximum stress and a minimum stress, during a load cycle.
In the field of fatigue, the variation in stress is often defined using the stress amplitude, and the
mean stress. Further, variables defining the stress range and the R-value are frequently used to
describe a stress cycle. The most important parameter for the fatigue damage is the stress
amplitude. For any detailed analysis, the mean stress, however, must be taken into account as
well. A tensile mean stress increases the sensitivity to fatigue, whereas a compressive mean
stress allows for higher stress amplitudes. The material response to a sequence of load cycles is
highly dependent on the nature of the external load, which can be periodic, random, and even
consist of repeatable blocks. For the latter two cases, the description of the load cycle is not as
easy as in a pure periodic case; it requires special procedures. Fatigue analysis is not always

12
based on a stress response. This branch, however, has historically received much attention since
the majority of research has been performed in regimes where stress-based models are useful.
Based on the number of load cycles needed to produce a crack, it is customary to make a
distinction between low-cycle fatigue (LCF) and high-cycle fatigue (HCF).

The limit between the two is not distinct, but it is typically of the order of 10,000 cycles. The
physical rationale is that in the case of HCF, the stresses are low enough that the stress-strain
relation can be considered elastic. When working with HCF, the stress range is usually used for
describing the local state. For LCF, meanwhile, strain range or dissipated energy are common
choices. Research in the field of fatigue first began in the 19th century and its continuation has
resulted in a number of methods for fatigue prediction. One of the classical models is the so-
called S-N curve. This curve relates the number of cycles until failure (i.e., lifetime), N, to the
stress amplitude in uniaxial loading. The general trend is that a longer lifetime is obtained with a
decrease in stress amplitude. Usually, the dependence is very strong, so that a decrease of the
stress amplitude by 10% can increase the lifetime by 50%. Some materials exhibit a stress
threshold in fatigue testing. At stresses below this threshold, known as the endurance limit, no
fatigue damage is observed and components can operate for an infinite lifetime. Not all materials
have an endurance limit, though. Therefore, they can fail due to fatigue even at low levels of
stress. In our analysis, we will perform high cycle fatigue analysis and for pump rotor blades and
then modified its shape to optimize the results. First we will see for aluminum but we will also
use titanium as it is a stiffer material and is also one of the few trials having endurance limit
while aluminum doesn’t have this feature.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Design (CAD modeling):
TMP is modeled in software named CREO parametric, (formerly known as Pro Engineer) is a
powerful and intuitive 3D CAD software optimized to address the challenges organizations face
as they design, analyze, and share information with downstream partners. It is used to model 3D
mechanical systems for sketching, modeling, designing of parts, assemblies, mechanisms, etc.
This software is widely being used in aerospace and defense industry. Design and modeling of
TMP rotor is made under following postulates obtained from the experimental results. The blade
length, blade angle and rotational speed are directly proportional to the pumping speed. On the
other hand, blade length and blade angle are inversely proportional to compression ratio. The
blade makes angle with vertical axis within design limits that ranges from 120 to 42 0 .Beyond this
limit, frictional affects over load the motor, which may cause its failure.

13
 (a) (b)

Figure 11: blade profile (a) original (b) modified

3.2. Ansys Analysis:
Ansys structural analysis software enables us to solve complex structural engineering problems
and make better, faster design decisions. Ansys structural analysis software is used across
industries to help engineers optimize their product designs and reduce the costs of physical
testing. Structural static analysis of pump rotor has been done in (ANSYS) workbench for both
materials namely Aluminum and Titanium blades.
The pressure range from 1×10-12 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑡𝑜 1×10-2 𝑀𝑃𝑎
in seven stages as given in Table.1

Figure 12: Table_1

Table 1: rotor stages with pressure
3.3. Fabrication (model):
In the fabrication, rotor blades were designed in wire cut machine. Original and modified blades
were designed in order to check deflection. The modified blade is designed by tapering its one
end while original is kept constant in length. Both blades were compared on experimental setup
and modified blade performed better in terms of deflection due to applying of different weights.
In the case of modified blade, deflection in blades reduces as compared to original shape. Several
readings were taken and after that average value is taken out.

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Figure 13: experimental setup
 CHAPTER 4: ANALYTICAL MODELLING
In general, for TMP, the blade angle of first step should ensure high pumping speed. For the last
step, the blade design will tend to achieve the high compression ratio with small angle. Taking
into account the comprehensive pump performance and its manufacturability, values of blade
angle from the first step to the last step are gradually taken as 45◦ to 20◦. In ANSYS workbench,
analysis is first performed for TMP rotor and then also an individual blade for both cases
(original and modified) is analyzed separately which acts just like a beam with one end fixed
and the FEA results are compared with experimental results. Analytically also the maximum
deflection is calculated for the blade by the following method:

d 12 y 1
EI ( ) = M1(x)
dx 12

d 12 y 1
M1(x) = 0; or EI ( )=0
dx 12

dy 1
EI = C1 … (a)
dx 1
EI y1 = C1x1 + C2 … (b)
Figure 14: FBD
M2(x) = Px2 - P (L - a)

d 22 y 2
EI ( ) = P (L - a) x2 + C3
dx 2 2
dy 2 P 2
EI = x - P (L - a) x2 + C3 … (c)
dx 2 2 2
P P ( L−a) 2
EI y2 = x 32 - x 2 + C3x2 + C4 … (e)
6 2

Boundary Conditions:
dy 1
At x2 = 0, =0
dx 1

15
From Eq. (c) C3 = 0
At x2 = 0, y2 = 0
C4 = 0

Continuity Condition:
dy 1 dy 2
At x1 = a, x2 = L - a; =
dx 1 dx 2
From Eqs. (a) and (c),

C1 = - [ P ¿ ¿ x 22 - P (L - a) 2]

C1 = P ¿ ¿
At x1 = a and x2 = L - a, we have y 1 = y2
From Eqs. (b) and (d),
( P ¿ ¿ ) a + C2 = P¿¿ - P¿¿
C2 = Pa ¿¿ - P ¿ ¿
From Eq. (b),
P
y1 = [3(L - a) 2 x1 - 3a (L - a) 2 - 2(L - a) 3] … (1)
6 EI
From Eq. (4),
P
y2 = [x 3- 3(L - a)x 22] … (2)
6 EI 2

E = 90 GPa for aluminum

1
I = 12 bh3 = 2.8125 E-12 as b = 10mm, h = 1.5 mm

From Eq. (2),

y2 = ymax when x2 = L and L = 30 mm and a = 10 mm
ymax = 0.228 mm
These results obtained are comparable with FEA and experimental results with FEA and
experimental results being equal to 0.225 mm and 0.21 mm respectively.

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 CHAPTER 5: DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES ADAPTED
5.1. CAD modelling
CAD modeling is done for optimized dimensions and the values of blade angle from the first
stage to the last are gradually taken between 45◦ and 20◦. The CAD modelling is performed by
using different commands such as sketching, extrude, pattern etc. The CAD used for this is solid
works which is used to model 3D mechanical systems for sketching, modeling, designing of
parts, assemblies, mechanisms, etc. This software is widely being used in aerospace and defense
industry. Design and modeling of TMP rotor is made under following postulates obtained from
the experimental results.
• The blade length, blade angle and rotational speed are directly proportional to the
pumping speed.
• The blade makes angle with vertical axis within design limits that ranges from 120 to 45 0
. Beyond this limit, frictional affects over load the motor, which may cause its failure.[1]

5.2. ANSYS Workbench analysis: Figure 15: CAD modal

17
 Structural analysis in Analysis system ANSYS software enables us to solve complex structural
engineering problems and make better, faster design decisions. Ansys Workbench software is
used across industries to help engineers optimize their product designs and reduce the costs of
physical testing. After designing out TMP modal in Solid works, it is imported in ANSYS
workbench software to perform structural analysis of pump rotor blades workbench in the
following way.

CHAPTER 6: EXPERIMENTATION
6.1. Assumptions:
 Linear analysis is being done.
 Structure analysis is being done.
 For fatigue analysis, Gerber theory is used.

6.2. Boundary conditions:

 Maximum RPM applied is 30,000 rpm.

 Cylindrical supports are applied.

6.3. Structural analysis and results:

Structural analysis of turbo molecular pump rotor is performed using ANSYS workbench and
following results are obtained at a rotational velocity of 30,000 rpm.

18
Figure 16: Total deformation for structural steel Figure 17: total deformation of aluminum
 Figure 18: Eq.von misses stress for structural
Figure 19: Total deformation for titanium steel

Figure 20: Eq.(von misses) stress titanium

Figure 21: Eq. (von misses) stress aluminum

19
 Fig:(16,17 and 19 ) shows total deformations for structural steel, aluminum and titanium
respectively with maximum values of deformation are 0.62126 mm, 00.61152 mm and 0.7462
mm for structural steel, aluminum and titanium respectively which indicates that aluminum has
less deformation comparatively. Fig:(18, 20 and 21) shows Equivalent (Von misses) stress for
structural steel, aluminum and titanium respectively with maximum values are 519.98 MPa,
182.56 MPa and 302.71 MPa for structural steel, aluminum and titanium respectively which
indicates that aluminum has less deformation comparatively so it means that aluminum material
should be preferred as it is stiffer and hence has less deformation and stresses comparatively.
Table: 1 shows the comparison for these materials in terms of total deformation, directional
deformation, Eq. (von misses) stresses, normal stresses, shear stresses. The analysis is performed
at 30,000 rpm.
Table 2: comparison of materials

Figure 22: Table_2

Figure 23: Total deformation along blade’s edge length

20
Figure 24: Eq. (Von misses) stress along blade’s edge length.

21
Figure 25: Deformation and stress along blade’s edge length.
It shows the behavior of stress and deformation along the length of blade and it can be observed
from figure (25) that deformation is minimum near the fixed end of blade i.e. where blade is
attached to the shaft and increases towards the free end of blade. Figure (24) shows the stress
variation and it is clear that stress is maximum near fixed end of blade as here more resistance is
experienced and hence more stresses are generated and the values of stresses decreases towards
the free end of blade opposite to deformation and this is shown in figure (23) . Here deformations
and stresses are shown in same figure along the length of blade and their behavior is almost
opposite to each other as was expected.

6.4. Optimization by rotor’s blade modification:

Figure 26: Aluminum with modified blade Figure 27: Eq. (Von misses) stress
Total deformation
Table 3: deflection and stresses in original and modified aluminum rotor

Figure 28:
22 table_3
 Figure 29: comparison between original and modified blade

Rotor’s blade is modified in such a way as to decrease the different effects such as total
deformation, stresses etc. and for this first stress concentrated region is identified and in our case,
it is the region near to fixed end of blade and so blade is modified and hence is optimized and
results are shown in figure (26, 27 and 29) and Table 2. Table 3 shows the comparison for
original as well as modified blade in terms of different parameters and it shows that total
deformation is reduced to 58 percent of original blade. Equivalent stresses to 66 percent of
original blade, Normal stresses, and shear stresses to 61 and 66 percent respectively of original
blade and hence it is clear that results are improved and design is optimized with modified blade.

6.5. Fatigue analysis:

Now fatigue analysis is performed for our design part i.e. TMP and since aluminum material is
found to be a better choice from our structural analysis so fatigue analysis is performed for it and
there are different criterions that can be used for fatigue analysis and they includes Goodman
criteria and Gerber criteria. Goodman criteria is a straight line drawn from endurance limit value
down to the ultimate strength value and here most of the data lies above this line so another
words the Goodman line does not actually do the best job of describing the mean of representing
the experimental data although simple as it is linear. Gerber criterion which is more like
parabolic in shape and it does a better job of describing the mean of the phenomenon and so this
criterion is used for our analysis with fully reversed loading type.

23
 Figure 30: graph of stress amplitude Vs mean stress

Figure 32: Fatigue life of Aluminum Figure 31: Fatigue damage of Aluminum

24
 Figure 33: FOS of Aluminum

The Fatigue Life analysis says that if the loading is of constant amplitude type, then the result
from life represents the number of cycles that the structure can withstand without failure and if
that limit is exceeded, the structure will fail. In figure 32, the results obtained for TMP structure
made up of aluminum and it shows that it is safe for a life of 88000 cycles only much lower than
our designed life of 1 million cycles. Fatigue Damage is a contour plot of the fatigue damage at a
given design life. It is given as the design life divided by the available life. For Fatigue Damage,
values greater than 1 indicate failure before the design life is reached. In figure 31, it can be
observed that the damage values are greater than 1 which indicates that structure is not safe for
the designed life and will undergo fatigue damage. Fatigue Safety Factor is a contour plot of the
factor of safety with respect to a fatigue failure at a given design life. For Fatigue Safety Factor,
values less than one indicate failure before the design life is reached. For aluminum as is shown
in figure 33, the region below 1 exist that is 0.7 safety factor which indicates it will fail before
our designed life as factor of safety must be greater than 1 to avoid fatigue failure and hence safe
design.

25
Figure 34: graph for aluminum: load vs. life
 It is graph showing the number of cycles a material can withstand against different loading
conditions and as can be seen at 1 i.e. under given loading conditions of 30,000 rpm, life is
about 88000 cycles and it decreases as loading conditions are increased and vice versa. For
example as shown if loading conditions are decreased to 0.7 or 70 percent of given loading
conditions then it will increase our part life from 88000 cycles to about 1 million cycles. So to
obtain the desired results of million cycles for our loading conditions of 30,000 rpm, fatigue
analysis for aluminum case with modified blade is performed. So with this, the part will last for
million cycles and the analysis is also performed for titanium because of its interesting feature
that it exhibits endurance limit while aluminum doesn’t have this luxury. Titanium and certain
other materials have this characteristic that if the stress value is low enough then there will be a
point at which it will essentially run the number of cycles as h as desired and it will not have any
additional effect on when will the material fail. In mechanical design, the most common
approach is to design for infinite life and one million cycles is most commonly used as the
“infinite threshold”.

Figure 35: Titanium

Figure 36: fatigue life aluminum (modified blade)

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Figure 37: FOS (aluminum) modified blades Figure 38: FOS Titanium

Figure 35 and 36 shows the fatigue life for aluminum with modified blade configuration
and titanium and both shows that it will sustain for one million cycles but since titanium
is among those which exhibit endurance limit and hence is safer and is clear from the
figure. For aluminum also the lower stress value is achieved to get one million cycles but
still there are more chances that it will fail as having no endurance limit. Figure 37 and
38 shows the factor of safety and it is clear that the region below 1 does not exist and so
the design is safe.

(a) (b)

Figure 39: load vs. life (a) aluminum (original and modified). (b) Titanium
 Figure 39(a) show that design life for the part has improved from 88000 cycles to one 1
million cycles when modified blade is used.
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  Loading condition of 1 indicates the life against the applied boundary conditions i.e.
angular velocity of 30,000 rpm.
 Titanium has achieved its endurance limit and is considered to have infinite life.

CHAPTER 7: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 40: load vs. life aluminum (original and Figure 41: load vs. life Titanium (original and
modified modified

Figure 41 is the graph showing that design life for the part has improved from 88000 cycles to
one 1 million cycles when modified blade is used. Loading condition of 1 indicates the life for
part against the applied boundary conditions i.e. angular velocity of 30,000 rpm. When 21000
rpm is applied then TMP design with original blade is having life of 1 million cycles but with
modified blade design, an addition 9000 rpm can be applied and is now good for 30,000 rpm, so
performance is optimized by small modification in blade shape. When titanium is used, then
same 30,000 rpm can be applied without modifying the blade design and the reason for using the
titanium is because it makes the design safer comparatively as it is one of those few material that
exhibit endurance limit while aluminum doesn’t. Figure 41 shows that stress value for endurance
limit is achieved and the design has life of 1 million cycles which is considered as “infinite
threshold” and designing is generally done for this endurance limit. This is also clear from graph
shown in figure 40. Although titanium is expensive comparatively but also durable and is more
safer so from economic point of view aluminum is a better choice and from durability and
strength perspective, titanium is preferred but some compromised is to be done in both cases as
per requirement.

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7.1. Experimental setup
Blade with original as well as modified profile are manufactured and tested for deformation
through an experimental setup shown in figure and results are shown in table.

Figure 42: experimental setup

Table 4: comparison of procedures with maximum deformation

Procedure Maximum deformation

Analytical 0.22 mm
FEA 0.22 mm
experimental 0.21 mm

For modified blade profile, max deflection = 0.14 mm

So from the experimental setup it is found that deflection is maximum at the free
ends of blade and minimum at the fixed end as observed through FEA analysis
using ANSYS and it also shows that modified blade has less deformation
compared to original blade and hence has better performance thereby verifying our
FEA results.

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 CHAPTER 8: SOCIETAL IMPACT, ENVIRONMENT AND
SUSTAINIBILITY

In this project SGDs goal number 8 and 9 is followed. According to goal 8, it targets good jobs
and economic growth. According to goal 9, it targets innovation and infrastructure. TMPs are
used in research and development areas. They have very harsh application in semiconductor
industry where they handle corrosive gases and go through with critical processes. So basically
TMPs are the back bone of industries and playing its part in economic growth. Moreover the
more industries will play part in economic growth, the more opportunities for jobs will open.
The turbo molecular pump’s vacuum technology is one such innovation that has originated
as a result of its use in manufacturing activities across the electrical and electronics, power,
consumer durables, and scientific instrumentation industries and has strong link with
development of infrastructure.

CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION

In this project, structural analysis of TMP is performed at 30,000 rpm using ansys workbench
and it is concluded from our analysis that aluminum performs better as it has less deformation
and stresses compared to titanium and structural steel and these results are shown in table 1.
Aluminum is also economical and light in weight. Further fatigue analysis is performed and
results shows that TMP design made up of aluminum fails after 88000 cycles mush less than our
design life of million cycles and factor of safety is also less than 1 however it run for 1 million
cycles when rotational velocity of 21000 rpm is applied. The results are optimized by modifying
the blade shape and can now sustain 1 million cycles at 30,000 rpm with modified blade
configuration as is clear from the graph shown in figure 41. Fatigue analysis is also carried out
for titanium as it is safer and durable because it is one of those few materials which exhibit
endurance limit while aluminum doesn’t have this luxury. It is observed that when aluminum
with modified blade or titanium is used then additional velocity of 9000 rpm can be achieved. So
aluminum with modified blade configuration is preferred as it has less deformation and stresses
comparatively and as observed in figure 26 that total deformation and von missed stresses are
reduced to 58 percent and 66 percent respectively of original blade. Aluminum is also cheaper
but if durability is needed then stiffer material like titanium can be used.

CHAPTER 10: FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

Optimization of the turbo molecular pumps blade profile is a vast and continuing research area in
which many options exist and work is required to further optimize and improve the performance
characteristics of these vacuum pumps. Furthermore, future work will focus on the improvement
of their performance with respect to compression ratio, pumping speed, etc. for different gases.

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