Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM

Micro-turbine electric generator System

Thales A. C. Maia1 *, Osvane A. Faria1 , Braz J. C. Filho2 , José Eduardo Mautone Barros1

AT
Abstract
ROT ING M
N Over the last few decades, developments in technology have incrementally refined the way energy is
O
AC
SYMPOSIA

produced and delivered to customers. Thermal based systems have emerged as a good alternative when
HINERY

fuel is available and affordable. Compared to solar and wind resources, the high power density of these
systems permits large scale energy conversion in a very compact way. In this work, an alternative to
micro-thermal power generator is proposed and some of its mechanical aspects are discussed. The
high power density of the proposed setup are discussed based on experimental results and computer
ISROMAC 2016 simulations employing finite element techniques.
International Keywords
Symposium on Micro-turbine — Electric Generator — High speed
Transport
Phenomena and
Dynamics of
Rotating Machinery

Hawaii, Honolulu
1
April 10-15, 2016 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
*Corresponding author: thalesmaia@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION and manufacture of the directly coupled high speed perma-

nent magnet synchronous generator are discussed in this paper.
The widely use of thermal conversion systems like Otto and
The carried out studies and the corresponding evaluated se-
Diesel Cycles in the automotive industry guarantee a consid-
tups support the conclusions and discussions, providing a
erable cost reduction when piston machines are applied in
contribution for similarly challenging systems.
micro-generation. Thermal conversion systems are best suited
for specific types of fuels, unlike micro-turbines which ac-
cept any type of liquid or gaseous fuels. Also, piston engines 1. TURBOCHARGER SYSTEM
use more than a hundred moving parts, contrary to a micro-
turbine system that only has one rotating shaft, reducing the
maintenance cost.
Since the commercial micro-turbines available are too ex-
pensive for applications in energy conversion, an interesting
alternative would be consider a new machine based on auto-
motive turbocharger system, which can ensure low acquisition
and maintenance cost.
The whole system comprises three main components:
compressor, turbine and generator. The later one is respon-
sible to covert the mechanical energy into electrical energy
and must operate direct driven, because any transmission type
are extremely difficult to accomplish at high speed and power
rate.
The development of high speed electrical machines in-
creased in the last years due their high power density, favored
by the increased high speed Brushless DC commercializa- Figure 1. Turbocharger operation principle [?]
tion. Recent works presents experimental machines operating
from 200.000 to 400.000 RPM [?], but with a maximum rated The turbocharger shown in Figure ?? [?], can be defined
power of 500W. As the power increases the natural result is a as a thermo-mechanic equipment containing simultaneously
reduce in speed to around 60.000 RPM with 100 kW [?]. two different turbo machines. A single stage centrifugal air
The peculiarities associated with the mechanical design compressor which is driven directly by a single stage radial
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 2/??

A B

Figure 2. Generator mechanical prototypes evolution. A. Single bearing supported B. Double bearing supported C. Internal
journal bearing supported

turbine is responsible for the conversion of thermal energy
into mechanical torque for the power generation.
Turbochargers are commonly used for internal combus-
tion engines with the purpose to increase the engine power
volumetric efficiency. Nowadays, it brings benefits to fuel
consumption in new small vehicle engines, and also have high
power density manly due its high rotational speed, achieving
values around 100.000 RPM for an 80HP turbo. For micro-
turbine use, the compressor can be used to feed a combustion
chamber that will give energy to the turbine.
The systems are build mainly to match the power from
the turbine with the power to the compressor, but can be
rearranged in order to allow more energy in the axis to drive
an electric generator.
2. MICRO-TURBINE PROTOTYPES
The prototyping procedure must be taken into account, mainly
because the issues that concern this work are associated with
experimental results. The difficulty of finding good references
about high-speed turbo-machinery for energy generation made
this work a more practical and less theoretical research. The
instability source can come from fluid, bearings, shaft un-
balance and electromagnetic force, which associate higher
complexity in numerical simulations rather than experimental
tests.
The machine evolution went through an external generator
with a single ball bearing support, to an internal generator with
floating ring journal bearing system. Replacing the electric
generator to the center of the micro-turbine, eliminate any
instability problems associated with coupling and alignment
instabilities.
The individual models are presented in Figure ?? and the
main issues from each prototype are shown in Table ??.
The Single Bearing version was designed preserving the
original turbocharger, seeking a direct coupling of the electri-
cal machine to the system. In order to promote the alignment,
sought to use the original turbine bearing to support the elec-
tric generator from one side.
The machine was able to run up to 20.000 RPM and was
discarded due safety vibration limits. The generator shaft must
have tight concentric tolerances for coupling which becomes
extremely difficult since there was no direct relation between
the fabrications procedures. Also, the original turbine had its
balancing response which couldn’t be preserved when another
axle is connected.
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 3/??
Table 1. Prototype operational results
Single Bearing
Max Rotational Speed 20.000 RPM
Coupling Non concentric
Unbalance load (g pk) High vibration levels (5g-pk)
Feeded back from the first trial results, an ideal decoupling
proposal was realized through a flexible coupling sized for
high speed operations, as presented in Figure ??. The coupling
adoption eliminates the bearing sharing needs, allowing more
independent operation between machines.
Figure 3. View presenting the coupling from the generator
and turbine
The results improved the rotational speed, but wasn’t
enough to surpass the 40.000 RPM. The evaluation was not
conclusive since the amount of unknown variables was still
high. Because of that, the machine was re-manufactured with
stricter tolerances and each machine was carefully balanced.
The combined efforts allowed a operational speed of 50.000
RPM, representing the need of precision machining process
and high speed balancing procedure for the shafts. However,
even with the projected coupling, the cross-coupling influence
couldn’t be eliminated.
Figure 4. External (left) and Internal (right) generator
prototypes mounted on the flux bench for testing
To increase the speed, was only possible for a single shaft
system. The initial generator ball bearings were replaced
by journal oil bearings providing good damping and cooling
results [?]. Fabricated machines are presented in Figure ??.
The balance was done at rated speed with the mounted
bearings. These set of rules guided a new design to successful
Double Bearing Internal
45.000 RPM 110.000 RPM
Misalignment intolerance N/A
High vibration levels (5g-pk) Low vibration (1.5g-pk)
run the machine at 110.000 RPM, but a special care must be
taken regarding the bearing and balancing procedures.
3. DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR
The dynamic vibration response of the complete assembly
could not be properly predicted due to lack of experimental
and theoretical operational loads data. Instead of trying to de-
sign the journal bearings without the complete data, a simple
rule of thumb based on weight distribution was used. OEM
axial and radial film bearings of larger turbochargers were
used, correcting for the added mass from the permanent mag-
nets of the electric rotor. Based on the prototyping evolution,
Figure ?? shows one of the prototypes ready for balancing.
Figure 5. Finished prototype ready for balancing
One of the expected results can be closely predicted re-
garding the shaft natural frequency as shown on Figure ??.
The most noticeable concordance occurs at second natural
frequency around 30000 RPM as will be presented in the
dynamic balancing results.
With the use of a high speed vibration measuring machine
(HSVMM), used to balance the final rotor in the 30-125%
nominal speed range, several balancing testes were conducted.
The procedure was made in order to simulate and identify
each of the aspects of the dynamic behaviour by adding the
assembly new components discretely.
Basically the following assembly were studied:
A Compressor and turbine wheels only with previous low
speed axle balancing
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 4/??

2274 Hz
327 Hz

588 Hz

Figure 7. HSVMM result for Case A

Figure 6. The first three natural modes for the shaft and its
frequency

B Compressor and turbine wheels with low and high

speed axle balancing

C Compressor and turbine wheels with different residual

imbalance

D Compressor, turbine and metal sleeve to simulate the Figure 8. HSVMM result for Case B
rotors mass, without previously axle balancing
This process shows that the assembly unbalancing can be
E Compressor, turbine and metal sleeve to simulate the
lowered, but since it comes from each individual part con-
rotors mass, with previously axle balancing
tribution, is is almost impossible to zeroing the unbalanced
F Compressor, turbine and different rotors (both in ma- mass.
chining techniques and magnet geometry)

G Compressor, turbine, rotor and stator

Figure ?? shows the initial behaviour of case A, which

is the common ground in the turbocharger industry. The
compressor and turbine wheels are low speed (5000 RPM)
balanced. Once they are high speed balanced, as presented in
case B, the results can be easily identified in Figure ??. There
is great improvement in the initial vibration, but is clear that is
still room for better balancing and lowering vibration levels.
For case C, when the individual components are stack-
up, there will be an unbalanced vector sum for the assembly.
Each component can be rotated for different directions where Figure 9. HSVMM result for Case D
the residual unbalanced sum will reach lower possible values.
In this scenario, the result can be better than the whole set In case F the firsts electromagnetic effects in the dynamic
with high speed balancing. Unfortunately, the process is time behaviour was observed. The main mechanism that caused
consuming and totally unpredictable since there is no way to instabilities was identified as an axial preload due the per-
calculate the direction and amplitude of total unbalanced mass manent magnet and stator magnetic force, which grows with
from each component. the rotation speed until it causes a vibration asymptotic peak.
In Figure ?? and ?? are presented the result for case D and Despite of many attempts, it wasn’t possible to control this
E in end of each balancing process respectively. It can be seen vibration only by further balancing. The initial and final vi-
that, once balanced, the additional mass (17% increase) has bration characteristics can be seen in Figure ??.
little to none effect in the dynamic behavior at rated speed. The dynamic behaviour and final balancing of the com-
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 5/??
Figure 10. HSVMM result for Case E
Figure 11. HSVMM result for Case F
plete machine has been difficult process and the last case. The
presence of harmonic and field loads is very noticeable and
most likely will demand an redesign of the support system.
As it can be seen in Figure ??, the presence of the final peak is
still present and the axial bearing has been loaded very heavily,
causing oil thermal decomposition (Figure ??). Further tests
will be conducted in the machine varying the electric load in
amplitude and phase, in order to study the implications in its
dynamic behaviour.
Figure 12. HSVMM result for Case G
The final result shown in Figure ?? is presented as a Wa-
terfall diagram graph trying to cover the entire vibration spec-
trum showing the good result in accordance with the evalua-
tion tests.
Figure 13. Axial bearing oil thermal decomposition
Figure 14. Micro-turbine Waterfall diagram (Rotation x
Vibration frequency x Vibration amplitude) from internal
generator system
4. ELECTRIC GENERATOR
An electrical machine design involves several concepts and
topologies, each with their own particularities and advantages.
When the objective is to build a high speed electrical machine
the vibration problems must be the priority aiming to ensure
a safe and long lifetime. The vibration source can not be
analyzed only by the mechanical viewpoint either the electro-
magnetic, it seems to be bond between these two worlds.
Considering that the main objective is a high density
power system, the adopted topology for the electric gener-
ator uses a Radial Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine.
The NdFeB rare earth magnets appears the best suitable so-
lution considering its high energy. Since these materials are
sintered components, it allows some geometry freedom for
mechanical projects.
4.1 Rotor
Regarding the shaft high speed, the material mounted on it
must withstand the high rotational centrifugal inertial force, so
its geometry is very important as well as its physical properties.
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 6/??

The NdFeB grade and axle materials are presented in Table 4.2 Stator
?? and the simulation results in Figure ??. The design of a good electrical machine comes from the op-
timal electromagnetic design, and concerning a high speed
machine, the linkage and leakage magnetic flux are most im-
von Mises (MPa) von Mises (MPa)
800,0 500,0 portant with the frequency increase.
700,0 437,5
Considering the two pole rotor obtained, the operation
600,0 375,0

312,5
frequency is equal to 1,67 kHz which leads to the a first
500,0

400,0 250,0
problem. In general, electrical steels performance curves
300,0 187,5 are commonly build up to 400 Hz and the material must be
200,0 125,0 evaluated at higher frequencies for magnetization behavior
100,0 62,5 and losses. Attending this need, three main core materials was
0 0 chosen, based on the following:

Figure 15. Cross section view of elements stress distribution 1. Fe-3%Si (0.5 mm) – Common and commercial avail-
for square shape PM able core material.
2. Högannäs SMC R (Sintered) – Promising material to
work at higher speeds for loss reduction [?].
After many PM geometry analysis, it can be noticed that 3. Aperam Steel (0.25 mm) – Special steel developed for
geometries with straight corners results in a stress concentra- high speed electric machines for hybrid vehicles.
tion and the corresponding rotors are not able to sustain the
speed without fracture. The solution is to use a ring shape
y-axis magnetized which is also a good solution for elec-
tromagnetic design, since it produces a pure sine wave flux
density in the mean air gap.
The round cross-section rotor also seems to be a good
solution to achieve high tolerances in concentric, which is the
most important variable to control during fabrication process,
and if not obtained will increase considerably the unbalance
load. Also, the sintered materials cannot achieve the needed
tolerances from their molds and must go through machining
process for fitting. Since there are no commercial precision
machines without ferromagnetic materials, the magnet mate-
rial must be first demagnetized. Its high oxidation suscepti-
bility linked to its flammability capability make the process
even more complicated.

Table 2. rototype operational results

Figure 16. Final model of total flux density inside the
electric generator
Parameters Value
Hub Material ASTM 4340 For design proposes, it was considered that the material
has no loss and its magnetization curve was adopted as a stan-
Hub Tensile Strength 470 MPa
dard FEMM [?] steel material. The simulation results for flux
PM Grade N48H density inside the machine was evaluated and presented in
PM Tensile Strength 75 MPa Figure ??. To converge to the presented geometry, successive
analysis were made aiming for higher induced voltage includ-
Shaft Diameter 20 mm ing optimal slot geometry shape and fully-open or semi-open
Shaft Rotation 100 000 RPM slot configuration.
The simulation target was generate a 220V potential which
was achieved building a winding with 18 coils and a 100mm
Another suitable solution is to use an external stainless length stator. Also, at the rated frequency the skin effect and
steel sleeve that will align all the parts and allow a better copper eddy current become a critical problem, forcing the
machining process. During operation, it will also work as a need of more parallel windings.
damping winding attenuating vibrations coming from cogging
torque or any harmonics presence. The problems associated 4.3 Electromagnetic Results
with an external sleeve are the increase of air gap, some extra The electromagnetic performance only evaluates the concor-
losses and rotor overheating due eddy current. dance between the simulated and tested results. Different
 Design and manufacture issues of a 100 000 RPM Micro-turbine electric generator System — 7/??

operation points were acquired to build a V/f curve in order to
check with expected results as represented in Figure ?? and
??. The generated voltage was expected to be a little higher
from the simulated one due the good magnetic permeability
from the core, but considering the high speed operation and
Foucault losses the result is in accordance.
An electrical generator can be the target of many studies
and the one presented still has on going project with more
results being produced. This paper focus mainly on vibration
and mechanical design issues which could not be ignored
during electromagnetic design. Some good choices from
magnetic point of view are not physically feasible with low
cost objective during manufacture process.
In future works, the electrical load must be increased
in other to guarantee that the influence between mechanical
and electrical projects are safe and the system can operate as
expected.

Figure 17. Phase-ground induced voltage with 60W load in

the micro-turbine

Figure 18. Experimental induced voltage versus frequency

curve from micro-turbine

5. CONCLUSION
It was possible to evaluate that the low vibration levels can
not assure a long life operation, but is the first indicator as
good results. The strict tolerances in rotor external diameter
are not identified as a crucial manufacture process, but the
bearing pillow and shaft concentric are responsible to induce
high instability in the system.
Also, the rotor natural frequency response is considerably
attenuated due the good bearing damping factor and is not a
critical point even operating above the second order critical
speed. The dynamic balancing, as the stackup components
are not a trivial procedure and must be taken with care.