News
Alta's newly designed 5 N "green" monopropellant thruster demonstrator reached 42 min. total firing time during its first series of endurance tests on advanced catalytic beds.
The first turbopump inducer built by Alta demonstrates the validity of its newly-developed design method.
Alta's successful spin-off case to be featured at the "Space SMEs in Europe" meeting in Rome, May 11-12.
Alta's first turbopump inducer tested
A reduced order model for the preliminary design of tapered axial inducers for propellant turbopumps has been recently developed by Alta's Chemical Propulsion Division. The model provides in real time accurate quantitative data for inducer geometry definition, 3D flow field description, blade loading control and non-cavitating performance prediction.
Two high-head, three- and four-bladed inducers (DAPAMITO 3 and 4), targeted at typical rocket propellant feed turbopump performance, have been designed and manufactured under ESA’s contract “Scaling of Thermal Cavitation Effects on Cavitation-Induced Instabilities”. Excellent performance has been demonstrated in the initial tests on the first inducer (shown above) during the first phases of an intensive experimental campaign at Alta’s Cavitation Laboratory, aimed at characterizing the non-cavitating and cavitating performance of the two inducers and the influence of thermal effects on the occurrence of cavitation-induced instabilities and the intensity of rotordynamic whirl forces.