Are turbopumps lubricated? The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InWhy are rocket engines operating above 100% often considered nominal?Why are Rocket engines at the base of the rocket?What are the maintenance benefits of SABRE engine technology for SSTO launchers?How reliable are pressure fed hypergolic engines?What are the sizes and locations of Progress's thrusters?What's the Isp of a model rocket “D-size” engine, compared to the Isp of engines that do reach space?How large is a magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster? Are there any upcoming programs using it?How are Voyager's 16 thrusters oriented?What are some notable cold gas thruster propellants, and why?What are the 'lights' inside Shuttle main engines at landing?

Does HR tell a hiring manager about salary negotiations?

Pokemon Turn Based battle (Python)

Dropping list elements from nested list after evaluation

Is it correct to say the Neural Networks are an alternative way of performing Maximum Likelihood Estimation? if not, why?

Why isn't the circumferential light around the M87 black hole's event horizon symmetric?

Can withdrawing asylum be illegal?

Worn-tile Scrabble

Output the Arecibo Message

Why does the nucleus not repel itself?

Deal with toxic manager when you can't quit

Getting crown tickets for Statue of Liberty

Relationship between Gromov-Witten and Taubes' Gromov invariant

If I can cast sorceries at instant speed, can I use sorcery-speed activated abilities at instant speed?

Why can't devices on different VLANs, but on the same subnet, communicate?

Can there be female White Walkers?

I am an eight letter word. What am I?

Will it cause any balance problems to have PCs level up and gain the benefits of a long rest mid-fight?

Old scifi movie from the 50s or 60s with men in solid red uniforms who interrogate a spy from the past

Accepted by European university, rejected by all American ones I applied to? Possible reasons?

Cooking pasta in a water boiler

Can a rogue use sneak attack with weapons that have the thrown property even if they are not thrown?

For what reasons would an animal species NOT cross a *horizontal* land bridge?

Are spiders unable to hurt humans, especially very small spiders?

Are turbopumps lubricated?



Are turbopumps lubricated?



The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InWhy are rocket engines operating above 100% often considered nominal?Why are Rocket engines at the base of the rocket?What are the maintenance benefits of SABRE engine technology for SSTO launchers?How reliable are pressure fed hypergolic engines?What are the sizes and locations of Progress's thrusters?What's the Isp of a model rocket “D-size” engine, compared to the Isp of engines that do reach space?How large is a magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster? Are there any upcoming programs using it?How are Voyager's 16 thrusters oriented?What are some notable cold gas thruster propellants, and why?What are the 'lights' inside Shuttle main engines at landing?










2












$begingroup$


It is easy to find data about rocket engine propellant, but quite difficult to ind information about other fluids used in rocket engine. For engine using a turbopump, this pump turns at quite high speed. Such a piece of mechanic should require lubrication in order to work for more than few seconds.



My question is: in engine using turbopumps (RD-107, RS-25, Vulcain,...) how are the turbopump and other moving parts lubricated? What kind of lubricant is used and how is it distributed to moving parts?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
    $endgroup$
    – Uwe
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
    $endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    2 hours ago















2












$begingroup$


It is easy to find data about rocket engine propellant, but quite difficult to ind information about other fluids used in rocket engine. For engine using a turbopump, this pump turns at quite high speed. Such a piece of mechanic should require lubrication in order to work for more than few seconds.



My question is: in engine using turbopumps (RD-107, RS-25, Vulcain,...) how are the turbopump and other moving parts lubricated? What kind of lubricant is used and how is it distributed to moving parts?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
    $endgroup$
    – Uwe
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
    $endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    2 hours ago













2












2








2





$begingroup$


It is easy to find data about rocket engine propellant, but quite difficult to ind information about other fluids used in rocket engine. For engine using a turbopump, this pump turns at quite high speed. Such a piece of mechanic should require lubrication in order to work for more than few seconds.



My question is: in engine using turbopumps (RD-107, RS-25, Vulcain,...) how are the turbopump and other moving parts lubricated? What kind of lubricant is used and how is it distributed to moving parts?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




It is easy to find data about rocket engine propellant, but quite difficult to ind information about other fluids used in rocket engine. For engine using a turbopump, this pump turns at quite high speed. Such a piece of mechanic should require lubrication in order to work for more than few seconds.



My question is: in engine using turbopumps (RD-107, RS-25, Vulcain,...) how are the turbopump and other moving parts lubricated? What kind of lubricant is used and how is it distributed to moving parts?







engines






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 3 hours ago









called2voyage

17k772129




17k772129










asked 3 hours ago









Manu HManu H

867622




867622







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
    $endgroup$
    – Uwe
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
    $endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    2 hours ago












  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
    $endgroup$
    – Uwe
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
    $endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    2 hours ago







1




1




$begingroup$
The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
$endgroup$
– Uwe
3 hours ago




$begingroup$
The fluid pumped may be used as lubricant too. A hyrdrocarbon lubricant could not be used for a liquid oxygen pump.
$endgroup$
– Uwe
3 hours ago












$begingroup$
Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
$endgroup$
– Russell Borogove
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
Yep, using the working fluid as the lubricant is pretty common.
$endgroup$
– Russell Borogove
2 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

The bearings in the SSME (RS-25) had/have no conventional lubrication as such. They were cooled by minute flows of their respective propellants.




Knowing that the bearings have no lubrication except from a minute
transfer film of the Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the cages to
the balls, several attempts at improving the lubrication and lowering
the heat generation in the bearings was investigated.




Source: History of Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbopump Bearing Testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center



Also




HPOTP bearings deteriorate quickly for many reasons. The balls wear
the fastest of all the bearing components and, in the process, lose
their preload. Liquid oxygen is their only lubricant and a poor one
at that.




From here



(HPOTP is High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump)



You can see the coolant passage in this cutaway drawing of the Low Pressure Fuel Turbopump from here.



enter image description here



Also see here for more on the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and here for the High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













    Your Answer





    StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
    return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
    StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
    StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
    );
    );
    , "mathjax-editing");

    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "508"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );













    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f35460%2fare-turbopumps-lubricated%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2












    $begingroup$

    The bearings in the SSME (RS-25) had/have no conventional lubrication as such. They were cooled by minute flows of their respective propellants.




    Knowing that the bearings have no lubrication except from a minute
    transfer film of the Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the cages to
    the balls, several attempts at improving the lubrication and lowering
    the heat generation in the bearings was investigated.




    Source: History of Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbopump Bearing Testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center



    Also




    HPOTP bearings deteriorate quickly for many reasons. The balls wear
    the fastest of all the bearing components and, in the process, lose
    their preload. Liquid oxygen is their only lubricant and a poor one
    at that.




    From here



    (HPOTP is High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump)



    You can see the coolant passage in this cutaway drawing of the Low Pressure Fuel Turbopump from here.



    enter image description here



    Also see here for more on the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and here for the High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$

















      2












      $begingroup$

      The bearings in the SSME (RS-25) had/have no conventional lubrication as such. They were cooled by minute flows of their respective propellants.




      Knowing that the bearings have no lubrication except from a minute
      transfer film of the Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the cages to
      the balls, several attempts at improving the lubrication and lowering
      the heat generation in the bearings was investigated.




      Source: History of Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbopump Bearing Testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center



      Also




      HPOTP bearings deteriorate quickly for many reasons. The balls wear
      the fastest of all the bearing components and, in the process, lose
      their preload. Liquid oxygen is their only lubricant and a poor one
      at that.




      From here



      (HPOTP is High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump)



      You can see the coolant passage in this cutaway drawing of the Low Pressure Fuel Turbopump from here.



      enter image description here



      Also see here for more on the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and here for the High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$















        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        The bearings in the SSME (RS-25) had/have no conventional lubrication as such. They were cooled by minute flows of their respective propellants.




        Knowing that the bearings have no lubrication except from a minute
        transfer film of the Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the cages to
        the balls, several attempts at improving the lubrication and lowering
        the heat generation in the bearings was investigated.




        Source: History of Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbopump Bearing Testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center



        Also




        HPOTP bearings deteriorate quickly for many reasons. The balls wear
        the fastest of all the bearing components and, in the process, lose
        their preload. Liquid oxygen is their only lubricant and a poor one
        at that.




        From here



        (HPOTP is High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump)



        You can see the coolant passage in this cutaway drawing of the Low Pressure Fuel Turbopump from here.



        enter image description here



        Also see here for more on the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and here for the High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        The bearings in the SSME (RS-25) had/have no conventional lubrication as such. They were cooled by minute flows of their respective propellants.




        Knowing that the bearings have no lubrication except from a minute
        transfer film of the Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the cages to
        the balls, several attempts at improving the lubrication and lowering
        the heat generation in the bearings was investigated.




        Source: History of Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbopump Bearing Testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center



        Also




        HPOTP bearings deteriorate quickly for many reasons. The balls wear
        the fastest of all the bearing components and, in the process, lose
        their preload. Liquid oxygen is their only lubricant and a poor one
        at that.




        From here



        (HPOTP is High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump)



        You can see the coolant passage in this cutaway drawing of the Low Pressure Fuel Turbopump from here.



        enter image description here



        Also see here for more on the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and here for the High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 3 hours ago

























        answered 3 hours ago









        Organic MarbleOrganic Marble

        59.9k3165256




        59.9k3165256



























            draft saved

            draft discarded
















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Space Exploration Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f35460%2fare-turbopumps-lubricated%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Are there any AGPL-style licences that require source code modifications to be public? Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern) Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?Force derivative works to be publicAre there any GPL like licenses for Apple App Store?Do you violate the GPL if you provide source code that cannot be compiled?GPL - is it distribution to use libraries in an appliance loaned to customers?Distributing App for free which uses GPL'ed codeModifications of server software under GPL, with web/CLI interfaceDoes using an AGPLv3-licensed library prevent me from dual-licensing my own source code?Can I publish only select code under GPLv3 from a private project?Is there published precedent regarding the scope of covered work that uses AGPL software?If MIT licensed code links to GPL licensed code what should be the license of the resulting binary program?If I use a public API endpoint that has its source code licensed under AGPL in my app, do I need to disclose my source?

            2013 GY136 Descoberta | Órbita | Referências Menu de navegação«List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects»«List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects»

            Button changing it's text & action. Good or terrible? The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are Inchanging text on user mouseoverShould certain functions be “hard to find” for powerusers to discover?Custom liking function - do I need user login?Using different checkbox style for different checkbox behaviorBest Practices: Save and Exit in Software UIInteraction with remote validated formMore efficient UI to progress the user through a complicated process?Designing a popup notice for a gameShould bulk-editing functions be hidden until a table row is selected, or is there a better solution?Is it bad practice to disable (replace) the context menu?