Study on the forward-sweep inducer for LRE turbopumps

Computational and experimental studies on a forward-sweep inducer for Liquid Rocket Engine (LRE) turbopumps were conducted to evaluate the effects of forward-sweep of the leading edge on the performance of an inducer in comparison with a conventional backward-sweep inducer. Computational results show that backflows at the inlet decrease in the case of the forward-sweep inducer by inhibiting pre-rotation of the inflow and the low pressure region at backflow also diminishes, which is presumed to improve the suction performance of the inducer. Experimental results show that the suction performance of the forward-sweep inducer is almost the same as that of the backward-sweep inducer although it has a smaller inlet tip diameter and shorter axial length. The efficiency of the forward-type inducer is found better than that of the backward-sweep inducer due to the small size of backflows.