M400 Turbojet engine
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Full 3D CAD design
Based on the expierience we acquired with the earlier KJ66 turbojet engine, we set out to design and build our own larger turbojet! A full 3D design was thoroughly worked out over the span of a few weeks.
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3D printing to test geometry
After designing all the parts, the compressor and turbine blades were sourced abroad, and most of the other in-house produced parts were first 3D printed in order to double-check how they fit, after which they were produced in Aluminium, steel etc.
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CNC machining/welding/printing final parts
Exotic materials like Inconel, and advanced geometries are needed inside the combustion chamber in order to contain the 2000+°C combustion happening inside. The rear stator and turbine blade get constant exposure to 700°C gasses at up to 2300km/h velocities!
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Brazing the fuel, gas and lubrication system
A turbine engine can not work without a proper gas- fuel- and lubrication system. Everyting was carefully made from brass and hard-soldered using silver based brazing compounds.
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Combustion chamber design + integrated electronics
Multiple internal and external combustion chamber liners were developed and CO2 lasered while working out the perforation patterns in order to achieve a stable combustion process.
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Outer case + covers + control box
Further cowling, sensors and wiring was added to achieve a completed turbojet engine.
The motor needs quite a few external pumps, control systems and in- and outputs in order to function safely, so we proceeded by designing an elaborate control box beneath it. -
Control box data acquisition sensors
A wide array of sensors were used to monitor and log the performance of the motor, like thrust, chamber pressure, rpm, fuel consumption, temperatures, power draw etc.
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Integration + remote control development
Since the turbine spinning up to nearly 100 000rpm has a very large danger zone, a proper remote control system was developed including multiple redundant safety measures to allow for remote startup and control.
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Testruns!
Multiple successful testruns were done in order to validate and characterize how the turbine functioned.
A proper and stable combustion cycle was achieved, and the performance closely matched the expected specs we set out to achieve. -
Logged data processing
Because the difference between messing around and doing science is writing it down, we processed a lot of logged data after the testruns in order to find some fascinating properties and correlations between different variables!