Robust Rotary Union for High Speed, High Power Density Rotating Electrical Machines

The Navy needs robust high-speed rotary unions for advanced liquid-cooled and high-temperature-superconducting (HTS) generators. We propose to develop hydrostatic bearing/seal rotary unions (HBSRUs) to meet Navy needs. Hydrostatic bearings can operate at large radii with fast rotational speeds, so our HBSRUs have room for large flow capabilities. The hydrostatic bearings offer the same advantages to our HBSRUs that hydrostatic bearings offer to spindles of high-precision high-speed machine tools (including nano-precision diamond-turning lathes for optics): high-speed capability, long life, durable, reliable, large damping of shocks and vibrations, and dynamically stable. Proprietary designs give our HBSRU for liquid-cooled generators minimal seal leakage and our HBSRU for HTS generators zero seal leakage. Our HBSRU uses materials that give our HBSRU graceful degradation to avoid catastrophic failures. In Phase I, we will develop initial conceptual designs of our HBSRU and establish performance goals and metrics to analyze the feasibility of our HBSRU. In Phase II, we will build and demonstrate prototype HBSRUs. In Phase III, we will transition our HBSRU into Navy systems and other systems in the government and private sector.