Post by enginewhisperer on May 14, 2024 3:49:03 GMT -5
I should probably start a thread for this project 
Early this year I picked up a JetCat P160 RC jet engine for a good price with 1 hour on the clock and some minor fire damage, apparently due to a fuel line coming off during startup.
After replacing all the fuel lines and giving it a bit of a checkover I found there was some junk in the start fuel solenoid which stopped it from closing. This may explain the previous owner's fire!
I figured it would go well with a freepower turbine, and I had a couple of Holset HX83 turbine wheels kicking around thanks to another JATO member!
After talking to John I did a test run with a jet pipe pressure probe and he worked out that the larger of the HX83 wheels should be able to extract maybe 40hp, which would make it pretty entertaining on something like a light weight motorcycle.
As usual, I jumped straight to the last step and found a suitable bike for it to go in. It's a Yamaha R15, which apparently has about 19hp in standard form.
I wanted a bike with cheap registration costs and a full fairing so I can hide the turbine setup in it and at least ride it around the block before I get sick of it and return it to standard form!
I've since been searching for suitable reduction gears, and might end up using a combination of primary gears and parts of the gearbox from a scrap CBR125 engine to get the ~9:1 ratio needed.
I started designing the shaft tunnel for the turbine shaft and mocked up the first stage of gears in CAD.
To get the profile of the turbine wheel I put it in the mill and used it to machine some foam, and then scanned the edge in a flatbed scanner. It's easy to import into the CAD sketch with the correct scaling and just draw over the top of it.
I'll probably 3D print a test piece to confirm the clearance for the turbine shroud. I'm not sure if the shroud will be CNC milled, done manually on the lathe, or maybe pressed / spun from a piece of tube.
The next step is probably to design the scroll housing in some form that I can hand make, and once I know how much space it needs, work on the rest of the gearbox design.
Early this year I picked up a JetCat P160 RC jet engine for a good price with 1 hour on the clock and some minor fire damage, apparently due to a fuel line coming off during startup.
After replacing all the fuel lines and giving it a bit of a checkover I found there was some junk in the start fuel solenoid which stopped it from closing. This may explain the previous owner's fire!
I figured it would go well with a freepower turbine, and I had a couple of Holset HX83 turbine wheels kicking around thanks to another JATO member!
After talking to John I did a test run with a jet pipe pressure probe and he worked out that the larger of the HX83 wheels should be able to extract maybe 40hp, which would make it pretty entertaining on something like a light weight motorcycle.
As usual, I jumped straight to the last step and found a suitable bike for it to go in. It's a Yamaha R15, which apparently has about 19hp in standard form.
I wanted a bike with cheap registration costs and a full fairing so I can hide the turbine setup in it and at least ride it around the block before I get sick of it and return it to standard form!
I've since been searching for suitable reduction gears, and might end up using a combination of primary gears and parts of the gearbox from a scrap CBR125 engine to get the ~9:1 ratio needed.
I started designing the shaft tunnel for the turbine shaft and mocked up the first stage of gears in CAD.
To get the profile of the turbine wheel I put it in the mill and used it to machine some foam, and then scanned the edge in a flatbed scanner. It's easy to import into the CAD sketch with the correct scaling and just draw over the top of it.
I'll probably 3D print a test piece to confirm the clearance for the turbine shroud. I'm not sure if the shroud will be CNC milled, done manually on the lathe, or maybe pressed / spun from a piece of tube.
The next step is probably to design the scroll housing in some form that I can hand make, and once I know how much space it needs, work on the rest of the gearbox design.
