Thermal and structural analysis of micro-fabricated involute regenerators

Long-life, high-efficiency power generators based on free-piston Stirling engines are an energy conversion solution for future space power generation and commercial applications. As part of the efforts to farther improve Stirling engine efficiency and reliability, a micro-fabricated, involute regenerator structure is proposed by a Cleveland State University-led regenerator research team. This paper reports on thermal and structural analyses of the involute regenerator to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed regenerator. The results indicate that the involute regenerator has extremely high axial stiffness to sustain reasonable axial compression forces with negligible lateral deformation. The relatively low radial stiffness may impose some challenges to the appropriate installation of the in-volute regenerators.