Experimental and simulation analysis of microturbines

In this paper the torque and power output achieved by a gas driven micro-turbine are discussed. Experimental results were obtained for various different simple shaped rotors (fabricated using the UV-LIGA technique), of dimensions of outer radius 1.94 mm and structural height 90 /spl mu/m, to investigate the effect of blade number and profile on output performance. In addition, a finite element and simple theoretical model were developed to determine the theoretical response of the system. This allows a comparison to be determined between the experimental and theoretical results.