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			Oil-Free Turbomachinery is high-speed rotating equipment operating without oil-lubricated rotor supports (bearings, dampers, and seals). Our vision is to realize revolutionary improvements in performance, efficiency, and reliability of turbomachinery propulsion systems. The Oil-Free Turbomachinery Program builds on recent technology break-throughs in foil bearings, tribological coatings and anayltical modeling to enable high-speed and high-temperature oil-free turbomachinery. This technology provides an opportunity through new design freedoms that will enable revolutionary oil-free aeropropulsion engine and vehicle systems. Current: Aircraft air cycle machines Turbocompressors Turbogenerators (30 to 200 kW) Emerging: Turbochargers Future: Regional jet and helicopter engines Brayton Cycle space power systems Auxiliary power units General aviation, BizJet, uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV), and missile engines Revolutionary aeropropulsion engines Reusable launch vehicle cryogenic turbomachinery Oil-free bearings eliminate oil system 15% ENGINE WEIGHT REDUCTION Maintenance- and oil-free bearings 50% ENGINE MAINTENANCE COST REDUCTION Unlimited shaft speed, no DN limit (Ball bearings limit engine speed) >20% POWER DENSITY INCREASE NASA-patented PS304 coating 1200 °F UNCOOLED BEARINGS 50-passenger regional jet 8% COST REDUCTION (DIRECT OPERATING COST)   Above: "Red hot" foil bearing running at 1400 °F   + Return to the branch research page... Dr. Christopher DellaCorte View a list of published NASA reports + View related publications Learn more about our Oil-Free Turbomachinery Facilities + View Facility Listing Analytical Modeling + Learn more Foil Bearings + Learn more Tribological Coatings + Learn more
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