Hydrogen Turbine Stage Design for Rocket Engine

For this project, I sized a single-stage axial turbine powered by gaseous hydrogen to drive a high-speed pump producing roughly 20,000 horsepower at 24,000 rpm. I built a MATLAB tool to iterate through stage loading, flow coefficients, and velocity triangles while staying within limits for metal speed and exit angles. Using those results, I generated the hub, mean, and tip geometries in NX, matching flow area and pressure requirements. I then ran CFD simulations in STAR-CCM+ to verify pressure distribution, torque output, and efficiency trends. The final design met all performance goals and matched the expected work output, resulting in a turbine stage that’s efficient, manufacturable, and ready for further optimization.