Dear All,

Nowadays we are experimenting with a custom vacuum system with 500 l/s
capacity 8" CF mount turbopump.  There is no corrosive gas around and it
only pumps air.   I don't have experience with such large diameter
turbopumps.

I have a question about failure on the bearings of turbo.  Probably the
lifetime of this big pump will be much shorter than that of <250 l/s
conventional medium sized turbos.  In the user manual, the producer states
that due to high rpm the pump is dangerous in case of a failure, such that
it can even break the bolts at the CF mount to the chamber.  They state that
it can even kill people around !

For safety reasons, and law enforcement, it is quite understandable that
vacuum companies states such freightening sentences. So I tell people around
the same.

But in reality does anybody here have a past experience with a blown-up
turbo pump ?

Thank you,

Oray Orkun Cellek