Development of a linear compressor for a stirling cycle based cryocooler

With a view to minimize the power consumption, a method to evaluate the factors influencing the performance of a compressor driving a Stirling cycle based cryocooler has been proposed. An experimental as well as a numerical approach has been employed to analyze the flexure bearing stiffness. Additionally, gas spring stiffness has been found analytically. Consequently, the undamped natural frequency, of the flexure bearing spring system employed in the compressor has also been calculated. Additionally, in contrast to the traditional and often employed method of assuming the gas spring to be constant, an attempt has been made to find out the variation of the gas spring/stiffness during the compression stroke of the compressor. The effect of leakage of the working gas from the clearance between the piston and cylinder has also been considered.