Prediction of natural frequency of the NASA 80 K cooler by the stirling refrigerator performance model

Abstract A computer model known as the Stirling refrigerator performance model (SRPM) has been developed to study Stirling refrigerators. A detailed description of this model can be found elsewhere. Excellent agreement was found between the predictions of the SRPM and the experimental results for a number of Stirling coolers, including Lucas coolers, a Philips/NASA magnetic bearing unit, Oxford refrigerators and the Lockheed/Lucas built Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) coolers, units A, B and C. In this paper, the performance of the NASA 80 K cooler, as predicted by the SRPM model, is presented. In particular, the prediction of the natural frequency and the motor force will be discussed in detail.