The experimental investigation of gas-coupled free piston Stirling generators

Abstract This paper presents an experimental investigation on the operation of gas-coupled free piston Stirling generators (FPSG), which are connected through a bypass pipeline between the compression chambers. The impact of different input power on the variation of parameters and the vibration characteristics of the generator shell were investigated. The results show that discrepancies between the two generators in terms of output power, phase and hot end temperature were insignificant as the input power increased. The two generators were found to be capable of cooperative operation through the action of gas coupling, with a maximum acceleration of the shell vibration being less than 0.2 g, establishing a basis for further investigation into the vibration damping of FPSG.