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Operational Parametric Study of a Tesla Pump: Disk Pack Spacing and Rotational
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Conference Paper · July 2015

DOI: 10.1115/AJKFluids2015-33220

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 Proceedings of the ASME-JSME-KSME Joint Fluids Engineering Conference 2015
OPERARTIONAL PARAMETRIC STUDY OF A TESLA PUMP: DISK PACK SPACING
AND ROTATIONAL SPEED
Laura Dodsworth
Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
ABSTRACT
A Tesla pump was designed and built with the objective of
being a compact and rugged pump for cooling electronics. A
Tesla pump is a bladeless pump that uses spinning disks to
move fluid. Due to the nature of the pump, cavitation is
avoided, and the lack of conventional blades makes it rugged
and easy to build. A continuous test loop was designed and
used to produce pump curves at several different disk pack
spacings and motor speeds. Pump curves were obtained and
analyzed for this prototype Tesla pump. It was determined the
smallest spacing tested proved to be the most efficient,
especially at the highest motor speed. A relationship between
disk pack gap and efficiency was found, as well as one between
the pump’s performance and motor speed.
NOMENCLATURE
A Current (A)
g Gravitational Acceleration (m/s2)
h Differential Head (m)
PH Hydraulic Power (W)
PM Input Power to Motor (W)
Q Volumetric Flow Rate (m3/s)
V Voltage (V)
ηoverall Overall Pump Efficiency
ρ Density (kg/m3)
thou Thousandths of an Inch
INTRODUCTION
Nickolas Tesla developed the first bladeless turbomachine
design in 1913, including the Tesla pump for which he obtained
a US patent [1]. In the early days of its invention, it was
regarded mainly as a conceptual design due to issues in
efficiency compared to traditional bladed turbomachinery. In
the 1950’s, the interest renewed about the characteristics of
flow between rotating disks and many studies were performed
to further understand the phenomenon. This allowed room for
possible improvements to the Tesla pump. Today, Tesla pump
1
AJK2015-FED
July 26-31, 2015, SEOUL, KOREA
AJK2015-33220
Dominic Groulx
Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
find applications in various systems: missile, space systems [2,
3], and biomedical field [4] to name just a few.
A Tesla pump impeller or disk pack, consists of smooth,
flat, parallel disks on a drive shaft, arranged such that there are
small spaces between the disks. These disk spacings are as
small as a few thousandth’s of an inch, or thou’s. The fluid
enters through the center of the pump and is forced into the
small spaces between the disks, where it is accelerated until it
spirals out of the pump, similar to the way a centrifugal type
pump works. However, unlike centrifugal pumps, the working
principle of a Tesla pump involves viscous drag, or shear forces
in the fluid; mainly occurring within the boundary layers on
each surface of the disks. For Tesla turbomachinery, the fluid
is dragged along the surface of the rotating disks, accelerating
until it reaches the velocity at which the disks are spinning [5].
The advantage of this type of pump is that it works well
with viscous, two-phase mixtures, highly loaded slurries and
suspensions, as well as “exotic fluids” like rocket propellant [2,
4]. Due to the nature of the operation of Tesla pumps, they are
also advantageous for small volumetric, pumping applications,
such as an artificial heart[2, 4]. In supporting this, Rice
suggests that as the Tesla pump is decreased in size the
efficiency would remain constant, unlike conventional pumps,
where it decreases with size [2]. Another factor which makes
these pumps advantageous in comparison to conventional
centrifugal pumps, is a lower sensitivity to cavitation [2].
Conventional pumps require a pressure difference across the
surface of the blade, due to the fact they utilize lift forces to
exchange energy. These pressure differences are avoided by
utilizing shear forces between the fluid and disks [3]. This is
beneficial for the lifetime of the pump as no blades would have
to be replaced or repaired. The fact that cavitation is avoided,
allows for a more stable operation in comparison to
conventional bladed pumps, especially for applications where
vibrations will undoubtedly be present.
A prototype Tesla pump was designed and built at the
Laboratory of Applied Multiphase Thermal Engineering
(LAMTE) with the objective of continuous operation under
large amount of vibration, building on its lower sensitivity to
cavitation. A continuous test loop was assembled and used to
create pump curves to determine the operational characteristics
of the pump, such as the effect of different disk pack spacing
and rotational speeds on performance.
An analysis of several different disk pack configurations
and rotational speeds was performed and pump curves were
developed for each case and compared. Disk pack spacings
ranging from five thou to twenty thou at increments of five
thou, were tested at several rotational speeds (2500, 3000, and
3600 RPM). This was done to characterize the pump and help
determine the optimal disk spacing and motor speed. This
paper will first present the experimental setup and
methodology; leading into the experimental results and a
thorough discussion of the findings.
EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
A continuous test loop was assembled, consisting of a
reservoir, flow meter, differential pressure sensor and a valve.
The prototype pump is shown in Fig 1. The disk pack outer
diameter is 35 mm, with an inner opening (hole in the center)
diameter of 9.5 mm. The entire length of the disk pack is
approximately 55 mm, including supports and each disk is
0.8 mm thick. The shape of the casing or volute, as discussed
in [6], is a log spiral, with an average spacing between the disk
pack and casing of 8.15 mm. The disks are attached to the
disk pack supports by three disk pack rods, which go through
the disks and are secured to the supports. Since the motor is
separated from the water side of the pump (or disk pack), it is
connected to the motor by a magnetic coupling, which is
attached to the disk pack with a bolt that goes though the motor
side support, as shown in Fig 2. The motor of the prototype
pump is a 15 W, DC electric, magnetic drive motor. Water
was used as a working fluid for the testing, due to availability
and ease of use. The flow rate and pressure difference for
varying loads were used to calculate the hydraulic power of the
pump. The current and voltage were used to determine the
motor’s power. Both were then used to determine the
efficiencies of each configuration. The pump consists of two
main parts: the disk pack and the motor enclosure. Figure 2
presents a schematic of the disk pack.
meter measurements were confirmed by measuring the flow out
of the system for a set time and proved to be accurate.
To determine the head the pump produces a differential
pressure sensor, PX26-005 was used. The pressure sensor was
calibrated using a known height of water on the discharge end
of the sensor, which proved the measurements were correct and
accurate. A needle type valve was used to vary the head
losses on the system.
The motor input was determined by measuring current
drawn and the voltage supplied to the motor, using standard
voltmeters. The pump’s motor is a Maxon 15W EC 32 flat
brushless motor with integrated electronics. It includes as
pulse counter function for measuring the RPM of the motor.
This motor also has a signal input that can be varied to control
its speed. Since the speed signal input goes up to 10.33 V, and
the motor can take up to 24 V, two separate power supplies
were used to obtain the necessary motor speeds.
All data was recorded using a National Instruments
compact DAQ, 4 slot chassis system, with 2 modules. The two
modules used are the NI 9435, for the pulse counting
equipment, and NI9219 for the analog input from the pressure
sensor. The NI 9435 was used for the flow meter and the pulse
counter for the motor speed. This was connected and read into
the computer program Labview, which then recorded and saved
the data.
FIGURE 1. PROTOTYPE PUMP.

Instrumentation
Due to the fact the pump produces very low flow rates, low
pressure differences also exist. This was determined from
design factors and some preliminary testing. One of the
problems with finding an appropriate flow meter was typical
higher head losses they produce. Typical paddle style flow
meters would have too high head losses and would have
obstructed the readings. Therefore the flow meter used in this
study is a contactless electromagnetic flow meter, model
number FMG91-PVDF from Omega. This type of flow meter
has no moving parts and provides continuous measurement of
FIGURE 2. SCHEMATIC OF THE DISK PACK.
the flow rate of the working fluid. The flow meter has an
accuracy of 1% of reading and a repeatability of 1%. The flow

2
Procedure
The system was primed with the working fluid (water) and
the motor was set to the desired RPM. The pump was allowed
to run for 20-30 min before any data was taken. This was done
to remove any excess air from the pump and system. The
flow meter showed to be sensitive to large air bubbles the pump
produced after first starting up. The needle valve was left
open the whole start-up time and was the first data point to be
collected.
All data except voltage and current was recorded
electronically. These were recorded multiple times throughout
the run and then averaged. Since the flow meter and differential
pressure sensor continuously read data, data was collected for a
minute for each partial turn of the needle valve. All data (flow
rate and pressure difference) was then averaged for over a
minute, and those values were used for analysis.
Changing the disk pack spacings was completed after the FIGURE 3. PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
three motor speeds were tested. This was done by disconnecting DISK PACK SPACINGS: 2500 RPM MOTOR SPEED.
the pump and inserting a new disk pack with a different spacing
into the pump.
Overall, four different disk pack spacings (5 thou with 20
disks, 10 thou with 18 disks, 15 thou with 16 disks and 20 thou
with 15 disks), and three different motor speeds (2500, 3000
and 3600 RPM) were tested.

Calculations
The hydraulic power (Eq. (1)) and the motor input power
(Eq. (2)) were used to calculate efficiencies through Eq. (3):

= ℎ (1)

= ∙ (2)

= ∗ 100 (3)
FIGURE 4. EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
RESULTS DISK PACK SPACINGS: 2500 RPM MOTOR SPEED.
Results for Disk Spacing
Figures 3 and 4 show the pump head and overall pump
efficiency respectively as a function of flow rate for each disk
pack spacing at a pump speed of 2500 RPM. From these
figures, it is unclear what spacing would be considered optimal
with both the 10 and 15 thou spacing producing similar head vs
flow rate curves; leading to a maximum head of 0.77 m at a
flow rate of 0.11 L/min. At this pump speed, the maximum
efficiency obtained during testing slightly exceeds 0.6%.
Figures 5 and 6 show head and efficiency respectively as a
function of flow rate for the various disk pack spacings with a
pump speed of 3000 RPM. Contrary to the 2500 RPM results, a
clear relation between disk spacing and resulting head,
efficiency, appears at 3000 RPM. The 5 thou spacing proves
to provide the highest head (1.18 m) and best efficiencies (1%).
Both head and efficiency decreasing as the disk spacing
increases.
FIGURE 5. PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
DISK PACK SPACINGS: 3000 RPM MOTOR SPEED.

3

FIGURE 6. EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
DISK PACK SPACINGS: 3000 RPM MOTOR SPEED.
FIGURE 7. PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
DISK PACK SPACINGS: 3600 RPM MOTOR SPEED.
FIGURE 8. EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE FOR DIFFERENT
DISK PACK SPACINGS: 3600 RPM MOTOR SPEED.
4
Figures 7 and 8 show the results for the final motor speed,
3600 RPM, for head and pump efficiency of the various disk
pack spacings as a function of the flow rate. They show a
similar trend as the 3000 RPM results with the spacing of 5
thou outperforming the other three disk pack configurations
with a maximum head of 1.7 m and an efficiency of 1.17%.
However, it is not clear with the three largest spacings which
one would be best. The largest three spacings tend to group
together in Fig. 7 while being apart more in Fig. 8.
Results for Pump Rotational Speed
Figures 9 and 10 show the effects of motor speed on pump
head, flow rate and efficiency for the five thou spacing. In
Fig. 9, the resulting head as a function of the three different
speeds are almost evenly spaced out. Interestingly, in Fig. 10,
the efficiencies all start at similar values and spread out with
increasing flow rate, leading to the highest efficiency of 1.17%
with the fastest speed of 3600 RPM.
FIGURE 9. 5 THOU SPACING, PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE
FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.
FIGURE 10. 5 THOU SPACING, EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE
FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.
 experimentally. Generally, the smaller disk pack spacing
proved to be the most efficient and produce higher flow rates
and pump head, especially at higher pump speed. The same
conclusion can be made of the higher motor speed.

Effects of Disk Spacing

FIGURE 11. 10 THOU SPACING, PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE
FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.
The spacing between the disks proved to be significant for
a few of the runs. The smaller spacings tended to provide
higher capacities and efficiencies: the 5 thou gap spacing at
3600 RPM pump speed provide the highest efficiencies and
pump head. In theory, a Tesla pump relies on the viscous
shear forces between the fluid and the disks to accelerate the
fluid, therefore, a smaller gap between the disks would create
less fluid slippage. As the gap, or disk spacing, increases, the
efficiency and capacity of the pump would also decrease since a
larger portion of the fluid can now fall outside of the boundary
layer formed at the surface of the disk, or at the very least,
receive to a lesser degree the influence of the spinning disk by
being farther away in the boundary layer.

FIGURE 12. 10 THOU SPACING, EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE

FIGURE 13. 20 THOU SPACING, PUMP HEAD VS. FLOW RATE
FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.
FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.
Figure 11 shows a similar trend for the ten thou spacing as
the motor speed increases for pump head and flowrate to that of
the 5 thou spacing. However, Fig. 12 shows that the
efficiency does not vary between the various rotor speeds
compared to the five thou case.
Figure 13 is a further example of how the pump head and
flow rate respond with increasing motor speeds, for the 20 thou
system. It behaves in a way similar to what was presented in
Figs. 9 and 11, with an even more significant gap between each
speed trend line. Figure 14 shows how the efficiency behaves
for the 20 thou spacing with increasing speed. Again,
virtually no difference is observed in the efficiencies for the
various speeds studied, with a very small maximum efficiency
of 0.35% at 3600 RPM.

DISCUSSION
From Figs. 3 to 8, it is clear there are some general trends
FIGURE 14. 20 THOU SPACING, EFFICIENCY VS. FLOW RATE
with disk pack spacing and motor speed that are observed FOR DIFFERENT MOTOR SPEEDS.

5
 There are some discrepancies from the observed pattern in
a few of the runs. One such being the 2500 RPM
experiments. From Fig. 3, it appears that the 10 and 15 thou
spacing produces the most pump head at such low speed. The
fact that a larger spacing provides more head at a lower speed
could be explained by the fact that entrainment in the boundary
layer plays a bigger role at smaller pump rotational speed.
Future tests at speed lower than 2500 RPM (2000 and 1500
RPM) will be performed to determine any possible impact of
low speed on pump performance and configuration. It must
be mentioned that those results could partially be explained by
experimental contamination from air bubbles in the system
which would affect the flow meter producing a lower flow rate
than actual. With small disk gap and lower speed, it is
possible that it is more difficult to remove all air from the disk
pack. More tests, with a larger running start up time, to allow
for any possible trapped air to be removed, will be carried.
As for the 3600 RPM runs presented in Figs. 7 and 8, the
pump head and flow rates of the larger disk pack spacings (10,
15 and 20 thou) are grouped close together. This indicates
that the effect of disk spacing is not significant at this speed.
This points to the fact that the disk spacing selection is a
function of the pump rotational speed, requiring small spacings
at high speed, and potentially larger spacing at smaller speed.
Also, in general, as the disk spacing increases the efficiencies
decrease.
Effects of Motor Speed
Figures 9 to 14 illustrates result for each disk pack
configuration as the motor speed of the pump is increased. In
general, the flow rate and pump head increases, with increasing
motor speed, as is typical of turbomachines. However the
efficiency tends to behave slightly differently. There tends not
to be a significant increase in efficiency as the motor speed
increases, except for the 5 thou disk pack.
Figures 10, 12, and 14 all illustrate the change in efficiency
as the motor speed increases. For the 5 thou spacing it
appears to have some effect when running at the higher flow
rates, as shown in Fig. 10. At first the efficiencies start at
approximately the same values, with efficiency values reaching
their maximum value faster at lower pump speed. With a gap
spacing of 5 thou, the highest efficiencies are obtained at
around 1.17% for 3600 RPM.
As the disk spacing increases it appears motor speed does
not significantly affect efficiency. In Figs. 12 and 14, the data
points tend to group together, suggesting there is no effect.
However, as expected, the maximum flow rates are obtained
with increasing motor speed.
CONCLUSION
Pump curves were developed for four disk pack spacings
and three motor speeds of a Tesla pump. It was determined
that the smallest tested disk pack spacing of 5 thou provided the
highest pump head, overall efficiencies and flow rates. It was
at the highest motor speed of 3600 RPM that these values were
obtained.
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A clear relationship between disk pack spacing and the
performance of the prototype pump was found, especially at
higher pump speed. The smaller the spacing generally
provides better overall efficiencies and pump head. Increasing
the motor speed was found to increase flow rate and pump head
as well. However, it appeared to have no to little effect on the
overall efficiency for larger disk pack spacing.
Further testing is needed to confirm a few interesting
measurements. Mainly, at the lowest pump speed (2500
RPM), no clear trends could be determined concerning the best
possible disk pack spacing. It could be that the Tesla pump in
general is not properly adequate at such low speed, or that
larger spacings are required as the velocity drop; this will be
investigated by performing tests at speeds of 1500 and
2000 RPM.
These tests were performed with water at room
temperature; however, it is clear that viscosity and boundary
layer behaviors play a crucial role in the functioning of a Tesla
pump. To further study this impact, future tests will also be
performed in a thermal chamber at various temperature,
affecting the viscosity of water at the same time, as well as tests
performed with different fluids, to further determine the
relation between rotational speed, disk pack spacing and fluid
(viscosity) used.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are thankful to Raytheon for their financial
and technical support for this work, specifically to Dr. John
Jacobs. Also, both the Natural Science and Engineering
Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the Canadian
Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for their financial assistance.
REFERENCES
[1] Tesla, N., 1913, "Fluid Propulsion," U. P. Office, United
States, 4 p.
[2] Rice, W., 1963, "An analytical and Experimental
Investigation of Mulitple Disk Pumps and Compressors,"
Journal of Engineering for Power, 85(3), pp. 191-200.
[3] Hasinger, S., and Kehrt, L., 1963, "Investigation of a Shear-
Force Pump," Journal of Engineering for Power, 85(3), pp.
201-206.
[4] Miller, G. E., and Fink, R., 1999, "Analysis of Optimal
Design Configurations for a Multiple Disk Centrifugal Blood
Pump," Artificial Organs, 23(6), pp. 559-565.
[5] Hoya, G. P., and Guha, A., 2009, "The design of a test rig
and study of the performance and efficiency of a Tesla disc
turbine," Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, 223(4), pp.
451-465.
[6] Dodsworth, J. L., Groulx, D., 2015, "Operational Parametric
Study of A Tesla Pump Including Vibration Effects," ASME-
ATI-UIT Conference on Thermal Energy Systems: Production,
Storage, Utilization and the Environment, Naples (Italy). 7 p.