Cold Flow Testing of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Alternate Turbopump Development High Pressure Fuel Turbine Model

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Gaddis ◽  
Susan T. Hudson ◽  
P. Dean Johnson
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Rocket Engine ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Test Article ◽  
Turbine Performance ◽  
Reynolds Number Effects ◽  
Liquid Rocket ◽  
Turbine Design ◽  
Main Engine

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has established a “cold” airflow turbine test program to experimentally determine the performance of liquid rocket engine turbopump drive turbines. Testing of the space shuttle main engine (SSME) alternate turbopump development (ATD) fuel turbine was conducted for “back-to-back” comparisons with the baseline SSME fuel turbine results obtained in the first quarter of 1991. Turbine performance, Reynolds number effects, and turbine diagnostics, such as stage reactions and exit swirl angles, were investigated at the turbine design point and at off-design conditions. The test data showed that the ATD fuel turbine test article was approximately 1.4 percent higher in efficiency and flowed 5.3 percent more than the baseline fuel turbine test article. This paper describes the method and results used to validate the ATD fuel turbine aerodynamic design. The results are being used to determine the ATD high pressure fuel turbopump (HPFTP) turbine performance over its operating range, anchor the SSME ATD steady-state performance model, and validate various prediction and design analyses.

scholarly journals Numerical Analyses of a Rocket Engine Turbine and Comparison With Air Test Data

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Tran ◽  
Daniel C. Chan ◽  
Susan T. Hudson ◽  
Stephen W. Gaddis
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Test Data ◽  
Space Flight ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Rocket Engine ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Main Engine ◽  
Level Of Analysis ◽  
Nasa Marshall Space

Cold air test data on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP) turbine were recently collected at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The turbine is a two-stage reaction machine, which was designed in the early 1970s (Fig. 1a). Overall performance data, static pressures on the first- and second-stage nozzles, and static pressures along the gas path at the hub and tip were gathered and are compared in this paper with various (1-D, quasi 3-D, and 3-D viscous) analysis procedures. The results of each level of analysis is compared to test data to demonstrate the range of applicability for each step in the design process of a turbine.

Performance Improvement Through Indexing of Turbine Airfoils: Part 1 — Experimental Investigation

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. W. Huber ◽  
P. D. Johnson ◽  
O. P. Sharma ◽  
J. B. Staubach ◽  
S. W. Gaddis
Keyword(s):  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Computational Procedure ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Test Article ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Turbine Stator ◽  
Turbine Performance ◽  
Cfd Analyses

This paper describes the results of a study to determine the performance improvements achievable by circumferentially indexing successive rows of turbine stator airfoils. An experimental / analytical investigation has been completed which indicates significant stage efficiency increases can be attained through application of this airfoil clocking concept. A series of tests was conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to experimentally investigate stator wake clocking effects on the performance of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Alternate Fuel Turbopump Turbine Test Article. Extensive time-accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been completed for the test configurations. The CFD results provide insight into the performance improvement mechanism. Part one of this paper describes details of the test facility, rig geometry, instrumentation, and aerodynamic operating parameters. Results of turbine testing at the aerodynamic design point are presented for six circumferential positions of the first stage stator, along with a description of the initial CFD analyses performed for the test article. It should be noted that first vane positions 1 and 6 produced identical first to second vane indexing. Results obtained from off-design testing of the “best” and “worst” stator clocking positions, and testing over a range of Reynolds numbers are also presented. Part two of this paper describes the numerical simulations performed in support of the experimental test program described in part one. Time-accurate Navier-Stokes flow analyses have been completed for the five different turbine stator positions tested. Details of the computational procedure and results are presented. Analysis results include predictions of instantaneous and time-average mid-span airfoil and turbine performance, as well as gas conditions throughout the flow field. An initial understanding of the turbine performance improvement mechanism is described.

Radial Inlet and Exit Design for a 10 MWe sCO2 Axial Turbine

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan D. Cich ◽  
J. Jeffrey Moore ◽  
Michael Marshall ◽  
Kevin Hoopes ◽  
Jason Mortzheim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Density ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Rocket Engine ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Axial Turbine ◽  
Mechanical Constraints ◽  
Liquid Rocket

Abstract An enabling technology for a successful deployment of the sCO2 closed-loop recompression Brayton cycle is the development of a high temperature turbine not currently available in the marketplace. This turbine was developed under DOE funding for the STEP Pilot Plant development and represents a second generation design of the Sunshot turbine (Moore, et al., 2018). The lower thermal mass and increased power density of the sCO2 cycle, as compared to steam-based systems, enables the development of compact, high-efficiency power blocks that can respond quickly to transient environmental changes and frequent start-up/shut-down operations. The power density of the turbine is significantly greater than traditional steam turbines and is rivaled only by liquid rocket engine turbo pumps, such as those used on the Space Shuttle Main Engines. One key area that presents a design challenge is the radial inlet and exit collector to the axial turbine. Due to the high power density and overall small size of the machine, the available space for this inlet, collectors and transition regions is limited. This paper will take a detailed look at the space constraints and also the balance of aero performance and mechanical constraints in designing optimal flow paths that will improve the overall efficiency of the cycle.

scholarly journals Recent Experimental Efforts on High-Pressure Supercritical Injection for Liquid Rockets and Their Implications

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Chehroudi
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Critical Point ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Specific Impulse ◽  
Liquid Oxygen ◽  
Liquid Jets ◽  
Rocket Engines ◽  
Liquid Rocket Engines ◽  
Liquid Rocket ◽  
Air Force Research Laboratory

Pressure and temperature of the liquid rocket thrust chambers into which propellants are injected have been in an ascending trajectory to gain higher specific impulse. It is quite possible then that the thermodynamic condition into which liquid propellants are injected reaches or surpasses the critical point of one or more of the injected fluids. For example, in cryogenic hydrogen/oxygen liquid rocket engines, such as Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) or Vulcain (Ariane 5), the injected liquid oxygen finds itself in a supercritical condition. Very little detailed information was available on the behavior of liquid jets under such a harsh environment nearly two decades ago. The author had the opportunity to be intimately involved in the evolutionary understanding of injection processes at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), spanning sub- to supercritical conditions during this period. The information included here attempts to present a coherent summary of experimental achievements pertinent to liquid rockets, focusing only on the injection of nonreacting cryogenic liquids into a high-pressure environment surpassing the critical point of at least one of the propellants. Moreover, some implications of the results acquired under such an environment are offered in the context of the liquid rocket combustion instability problem.

Dynamic Analysis of Turbulent Annular Seals Based On Hirs’ Lubrication Equation

1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Childs
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Water Pump ◽  
Centrifugal Pumps ◽  
First Order ◽  
Lubrication Equation ◽  
Inlet Swirl ◽  
Main Engine ◽  
Perturbation Solutions ◽  
Annular Seals

Expressions are derived which define dynamic coefficients for high-pressure annular seals typical of neck-ring and interstage seals employed in multistage centrifugal pumps. Completely developed turbulent flow is assumed in both the circumferential and axial directions, and is modeled in this analysis by Hirs’ turbulent lubrication equations. Linear zeroth and first-order “short-bearing” perturbation solutions are developed by an expansion in the eccentricity ratio. The influence of inlet swirl is accounted for in the development of the circumferential flow field. Comparisons are made between the stiffness, damping, and inertia coefficients derived herein based on Hirs’ model and previously published results based on other models. Finally, numerical results are presented for interstage seals in the Space Shuttle Main Engine High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and a water pump.

The Space Shuttle Main Engine High-Pressure Fuel Turbopump Rotordynamic Instability Problem

1978 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Childs
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Support Design ◽  
Response Characteristics ◽  
Instability Problem ◽  
Stability Performance ◽  
Improved Stability ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Main Engine

The SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) HPFTP (High-Pressure Fuel Turbopump) has been subject to a rotordynamic instability problem, characterized by large and damaging subsynchronous whirling motion. The original design of the HPFTP (from a rotordynamic viewpoint) and the evolution of the HPFTP subsynchronous whirl problem are reviewed. The models and analysis which have been developed and utilized to explain the HPFTP instability and improve its stability performance are also reviewed. Elements of the rotordynamic model which are discussed in detail include the following: (a) hydrodynamic forces due to seals, (b) internal rotor damping, (c) bearing and casing support stiffness asymmetry, and (d) casing dynamics. The stability and synchronous response characteristics of the following two design alternatives are compared: (a) a “stiff” symmetric bearing support design and (b) a damped asymmetric stiffness design. With appropriate interstage seal designs, both designs are shown, in theory to provide substantially improved stability and synchronous response characteristics in comparison to the original design. The asymmetric design is shown to have better stability and synchronous response characteristics than the stiffly supported design.

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