A study of anti-cavitation properties of propellant-feeding systems of oxygen/hydrogen engines operating on boiling hydrogen

The paper presents results of studies on anti-cavitation properties of propellant-feeding systems of advanced oxygen/hydrogen engines when they operate on boiling hydrogen. It provides a description of an algorithm for conducting cyclic cavitation tests on booster turbopump assemblies. It also provides a schematic of a test setup developed at CADB. Test runs of the setup were preceded by prolonged analytical effort which included profiling of new versions of axidiagonal impellers, CFD flow simulations to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed profilings, constructing a non-stationary model and writing the software that can simulate the operation of the setup. The software made it possible to evaluate the effect of regime parameters on the test setup operation. The final part of the effort was running tests on the setup using hydrogen. The tests provided cavitation characteristics of three booster turbopump assemblies at various flow rates and temperatures of liquid hydrogen. The test results made it possible to update the math model taking into account special profiling features of the axidiagonal impellers. Key words: LOX-LH2 rocket engine, booster turbopump assembly, cavitation, vapor content.