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Simplex turbopump designTurbomachinery used in liquid rocket engines typically are composed of complex geometries made from high strength-to-weight super alloys and have long design and fabrication cycle times (3 to 5 years). A simple, low-cost turbopump is being designed in-house to demonstrate the ability to reduce the overall cost to $500K and compress life cycle time to 18 months. The simplex turbopump was designed to provide a discharge pressure of 1500 psia of liquid oxygen at 90 lbm/s. The turbine will be powered by gaseous oxygen. This eliminates the need for an inter-propellant seal typically required to separate the fuel-rich turbine gases from the liquid oxygen pump components. Materials used in the turbine flow paths will utilize existing characterized metals at 800 deg R that are compatible with a warm oxygen environment. This turbopump design would be suitable for integration with a 40 K pound thrust hybrid motor that provides warm oxygen from a tapped-off location to power the turbine. The preliminary and detailed analysis was completed in a year by a multiple discipline, concurrent engineering team. Manpower, schedule, and cost data were tracked during the process for a comparison to the initial goal. The Simplex hardware is the procurement cycle with the expectation of the first test to occur approximately 1.5 months behind the original schedule goal.
Document ID
19950002752
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Marsh, Matt
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Cowan, Penny
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Pennsylvania State Univ., NASA Propulsion Engineering Research Center, Volume 2
Subject Category
Mechanical Engineering
Accession Number
95N70872
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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