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Towards Rocket Engine Components with Increased Strength and Robust Operating CharacteristicsHigh-energy rotating machines, powering liquid propellant rocket engines, are subject to various sources of high and low cycle fatigue generated by unsteady flow phenomena. Given the tremendous need for reliability in a sustainable space exploration program, a fundamental change in the design methodology for engine components is required for both launch and space based systems. A design optimization system based on neural-networks has been applied and demonstrated in the redesign of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Low Pressure Oxidizer Turbo Pump (LPOTP) turbine nozzle. One objective of the redesign effort was to increase airfoil thickness and thus increase its strength while at the same time detuning the vane natural frequency modes from the vortex shedding frequency. The second objective was to reduce the vortex shedding amplitude. The third objective was to maintain this low shedding amplitude even in the presence of large manufacturing tolerances. All of these objectives were achieved without generating any detrimental effects on the downstream flow through the turbine, and without introducing any penalty in performance. The airfoil redesign and preliminary assessment was performed in the Exploration Technology Directorate at NASA ARC. Boeing/Rocketdyne and NASA MSFC independently performed final CFD assessments of the design. Four different CFD codes were used in this process. They include WIL DCA T/CORSAIR (NASA), FLUENT (commercial), TIDAL (Boeing Rocketdyne) and, a new family (AardvarWPhantom) of CFD analysis codes developed at NASA MSFC employing LOX fluid properties and a Generalized Equation Set formulation. Extensive aerodynamic performance analysis and stress analysis carried out at Boeing Rocketdyne and NASA MSFC indicate that the redesign objectives have been fully met. The paper presents the results of the assessment analysis and discusses the future potential of robust optimal design for rocket engine components.
Document ID
20050205855
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Marcu, Bogdan (Boeing Co. Canoga Park, CA, United States)
Hadid, Ali (Boeing Co. Canoga Park, CA, United States)
Lin, Pei (Boeing Co. Canoga Park, CA, United States)
Balcazar, Daniel (Boeing Co. Canoga Park, CA, United States)
Rai, Man Mohan (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Dorney, Daniel J. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Subject Category
Fluid Mechanics And Thermodynamics
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 2005-4449
Meeting Information
Meeting: 41st AlAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit
Location: Tucson, AZ
Country: United States
Start Date: July 10, 2005
End Date: July 13, 2005
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., American Society for Electrical Engineers
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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