Space Shuttle Main Engine instrumented High Pressure Fuel Turbopump technology test bed testing results summary

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY KOELBL
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Main Engine

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.

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.

Improved Rotor Response of the Uprated High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump for the Space Shuttle Main Engine

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Beatty ◽  
M. J. Hine
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Critical Speed ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Pressure Oxygen ◽  
Bearing Life ◽  
Bending Mode ◽  
Bearing Stiffness ◽  
High Pressure Oxygen ◽  
Bearing Loads ◽  
Main Engine

During development testing of the High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump (HPOTP) of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) to produce 109 percent of the rated thrust level, subsynchronous rotor whirl was encountered. This whirl was attributed to bearing wear reducing the radial bearing stiffness that caused the rotor second bending mode critical speed to enter the operating speed range. To eliminate this whirl, the pump end bearing loads were reduced to increase bearing life and damping added between the rotor and housing. This was achieved by converting impeller annular seals into “damping” seals that react part of the applied load and also damp the rotor response. Furthermore, the second rotor critical speed was increased by the added stiffness of the seal conversion and stiffening the rotor shaft. The bearing load reduction was verified by strain gaging the pump end bearing support into a load cell. These strain gages also were used to directly measure bearing ball wear during engine tests.

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