ALBERT

Description: The Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump (HPOTP) inducer cavitation study was initiated in the mid 1990s to support high synchronous vibrations. A Fastrac 60K Engine Oxygen Turbopump inducer cavitation study was started around the same time to support a blade deformation investigation. Super-synchronous rotating, attached synchronous, and pronounced subsynchronous flow oscillations were evident. Current thrusts in experimental work include characterization of loads induced by the various forms of cavitation inducted stabilities and measurements of cavitating turbopump dynamic transfer functions.

Description: Cracks were found on bellows flow liners in the liquid hydrogen feedlines of several space shuttle orbiters in 2002. An effort to characterize the fluid environment upstream of the space shuttle main engine low-pressure fuel pump was undertaken to help identify the cause of the cracks and also provide quantitative environments and loads of the region. Part of this effort was to determine the duct acoustics several inches upstream of the low-pressure fuel pump in the region of a bellows joint. A finite element model of the complicated geometry was made using three-dimensional fluid elements. The model was used to describe acoustics in the complex geometry and played an important role in the investigation. Acoustic mode shapes and natural frequencies of the liquid hydrogen in the duct and in the cavity behind the flow liner were determined. Forced response results were generated also by applying an edgetone-like forcing to the liner slots. Studies were conducted for state conditions and also conditions assuming two-phase entrapment in the backing cavity. Highly instrumented single-engine hot fire data confirms the presence of some of the predicted acoustic modes.

Description: The Hybrid Propulsion Demonstration Program (HPDP) program was formed to mature hybrid propulsion technology to a readiness level sufficient to enable commercialization for various space launch applications. The goal of the HPDP was to develop and test a 250,000 pound vacuum thrust hybrid booster in order to demonstrate hybrid propulsion technology and enable manufacturing of large hybrid boosters for current and future space launch vehicles. The HPDP has successfully conducted four tests of the 250,000 pound thrust hybrid rocket motor at NASA's Stennis Space Center. This paper documents the test series.

Description: An experimental investigation was conducted on a scaled annular pogo accumulator for the Ares I Upper Stage. The test article was representative of the LO2 feedline and preliminary accumulator design, and included multiple designs of a perforated ring connecting the accumulator to the core feedline flow. The system was pulse tested in water over a range of pulse frequency and flow rates. Time dependent measurements of pressure at various locations in the test article were used to extract system compliance, inertance, and resistance. Preliminary results indicated a significant deviation from standard orifice flow theory and suggest a strong dependence on feedline average velocity. In addition, several CFD analyses were conducted to investigate the details of the time variant flow field. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations were performed with time varying boundary conditions used to represent system pulsing. The CFD results compared well with the sub-scale results and demonstrated the influence of feedline average velocity on the flow into and out of the accumulator. This paper presents updated results of the investigation including a parametric design space for determining resistance characteristics. Using the updated experimental results a new scaling relationship has been defined for shear flow over a cavity. A comparison of sub-scale and full scale CFD simulations provided early verification of the scaling of the fluid flowfield and resistance characteristics.

Description: Experimental results describing the hydraulic dynamic pump transfer matrix (Yp) for a cavitating J-2X oxidizer turbopump inducer+impeller tested in subscale waterflow are presented. The transfer function is required for integrated vehicle pogo stability analysis as well as optimization of local inducer pumping stability. Dynamic transfer functions across widely varying pump hydrodynamic inlet conditions are extracted from measured data in conjunction with 1D-model based corrections. Derived Dynamic transfer functions are initially interpreted relative to traditional Pogo pump equations. Water-to-liquid oxygen scaling of measured cavitation characteristics are discussed. Comparison of key dynamic transfer matrix terms derived from waterflow testing are made with those implemented in preliminary Ares Upper Stage Pogo stability modeling. Alternate cavitating pump hydraulic dynamic equations are suggested which better reflect frequency dependencies of measured transfer matrices.

Description: An advanced methodology for extracting the hydraulic dynamic pump transfer matrix (Yp) for a cavitating liquid rocket engine turbopump inducer+impeller has been developed. The transfer function is required for integrated vehicle pogo stability analysis as well as optimization of local inducer pumping stability. Laboratory pulsed subscale waterflow test of the J-2X oxygen turbo pump is introduced and our new extraction method applied to the data collected. From accurate measures of pump inlet and discharge perturbational mass flows and pressures, and one-dimensional flow models that represents complete waterflow loop physics, we are able to derive Yp and hence extract the characteristic pump parameters: compliance, pump gain, impedance, mass flow gain. Detailed modeling is necessary to accurately translate instrument plane measurements to the pump inlet and discharge and extract Yp. We present the MSFC Dynamic Lump Parameter Fluid Model Framework and describe critical dynamic component details. We report on fit minimization techniques, cost (fitness) function derivation, and resulting model fits to our experimental data are presented. Comparisons are made to alternate techniques for spatially translating measurement stations to actual pump inlet and discharge.

Description: An experimental investigation was conducted on a scaled annular pogo accumulator for the Ares I Upper Stage. The test article was representative of the LO2 feedline and preliminary accumulator design, and included multiple designs of a perforated ring connecting the accumulator to the core feedline flow. The system was pulse tested in water over a range of pulse frequency and flow rates. Time dependent measurements of pressure at various locations in the test article were used to extract system compliance, inertance, and resistance. Results indicate a significant deviation from standard orifice flow theory and suggest a strong dependence on feedline average velocity. In addition, several CFD analyses were conducted to investigate the details of the time variant flow field. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations were performed with time varying boundary conditions used to represent system pulsing. The CFD results compared well with the sub-scale results and demonstrated the influence of feedline average velocity on the flow into and out of the accumulator

Description: The Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) uses a turbine fuel flowmeter (FFM) in its Low Pressure Fuel Duct (LPFD) to measure liquid hydrogen flowrates during engine operation. The flowmeter is required to provide accurate and robust measurements of flow rates ranging from 10000 to 18000 GPM in an environment contaminated by duct vibration and duct internal acoustic disturbances. Errors exceeding 0.5% can have a significant impact on engine operation and mission completion. The accuracy of each sensor is monitored during hot-fire engine tests on the ground. Flow meters which do not meet requirements are not flown. Among other parameters, the device is screened for a specific behavior in which a small shift in the flow rate reading is registered during a period in which the actual fuel flow as measured by a facility meter does not change. Such behavior has been observed over the years for specific builds of the FFM and must be avoided or limited in magnitude in flight. Various analyses of the recorded data have been made prior to this report in an effort to understand the cause of the phenomenon; however, no conclusive cause for the shift in the instrument behavior has been found. The present report proposes an explanation of the phenomenon based on interactions between acoustic pressure disturbances in the duct and the wakes produced by the FFM flow straightener. Physical insight into the effects of acoustic plane wave disturbances was obtained using a simple analytical model. Based on that model, a series of three-dimensional unsteady viscous flow computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed using the MSFC PHANTOM turbomachinery code. The code was customized to allow the FFM rotor speed to change at every time step according to the instantaneous fluid forces on the rotor, that, in turn, are affected by acoustic plane pressure waves propagating through the device. The results of the simulations show the variation in the rotation rate of the flowmeter due to the interaction of the flow straightener wakes and the upstream propagating acoustic waves. A detailed analysis of the acoustic disturbance effects is presented along with an assessment of the impact on measurement accuracy.