Results of a Liquid Rocket Booster (LRB) Nozzle Throat Related Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue (TMF) Panel Test

Kurzfassung

Results of a TMF test based on a (liquid rocket booster hot-run related) laser-on hold time of 200 s are shown in this manuscript. A (supercritical N2) coolant inlet temperature of 160 K and a coolant outlet pressure of 5 MPa were applied during the cold flow. Due to fixed control valve settings and LN2 pump speed during the (laser-on) hot rut, these two values increased slightly during each thermal loading period of the TMF test. The coolant mass flow rate was tuned to obtain an average heat flux of 20 MW/m2 into the TMF panel structure in the center of the laser-loading area. By a fine-tuning of the laser power, a maximum TMF panel wall temperature of 1000 K was achieved from the 2nd cycle to the failure cycle. The most important result of the TMF test is the observed fatigue life of 369 cycles to failure. A series of additional measurements provide e.g. the 2d thermal field and the 2d displacement field during each hot run.