CARS Temperature Measurements in a Cryogenic LOX/GH2/LH2 Rocket Combustion Chamber

Abstract

Development of liquid rocket engines is still a big challenge for the manufacturers. In the past, the design relied on accumulated know-how and trial and error methods. More recently, numerical tools have been introduced in the design process but could not replace testing. Combustion in rocket engines fed with both liquid oxygen and hydrogen at high pressure (up to 30 MPa) is so complex that modeling and simulation cannot be carried out without extensive validation based on detailed investigation of elementary processes (liquid propellant injection, atomization, droplet vaporization, turbulent mixing, combustion) in well defined configurations and nevertheless representative operating conditions.