Evolution of the Rocket Engine Testing Process

Abstract

Since summer 2001 the DLR test facility P5 in Lampoldshausen, Germany looks back on ten years of testing the ARIANE 5 main engine VULCAIN on engine level. A few months prior the identical facility PF50 at SNECMA in Vernon, France already had this anniversary. During this period the test facilities had to fulfil quite various requirements for the engine tests. The principle task of the facilities was always to simulate the conditions on the launcher to the VULCAIN engine. The environment and all interfaces of the rocket motor were achieved to match this target. Small and vast modifications of the test facilities were performed to evaluate the engine behaviour under standard and special conditions, expected and unexpected phenomena were detected and investigated. The schedule of pre-test and post-test operations for a hot run has in principle not changed yet the different steps were optimised due to the increasing number of objectives per test, a high desired cadence of tests, due to adding other flight hardware to the tested specimen and due to the basic request of maintaining a high level of quality and safety. It was mandatory to optimise and to create new procedures for consequent application in order to reach a high level of reliability of the facilities and to guarantee a high level of availability despite all non avoidable anomalies. Both test facilities will also be available for future developments of the VULCAIN engine. In their design concept it is foreseen that the facilities can be modified up to a configuration in which twin engines of 200 kN thrust each can be tested.