Transpiration-Cooled Ceramic Thrust Chamber Applicability for High-Thrust Rocket Engines

Abstract

The development of ceramic rocket engine thrust chambers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) currently concentrates on designs of self-sustaining, transpiration-cooled, fiber-reinforced ceramic rocket engine chamber structures. This paper discusses characteristic issues and potential benefits introduced by this technology. Achievable benefits are the reduction of weight and manufacturing cost, as well as an increased reliability and higher lifetime due to thermal cycle stability. This paper discusses the current status of DLR's ceramic thrust chamber technology and potential applications for high thrust engines. The test results of DLR's ceramic thrust chamber project KSK are used for a rough approximation of the performance of high thrust applications. Based on the KSK test results an extrapolation is performed. c*-efficiency and geometrical scaling effects are taken into consideration. Due to favorable scaling effects, high thrust applications will profit by all benefits of the discussed technology, while avoiding the most significant performance drawbacks.