Photographic Study of Liquid-Oxygen Boiling and Gas Injection in the Injector of a Chugging Rocket Engine

High-speed motion pictures were taken of conditions in the injector liquid-oxygen cavity of an RL-10 rocket engine during throttled engine operation. Photographs were taken during operation of the engine in the chugging region as the helium gas was injected to stabilize combustion, during operation at rated thrust, and during transition into chugging conditions as the gas injection was discontinued. Results of the investigation indicate that, during chugging rocket operation of the RL-10 engine, a high population of fairly large bubbles formed and collapsed within the liquid-oxygen cavity at the same frequency as the chamber pressure oscillations. When gaseous helium was injected into the liquid-oxygen cavity, a fog rapidly spread over the entire field of view, and the system immediately became stable. The injection of gaseous helium at rated conditions produced a very slight increase in engine performance but not enough to produce a net gain in a typical mission payload with the extra equipment needed. The inherent low-frequency system instability associated with the fuel system at low thrust levels was reduced by injecting either gaseous helium or hydrogen. Complete stabilization was achieved in some cases, and a reduction in the severity of the oscillations in others. This was apparently due to the anchoring of the phase change front to the location of the gas injection

Preliminary Altitude Performance Characteristics of the J57-P-1 Turbojet Engine with Fixed-area Exhaust Nozzle

An investigation to determine the altitude performance of the J57-P-1 turbojet engine and components was conducted at the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel. Data were obtained over a corrected inboard rotor speed range from 56 to 106 percent of rated speed, with intercompressor bleeds both open and closed, at altitudes from 15,000 to 50,000 feet and at a flight Mach number of 0.81. The corresponding range of Reynolds number indices was from 0.858 to 0.213. All data presented were obtained with a fixed-area exhaust nozzle sized according to the manufacturer's specification. Over-all engine performance parameters are presented as functions of inboard rotor speed corrected on the basis of engine inlet temperature. Component parameters are presented as functions of their respective corrected rotor speeds. A tabulation of all performance data is included in addition to the graphical presentation. Corrected net thrust is unusually sensitive to changes in corrected inboard rotor speed in the high speed region. A change of 1 percent in speed, at sated speed, produced a change of 6 percent in corrected net thrust . At rated engine speed, increasing the altitude from 15,000 to 50,000 feet at a constant flight Mach number of 0.81 increased the specific fuel consumption 13 percent but did not affect corrected net thrust

Altitude Performance and Operational Characteristics of 29-inch-diameter Tail-pipe Burner with Several Fuel Systems and Fuel-cooled Stage-type Flame Holders on J35-A-5 Turbojet Engine / Richard L. Golladay and Harry E. Bloomer

An investigation of tail-pipe burning was conducted in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel with a full-scale turbojet engine and an 29-inch-diameter tail-pipe burner. Effects of fuel distribution and number and arrangement of stages on performance and operational characteristics of several fuel-cooled flame holders are presented and discussed. Operation with a three-stage flame holder having the large stage upstream was the most efficient. Combustion efficiency was slightly increased at high altitudes by injecting fuel upstream of the flame holder

Investigation of Altitude Starting and Acceleration Characteristics of J47 Turbojet Engine

An investigation was conducted on an axial-flow-compressor type turbojet engine in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel to determine the operational characteristics of several ignition systems, cross-fire tube configurations and fuel systems over a range of simulated flight conditions. The opposite-polarity-type spark plug provided the most satisfactory ignition. Increasing the cross-fire-tube diameter improved intercombustor flame propagation. At high windmilling speeds, accelerations to approximately 6200 rpm could be made at a preset constant throttle position. The use of a variable-area nozzle reduced acceleration time

Altitude-wind-tunnel investigation of performance and windmilling drag characteristics of Westinghouse X24C-4B axial-flow turbojet engine

An investigation has been conducted in the NACA Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to evaluate the performance and windmilling drag characteristics of an original and a modified turbojet engine of the same type. Data have been obtained at simulated altitudes from 5000 to 45,000 feet, simulated flight Mach numbers from 0.09 to 1.08, and engine speeds from 4000 to 12,500 rpm. Engine performance data are presented for both engines to show the effects of altitude at a flight Mach number of 0.25 and of flight Mach number at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Performance of the original and modified engines is compared for a range of simulated flight conditions. The performance data are generalized to show the applicability of methods used to estimate performance at any altitude from data obtained at a given altitude. Engine-windmilling-speed and windmilling-drag data are presented for a range of simulated flight conditions

Altitude Performance and Operational Characteristics of YJ71-A-7 Turbojet Engine

Altitude performance of a YJ71-A-7 turbojet engine, with afterburner inoperative, was determined in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel over a wide range of flight conditions. Engine speed and exhaust-nozzle area were controlled independently during this investigation. The variation of corrected values of air flow, net thrust, and fuel flow with corrected engine speed was not defined by a single curve with changes in altitude at given flight Mach number. Changes in altitude had very little effect on minimum specific fuel consumption at altitudes up to 45,000 feet. There is one exhaust-nozzle schedule that is nearly optimum for all flight conditions. Performance calculated from pumping characteristics agreed with experimental values and can therefore be used to extend engine performance data

Altitude Wind Tunnel Investigation of XJ34-WE-32 Engine Performance Without Electronic Control

An investigation was conducted in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel to evaluate the performance characteristics of an XJ34-WE-32 turbojet engine which was equipped with an afterburner, a variable-area exhaust nozzle, and an integrated electronic control. The data were obtained with the afterburner and electronic control inoperative. Performance data were obtained at altitudes from 5000 to 55,000 feet and flight Mach numbers from 0.28 to 1.06 for a complete range of operable engine speeds at each of four fixed positions of the variable-area exhaust nozzle