Paper Session I-B - Robust Low Cost Aerospike/RLV Combustion Chamber By Advanced Vacuum Plasma Process

Next-generation, regeneratively cooled rocket engines will require materials that can withstand high temperatures while retaining high thermal conductivity. At the same time, fabrication techniques must be cost efficient so that engine components can be manufactured within the constraints of a shrinking NASA budget. In recent years, combustion chambers of equivalent size to the Aerospike chamber have been fabricated at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) using innovative, relatively low-cost, vacuum-plasma-spray (VPS) techniques (1,2). Typically, such combustion chambers are made of the copper alloy NARloy-Z. However, current research and development conducted by NASA-Lewis Research Center (LeRC) has identified a Cu-8Cr-4Nb alloy which possesses excellent high-temperature strength, creep resistance, and low cycle fatigue behavior combined with exceptional thermal stability. In fact, researchers at NASA-LeRC have demonstrated that powder metallurgy (P/M) Cu-8Cr-4Nb exhibits better mechanical properties at 650°C (1200°F) than NARloy-Z does at 538°C (1000°F}. The objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate the technology to fabricate high-performance, robust, inexpensive combustion chambers for advanced propulsion systems such as Lockheed-Martin\u27s VentureSta( and NASA\u27s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) using the VPS process. The VPS Cu-8Cr-4Nb had mechanical properties that match or exceed those of P/M Cu-8Cr-4Nb. In addition, oxidation resistant and thermal barrier coatings can be incorporated as an integral part of the hot wall of the liner during the VPS process, significantly extending the life/performance. Tensile properties of Cu-8Cr-4Nb material produced by VPS are reviewed and compared to material produced previously by extrusion. VPS formed combustion chamber liners have also been prepared and will be reported on, following scheduled hot firing tests at NASA-LeRC

Paper Session I-A - Robust Low Cost Liquid Rocket Combustion Chamber By Advanced Vacuum Plasma Process

Next-generation, regeneratively cooled rocket engines require materials that can meet high temperatures while resisting the corrosive oxidation-reduction reaction of combustion known as blanching, the main cause of engine failure. A project was initiated at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to combine three existing technologies to build and demonstrate an advanced liquid rocket engine combustion chamber that would provide a 100-mission life. Technology developed in microgravity research to build cartridges for space furnaces was utilized to vacuum plasma spray (VPS) a functional gradient coating on the hot wall of the combustion liner as one continuous operation, eliminating any bondline between the coating and the liner. (See Figure 1) The coating was NiCrAlY, developed previously as durable protective coatings on space shuttle high-pressure fuel turbopump (HPFTP) turbine blades. A thermal model showed that 0.035” NiCrAlY applied to the hot wall of the combustion liner would reduce the hot wall temperature 200°F, a 20% reduction, for longer life. Cu-8Cr-4Nb alloy, which was developed by NASA-Glenn Research Center (GRC), and which possesses excellent high-temperature strength, creep resistance, and low cycle fatigue behavior combined with exceptional thermal stability, was utilized as the liner material in place of NARloy-Z. The Cu-8Cr-4Nb material exhibits better mechanical properties at 650°C (1200°F) than NARloy-Z does at 538°C (1000°F). VPS formed Cu-8Cr-4Nb combustion chamber liners with a protective NiCrAlY functional gradient coating have been hot fire tested, successfully demonstrating a durable coating for the first time. Hot fire tests along with tensile and low cycle fatigue properties of the VPS formed combustion chamber liners and witness panel specimens are discussed