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Robust Low Cost Aerospike/RLV Combustion Chamber by Advanced Vacuum Plasma ProcessNext-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. 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 1,200 F than NARloy-Z does at 1,000 F. The objective of this program was to develop and demonstrate the technology to fabricate high-performance, robust, inexpensive combustion chambers for advanced propulsion systems (such as Lockheed-Martin's VentureStar and NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle, RLV) using the low-cost, VPS process to deposit Cu-8Cr-4Nb with 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. 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-Lewis.
Document ID
19990097307
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Holmes, Richard
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Ellis, David
(NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
McKechnie
(Plasma Processes, Inc. United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Meeting Information
Meeting: Space Conference
Location: Cape Canaveral FL
Country: United States
Start Date: April 27, 1999
End Date: April 30, 1999
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS8-97240
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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