Development and fabrication of structural components for a scramjet engine

A program broadly directed toward design and development of long-life (100 hours and 1,000 cycles with a goal of 1,000 hours and 10,000 cycles) hydrogen-cooled structures for application to scramjets is presented. Previous phases of the program resulted in an overall engine design and analytical and experimental characterization of selected candidate materials and concepts. The latter efforts indicated that the basic life goals for the program can be reached with available means. The main objective of this effort was an integrated, experimental evaluation of the results of the previous program phases. The fuel injection strut was selected for this purpose, including fabrication development and fabrication of a full-scale strut. Testing of the completed strut was to be performed in a NASA-Langley wind tunnel. In addition, conceptual designs were formulated for a heat transfer test unit and a flat panel structural test unit. Tooling and fabrication procedures required to fabricate the strut were developed, and fabrication and delivery to NASA of all strut components, including major subassemblies, were completed.