A major breakthrough has been made in the development of a new generation of manned launch vehicle engines
Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, October 26 (Reporter Fu Yifei) The reporter learned from the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on the 26th that my country's first high-altitude pump rear-swing high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine recently conducted a 300-second long-range test, and achieved a successful success.
The engine has the characteristics of high specific impulse and low starting inlet pressure, and will be used in the secondary power plant of my country's new generation of manned launch vehicles.
It is reported that since September 28, this engine has completed three tests for a total of 650 seconds, with three battles and three victories.
The main working characteristics of this type of engine have been successfully obtained in three trials, and all the indicators of the engine basically meet the overall requirements, marking a breakthrough in the key technology of this type of engine and laying a solid foundation for the smooth development of my country's new-generation manned rocket project.
At the same time, this test run also marks that the engine development team has fully mastered the technology of large-sized titanium alloy nozzle extensions.
The large-sized titanium alloy nozzle extension scheme is a core key technology of the high-altitude pump rear-swing high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine, and it is also the first application of large-sized regenerative cooling titanium alloy nozzles in the model.
Compared with the traditional copper-steel nozzle, it has the outstanding advantage of light weight, which can greatly improve the thrust-to-mass ratio of the engine, but also brings challenges such as easy deformation, difficulty in cooling, and difficulty in brazing.
After 5 years of hard work, the research and development team has made breakthroughs in key technologies such as the design, forming, dissimilar metal brazing, and titanium-titanium brazing of large-sized titanium alloy nozzle extensions, and turned the drawings into reality.
In this test run, the solution successfully passed the 105% high working condition and high mixing ratio assessment, and was also equipped with a newly developed high-performance kerosene.
Low inlet pressure starting technology is another key technology of high-altitude pump rear swing high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine.
Adhering to the development strategy of "running in small steps", the R&D team gradually lowered the assessment indicators in the three hot test runs of the engine, taking into account the development progress and risk control, so that the technology can be further verified.
(Science and Technology Daily)