• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.60-71
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• 2007

The startup characteristic of liquid propellant rocket engine should be focused on the stable ignition of combustion chamber and gas generator. Also, to lessen the propellants consumption during this period which doesn't contribute to the flight thrust, the engine has to be transferred to the nominal mode quickly. Because of the risk of test, it is impossible to develop all the startup cyclogram or the specifications of engine by test, so the precedent numerical approach is quite necessary. In this study we developed a mathematical model for the startup phenomena in a liquid rocket engine driven by gas generator-turbopump system based on the commercial 1-D flow system analysis program, Flowmaster. Using this program we proposed a methodology to obtain the specifications of turbine starter and the opening time of shutoff valves for the stable startup of the engine. To verify this methodology we qualitatively compared the analysis results to the typical startup curve of the published engine, then found it is quite well matched.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2015

In this study, 3-dimensional URANS simulation was performed to analyze the effect of the nozzle-rotor axial gap spacing of a supersonic impulse turbine on turbine performance. The computations were conducted for four different axial gap cases corresponding to about 6%, 10%, 20% and 30% of the blade height, respectively. The results show a good agreement with previous studies and the turbine efficiency decreases drastically in certain range. It is examined that the turbine performance characteristics could change depending on the influence of leading edge shock to the nozzle outlet. It is also found that the entropy rise distributions along the span differ from each other.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.145-148
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• 2008

Korea Aeronautics Research Institute (KARI) is developing a turbo pump that has 1-stage impulse turbine and relatively high tip clearance for safety. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of reaction on tip clearance loss in axial turbines. Both cascades were tested in a subsonic wind tunnel. In each cascade, total pressure was measured for tip clearance ranging from 1% to 20% of chord. In results, increasing tip clearance, total pressure loss in reaction turbines is continually increased but impulse turbines keep almost same level of mass averaged total pressure loss. When tip clearance becomes more than 10% of chord, mass-averaged total pressure loss in impulse turbines is less than in reaction. This means that when tip clearance is more than 10% of chord, impulse turbines have better efficiency than reaction turbines.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2013

A blisk with rotor shroud is usually adopted in LRE turbine to maximize its performance. However it experiences the severe thermal load and resulting damage during engine stating and stop. Shroud splitting is devised to relieve the thermal stress on the turbine rotor. Structural analysis confirmed the reduction of plastic strain at the blade hub and tip. However, split gap at the rotor shroud entails additional tip leakage and results performance degradation. In order to assess the effect of shroud split on the turbine performance, tests have been performed for various settings of shroud split. For the maximum number of shroud splitting, measured efficiency reduction ratio was 2.65% to the value of original shape rotor.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.64-71
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• 2022

For the development of an improved upper-stage engine, research on a staged combustion cycle liquid rocket engine is in progress. A cold flow test, ignition test, and combustion test plans were established and performed to develop reignition combustion technology. In order to solve the problem of purge gas flowing into the fuel line, which may cause cavitation in the turbo pump during reignition, the test results of each stage were analyzed. Based on the analysis results, the purge gas inflow problem was solved by reducing the overlapping time between the operation of the bubble removal valve and the opening of the purge valve and the engine fuel valve. Based on this, the reignition combustion test was successfully performed.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.48-53
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• 2017

Liquid rocket engines (LREs) are very complex systems that include combustion chambers, turbopumps, gas generators, ducts and tubes, valves and etc. Most components of the LREs require higher than or equal to level 6 IT (ISO Tolerance). The components along with pipe line and/or tubing must dispose not to interfere each other. In addition, effectiveness of maintenance and service after assembling should be considered when the allocation of the components are determined. Especially at the stage of the development, tolerance accumulations or unpredictable errors may result in misalignment and/or mismatches at interfaces of the parts. Namely, it is the engine assembling process that many inherent risks are realized and crises or incidents occur. Therefore, a rapid reaction system should be prepared. In this research, 7 tonf class liquid rocket assembling process was studied and actual building steps were introduced.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.54-63
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• 2022

A 3-tonf class liquid rocket engine that powers the upper stage of a small launcher and lifts 500 kg payload to 500 km SSO is designed. The small launcher is to utilize the flight-proven technology of the 75-tonf class engine for the first stage. A combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane has been selected as their cryogenic states can provide an extra boost in specific impulse as well as enable a weight saving via the common dome arrangement. An expander cycle is chosen among others as the low-pressure operation makes it robust and reliable while a specific impulse of over 360 seconds is achievable with the nozzle extension ratio of 120. Key components such as combustion chamber and turbopump are designed for additive manufacturing to a target cost. The engine system provides an evaporated methane for the autogenous pressurization system and the reaction control of the stage. This upper stage propulsion system can be extended to various missions including deep space exploration.