• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.1016-1020
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• 2017

This study was conducted to develop a test facility that simulates the combustion instability that occurs in a real-scale liquid rocket combustor. A separate engine head with 3 injectors arranged in a row was designed/manufactured and verified through preliminary tests. The flow rate and spray pattern of the head were confirmed by the cold flow test. Next, propellant spray test and combustion test were carried out. A preliminary combustion test was carried out at 10 bar and the combustion chamber pressure was measured to be significantly lower than the target pressure. This is because it was a low pressure test, and it is expected to be resolved in the high pressure test in the future.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2020

In this paper, we present an experimental investigation of the leakage and endurance performances of mechanical face seals in a 75-tonf turbopump for the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II first-stage engine. A mechanical face seal is used between the fuel pump and turbine to prevent mixing of the fuel and turbine gas. However, excessive leakage occurs through the carbon attached to the mechanical face seal bellows. To reduce this leakage, we redesign the mechanical face seal such that the contact area between the fuel and carbon is reduced, height of the carbon nose is reduced, and stiffness of the bellows is increased. Then, we conduct static and dynamic leakage tests and endurance tests to compare the performances of the original and modified mechanical face seals. The investigation of the leakage of the old and new mechanical face seals confirms that the leakage performance is significantly improved, by 80%, in the new design in comparison with the old design. The endurance tests demonstrate that the average wear rate of carbon in the new mechanical face seal is 0.1094 ㎛/s. The service lifetime is predicted to be 4,200 s, which is 28 times greater than the requirement. Finally, we present a new mechanical face seal in a 75-tonf turbopump, and perform a validation test in the real-propellant test facility at the NARO Space Center. Based on the test results, we can confirm that the modified mechanical face seal works well under real operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

TPTF (Turbopump Real Propellant Test Facility) at Naro Space Center has used alcohol burner system to simulate the gas flow of gas generator of liquid rocket engine. During the test at TPTF, the temperature and pressure at turbine inlet were smoothly increased while those of the gas generator of engine were constant. Present research developed a simulation code for the burner and the piping system and applied to the system. The calculation results were in good agreement with the test, and confirmed quantitatively that the non-steadiness is due to the heat transfer of the pipe. While the insulation of the pipe is ineffective, the length has a large impact on the turbine inlet condition. The present research clarified the empirically estimation of test condition, and can be applied to determination of the following test conditions.