Test Results of a Model Additively Manufactured Oxygen-Methane Combustion Chamber of a Liquid Rocket Engine

The paper focuses on an experimental unit developed for modeling combustion characteristics in a model oxygen-methane combustion chamber of a liquid rocket engine. The key components of the unit, i.e., the mixing head of the combustion chamber and the regeneratively cooled nozzle, were manufactured using advanced methods of additive manufacturing. The paper emphasizes the specific character of the combustion chamber components made with the use of additive technology and introduces hot-fire test results of the model combustion chamber as part of the experimental unit. The study shows the durability of the mixing head and combustion chamber nozzle under hot-fire test conditions, as well as the reliable operation of the experimental unit as a whole, which confirms the selected design and technological solutions. Within the study, we analyzed the cooling system of the experimental unit for the test conditions, estimated the thermal state of the nozzle, with account for the features of the additively manufactured cooling path. To increase the cooling system’s reliability and expand the combustion chamber pressure application, it is recommended to apply a heat-shielding coating on the firewall of the nozzle. Using new experimental data, we analyzed the parameters of improving the efficiency of the model combustion chamber with the additively manufactured components and corresponding in scale and consumption characteristics to the combustion chamber of the liquid rocket engine

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