TRANSIENT ROTORDYNAMIC ANALYSIS FOR THE SPACE-SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE HIGH-PRESSURE OXYGEN TURBOPUMP.

A SIMULATIONS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE TRANSIENT ROTORDYNAMICS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE (SSME) HIGH PRESSURE OXYGEN TURBOPUMP (HPOTP).THE STUDY UTILIZED A GENERAL-PURPOSE, TRANSIENT, FLEXIBLE-ROTOR SIMULATION MODEL TO ANTICIPATE AND AVOID ROTORDYNAMIC PROBLEMS EARLY IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.BY CONTRAST SIMULATION EFFORTS IN THE PAST HAVE RESULTED FROM (SOMETIMES CATASTROPHIC) HARDWARE FAILURES, AND HAVE BEEN HAMPERED BY AD HOC MODELS OF LIMITED CAPABILITY.SIMULATIONS WERE PERFORMED FOR STEADY-STATE OPERATIONS AT EPL (EMERGENCY POWER LEVELS) AND FOR CRITICAL SPEED TRANSITIONS.NO PROBLEMS ARE INDICATED IN STEADY-STATE OPERATION OF THE HPOTP AT EPL; HOWEVER, A RUBBING CONDITION IS PREDICTED AT THE TURBINE FLOATING-RING SEALS DURING CRITICAL SPEED-TRANSITION AT SHUTDOWN.(A)

TRANSIENT ROTORDYNAMIC ANALYSIS FOR THE SPACE-SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE HIGH-PRESSURE OXYGEN TURBOPUMP. Academic Article