Remaining life assessment through thermal-fatigue analysis of copper alloy for combustion chamber of reusable rocket engine

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23246147
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Aerospace engineering
• Research Institution: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Principal Investigator: SATO Eiichi 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 教授 (40178710)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NISHIMOTO Miki 宇宙航空研究開発機構, 情報・計算工学センター, 開発員 (40450704) ; SHIWA Mitsunharu 物質・材料研究機構, 材料信頼性評価ユニット, グループリーダー (70242120) ; TAKEGOSHI Masao 宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙輸送ミッション本部, 主任研究員 (60371126) ; SUNAKAWA Hideo 三菱重工業株式会社, 名古屋誘導推進システム製作所, 社員 (70598846)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NOBUAKI Kawai 熊本大学, パルスパワー科学研究所, 准教授 (60431988) ; MATSUNAGA Tetsuya 独立行政法人物質・材料研究機構, 材料信頼性評価ユニット, 研究員 (30595905)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: クリープ疲労 / 銅合金 / ロケットエンジン / クリープ疲労相互作用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Creep-fatigue of the copper alloy of liquid rocket engine combustion chamber determines the engine life. Stress-holding type creep-fatigue tests were executed to simulate the engine combustion cycle. Microstructural observation implied the following damage mechanisms in creep-fatigue process; (1) some creep voids rapidly nucleate and grow at grain boundaries, and (2) fatigue cracks connect with creep voids resulting in the rapid fracture compared to the simple creep or simple fatigue.
This understanding on the interaction between creep and fatigue enables us to design and estimate a new rocket engine with higher reliability.

Free Research Field

宇宙構造材料工学