Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports Volume 38 July 28, 2000

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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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20000064017 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL USA
NASA Fastrac Engine Gas Generator Component Test Program and Results
Dennis, Henry J., Jr., NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, USA; Sanders, T., NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, USA; [2000];
11p; In English; 36th; 36th Joint Propulsion Conference, 17-19 Jul. 2000, Huntsville, AL, USA; Sponsored by American Inst.
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, USA
Report No.(s): AIAA Paper 2000-3401; Copyright Waived; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy; A01, Microfiche
Low cost access to space has been a long-time goal of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Fastrac
engine program was begun at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to develop a 60,000-pound (60K) thrust, liquid oxygen/
hydrocarbon (LOX/RP), gas generator-cycle booster engine for a fraction of the cost of similar engines in existence. to achieve
this goal, off-the-shelf components and readily available materials and processes would have to be used. This paper will present
the Fastrac gas generator (GG) design and the component level hot-fire test program and results. The Fastrac GG is a simple,
4-piece design that uses well-defined materials and processes for fabrication. Thirty-seven component level hot-fire tests were
conducted at MSFC’s component test stand #116 (TS116) during 1997 and 1998. The GG was operated at all expected operating
ranges of the Fastrac engine. Some minor design changes were required to successfully complete the test program as development
issues arose during the testing. The test program data results and conclusions determined that the Fastrac GG design was well on
the way to meeting the requirements of NASA’s X-34 Pathfinder Program that chose the Fastrac engine as its main propulsion
system.
Author
Gas Generators; NASA Programs; Engine Parts; Engine Tests; Engine Design; Oxygen-Hydrocarbon Rocket Engines
20000064612 NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH USA
Object Based Numerical Zooming Between the NPSS Version 1 and a 1-Dimensional Meanline High Pressure Compressor
Design Analysis Code
Follen, G., NASA Glenn Research Center, USA; Naiman, C., NASA Glenn Research Center, USA; auBuchon, M., Pratt and Whitney
Aircraft, USA; February 2000; In English; See also 20000064579; No Copyright; Abstract Only; Available from CASI only
as part of the entire parent document
Within NASA’s High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) program, NASA Glenn Research Center is
developing an environment for the analysis/design of propulsion systems for aircraft and space vehicles called the Numerical Propulsion
System Simulation (NPSS). The NPSS focuses on the integration of multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures,
and heat transfer, along with the concept of numerical zooming between 0- Dimensional to 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional component
engine codes. The vision for NPSS is to create a ”numerical test cell” enabling full engine simulations overnight on cost-effective
computing platforms. Current ”state-of-the-art” engine simulations are 0-dimensional in that there is there is no axial, radial or
circumferential resolution within a given component (e.g. a compressor or turbine has no internal station designations). In these
0-dimensional cycle simulations the individual component performance characteristics typically come from a table look-up (map)
with adjustments for off-design effects such as variable geometry, Reynolds effects, and clearances. Zooming one or more of the
engine components to a higher order, physics-based analysis means a higher order code is executed and the results from this analysis
are used to adjust the 0-dimensional component performance characteristics within the system simulation. by drawing on the
results from more predictive, physics based higher order analysis codes, ”cycle” simulations are refined to closely model and predict
the complex physical processes inherent to engines. As part of the overall development of the NPSS, NASA and industry
began the process of defining and implementing an object class structure that enables Numerical Zooming between the NPSS
Version I (0-dimension) and higher order 1-, 2- and 3-dimensional analysis codes. The NPSS Version I preserves the historical
cycle engineering practices but also extends these classical practices into the area of numerical zooming for use within a companies’
design system. What follows here is a description of successfully zooming I-dimensional (row-by-row) high pressure compressor
results back to a NPSS engine 0-dimension simulation and a discussion of the results illustrated using an advanced data
visualization tool. This type of high fidelity system-level analysis, made possible by the zooming capability of the NPSS, will
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