Dynamic Simulation and Analysis of the Space Shuttle Main Engine with Artificially Injected Faults

Abstract

Securing the safety and the reliability of liquid-propellant rocket engines (LREs) for space vehicles is indispensable as engines consist of many complex components and operate under extremely high energy-dense conditions. Thus, health monitoring has become a mandatory requirement, especially for the reusable LREs that are currently being developed. In this context, a dynamic simulation program based on MATLAB/Simulink was developed in the current research on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), a partly reusable engine. Then, a series of fault simulations using this program was conducted: at a steady state operating condition (104% Rated Propulsion Level), various simulated fault conditions were artificially injected into the simulation models for the five major valves, the pumps, and the turbines of the SSME. The consequent effects due to each fault were analyzed based on the time responses of the major parameters of the engine. It is believed that this research topic is an essential pre-step for the development of fault detection and diagnosis algorithms for reusable engines in the future.

Adaptive physics-encoded graph neural network for health stage assessment of liquid-propellant rocket engines

“…On the basis of the simulation model, we could inject several anomalies that possibly happen in real hot-firing tests into the system by means of adding, removing or modifying specific modules or changing the crucial parameters of them. In the following, we select three typical kinds of anomalies for further demonstration of the simulation method, they are, valve anomaly, fuel turbine leakage and efficiency decrease of turbine components [34,35] 23),…”

Numerical Simulation of Chemical Propulsion Systems: Survey and Fundamental Mathematical Modeling Approach

“…In Korea, the Korea Aerospace Research Industry (KARI) developed a simulation model of open-cycle LPRE in steady-state using a linearization approach and transient state using in-house code [55][56][57] and of staged combustion cycle LPRE using energy balance equations to check operating points [58]. Korea Aerospace University (KAU) also developed a simulation program using two kinds of LPRE, a steady state of staged-combustion cycle and a transient state of open-cycle LPREs, and modulized each component of the program [59][60][61][62]. In addition, to analyze the start-up characteristics of a staged-combustion engine, a staged-combustion engine power pack has been developed at Chungnam National University (CNU) [63,64].…”

“…Furthermore, in the RLV case, as with aircraft engines, the RLV propulsion system must be ready for the next flight quickly because its inspection process before launch generally requires some disassembly, considering the tradeoff between reliability and maintenance costs. As a result, the fault simulation using the system-level model-based simulation is essential to reduce the number of tests by substituting the actual experiment and to generate a database for the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) for constructing a reliable health monitoring system [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Therefore, the above advantages of developing a reliable simulation program can be summarized:…”