НК-33

[Космос-3794]

Ссылка - http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awx/2011/06/16/awx_06_16_2011_p0-337088.xml&headline=NASA%20To%20Compete%20Space%20Launch%20System%20Boosters&channel=space

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aerospacedaily&id=news/asd/2011/06/22/02.xml&headline=Taurus%20II%20Engine%20Sustained%20Damage%20In%20Fire

Taurus II Engine Sustained Damage In Fire[/size]

Jun 22, 2011


By Frank Morring, Jr.

An Aerojet AJ26 engine destined to power the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus II launch vehicle in the run-up to commercial resupply flights for the International Space Station (ISS) was badly damaged in a fuel fire June 9.

"There was significant damage to the engine," Orbital spokesman Baron Beneski said June 21.

NASA is counting on the Taurus II/Cygnus and the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon combinations to help resupply the station when the space shuttle fleet retires after the upcoming final flight of shuttle Atlantis.

Beneski and Glenn Mahone, a spokesman for Aerojet, say the AJ26 engine shut down prematurely after a fuel leak developed during a hot-fire acceptance test, and the leaking kerosene fuel ignited. While the engine was damaged, the test stand at Stennis Space Center suffered only minor damage, the spokesmen said in separate telephone interviews.

Mahone says a team of rocket engine experts from Aerojet, Orbital and NASA is investigating the cause of the mishap and the extent of the damage to the engine.

"How much we're not sure," Mahone says. "There is an investigation going on. The engine did not burn up."

The results of the investigation and prognosis for the engine and the Taurus II should come together by the end of this week or early next week, Beneski says. Two other AJ26 engines have completed hot-fire acceptance testing without mishap, according to the Aerojet website.

Beneski said the engine mishap potentially affects the testing planned to get the Taurus II ready for operational missions to resupply the ISS. The new Taurus II pad at Wallops Island, Va., should be completed in two weeks, he says, and ready for a NASA certification process that will take six to eight weeks.

The Cygnus cargo carrier that will ride atop the Taurus II is being prepared for shipment from the Thales Alenia manufacturing facility in Turin, Italy, to an integration facility at Wallops Island. Orbital is building the spacecraft service module at its satellite factory in Dulles, Va.

Original plans called for a hold-down hot-fire test of the two-engine Taurus II's Ukrainian-built first stage at Wallops, a test flight, and the qualification flight required under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) seed-money effort before the end of the year.

"A lot has to go right for all of that to happen in 2011," Beneski says, noting that acceptance tests are conducted to avoid problems later in the launch flow.

The AJ26 is a modification of the Soviet-era NK-33 engine originally developed for the N-1 heavy-lifter in the 1960s. Aerojet acquired 40 of the old engines, and is refurbishing them for the Taurus II. It also has proposed using the AJ26 to power a liquid-fueled strap-on booster for NASA's planned heavy-lift Space Launch System, and is beginning development of a U.S.-built follow-on that would raise the engine's thrust from about 340,000 lb. at sea level to 500,000 lb.

The final flight of Atlantis will carry enough supplies to buy Orbital and SpaceX an extra year of development time without requiring station managers to trim the six-member crew and cut scientific experiments, NASA managers have said.

Photo: Aviation Week

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/110624-test-stand-fire-taurus.html

Fri, 24 June, 2011
Test Stand Fire Threatens Taurus 2 Launch Schedule[/size]
By Brian Berger and Dan Leone

 WASHINGTON — An Aerojet AJ-26 main engine undergoing acceptance testing for the inaugural flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus 2 rocket was badly damaged June 9 when a metal fuel line ruptured, causing the engine and test stand to catch fire, according to an industry source with knowledge of the mishap.

 The fuel line that failed was part of the engine, not the test stand, the source said. The resulting fuel fire, which NASA said caused only minor damage to Stennis Space Center's E-1 Test Stand in Mississippi, took approximately four minutes to extinguish.

 The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the AJ-26  team investigating the mishap suspects a flaw in the metal used for that particular fuel line.

 "If this looks like it's a processing flaw when the metal was made, then the problem is probably just a one-off," the source said.

 The AJ-26 is a rebuilt NK-33, the Soviet-era liquid oxygen/kerosene engine Aerojet acquired in bulk in the 1990s.

 Three AJ-26 engines have completed acceptance testing at Stennis and been delivered to Orbital's Taurus 2 integration facility at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Two of those engines were intended to be used for an upcoming hold-down test of the Taurus 2's first stage and then refurbished for the rocket's second flight. The other engine already at Wallops was to have been paired with the now-damaged engine for the Taurus 2's maiden launch, targeted for October.

 That launch — a demonstration flight meant to help qualify the vehicle to launch cargo capsules bound for the international space station — now appears likely to slip at least a month since the next available engine still must undergo acceptance testing at Stennis, according to the source.

 Orbital spokesman Barry Beneski acknowledged June 22 that the engine was damaged in a fire caused by a fuel leak but said details of the incident were still being investigated. He said a more extensive report on how badly the engine was damaged is expected the week of June 27.

 Aerojet spokesman Glenn Mahone said June 24 the "fuel line leading into the engine" appears to be what caused the mishap, but cautioned that the investigation has not concluded. "Once the investigation is complete, we will make whatever changes or repairs we need to make and after that be prepared to go on with our testing," he said.

[Seerndv]

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/110624-test-stand-fire-taurus.html

WASHINGTON — An Aerojet AJ-26 main engine undergoing acceptance testing for the inaugural flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus 2 rocket was badly damaged June 9 when a metal fuel line ruptured, causing the engine and test stand to catch fire, according to an industry source with knowledge of the mishap.

 The fuel line that failed was part of the engine, not the test stand, the source said. The resulting fuel fire, which NASA said caused only minor damage to Stennis Space Center's E-1 Test Stand in Mississippi, took approximately four minutes to extinguish.

 The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the AJ-26  team investigating the mishap suspects a flaw in the metal used for that particular fuel line.

 "If this looks like it's a processing flaw when the metal was made, then the problem is probably just a one-off," the source said.

 

Интересно, топливопровод гавкнуляс в американской части арматуры или старенькой НК-шной? Звучит как отдельной линии топливопровода - отдельнно примонтированной для данных испытаний?

[Glaurung]

Интересно, топливопровод гавкнуляс в американской части арматуры или старенькой НК-шной? Звучит как отдельной линии топливопровода - отдельнно примонтированной для данных испытаний?

...
 The fuel line that failed was part of the engine, not the test stand, the source said....

Так-что отбой наверное произошел по каналу падения давления в ГГ.

[Ярослав]

Интересно, топливопровод гавкнуляс в американской части арматуры или старенькой НК-шной? Звучит как отдельной линии топливопровода - отдельнно примонтированной для данных испытаний?

...
 The fuel line that failed was part of the engine, not the test stand, the source said....

Так-что отбой наверное произошел по каналу падения давления в ГГ.

интересно, эта часть НК-33 - такая же, как и у НК-15 ?..

[Glaurung]

интересно, эта часть НК-33 - такая же, как и у НК-15 ?..

Вы о датчиковой аппаратуре или о чем?
Граждане! Вопрос: где можно описание по КОРДу найти, окромя как у Чертока?

[Salo]

интересно, эта часть НК-33 - такая же, как и у НК-15 ?..

На NSF задают другой вопрос: чьего она производства - русская или американская.

[Ярослав]

интересно, эта часть НК-33 - такая же, как и у НК-15 ?..

Вы о датчиковой аппаратуре или о чем?
Граждане! Вопрос: где можно описание по КОРДу найти, окромя как у Чертока?

о "трубке" - может она была и причиной аварий Н-1 ?

[Glaurung]

интересно, эта часть НК-33 - такая же, как и у НК-15 ?..

Вы о датчиковой аппаратуре или о чем?
Граждане! Вопрос: где можно описание по КОРДу найти, окромя как у Чертока?

о "трубке" - может она была и причиной аварий Н-1 ?

А там и нет никакой трубки. У оригинального 33-го идет сразу фланец корпуса ТНАг. Если потек стык с двигателем - однозначный косяк центра Стенниса, ибо монтаж - их. Есть еще один момент. Могли ввести БТНАг. Тогда там появляется дополнительная труба. Чем приводится БТНАг - х.з. Могу предположить, что горючим, сбрасываемым за регулятором. Кто ваял БТНАг - не знаю.

[Salo]

Есть! И делал её Aerojet:

[Glaurung]

Есть! И делал её Aerojet:

Дааа :shock:  Они б еще бантиком расходные трубопроводы вокруг движка завязали!

[Dude]

...и плечо большое и пожадничали, видать, на толщину стенки.

[Bell]

Учитывая, что форсирование очень незначительное - буферные насосы не нужны и их там нет.

[Dude]

а причем тут насосы, может дело в длинных трубах и отсутвующих сильфонах на входе, против гидроудара, при запуске двигателя?

[Bell]

Насосы при этом:

Есть еще один момент. Могли ввести БТНАг. Тогда там появляется дополнительная труба. Чем приводится БТНАг - х.з. Могу предположить, что горючим, сбрасываемым за регулятором. Кто ваял БТНАг - не знаю.

[Salo]

Сильфоны там есть (завёрнуты в плёнку с синим скотчем). Встроенные бустеры на исходном  НК-33 стоят. О дополнительных бустерных насосах не слышал.

[Salo]

[Bell]

Ну встроенные-то да, я про имел в виду дополнительные...

[Glaurung]

Сильфоны там есть (завёрнуты в плёнку с синим скотчем). Встроенные бустеры на исходном  НК-33 стоят. О дополнительных бустерных насосах не слышал.

Поправлюсь: на ЭП 33-1 прорабатывался дополнительный БТНАо (а не горючего - как я говорил ранее). Пришли к выводу, что лучше дорабатывать встроенный БТНА.