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Life extending controller design for reusable rocket engines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

A. Ray
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering Department, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
M. S. Holmes
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering Department, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
C. F. Lorenzo
Affiliation:
Instrumentation and Control Division, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, USA

Abstract

The goal of life extending control (LEC) is to enhance structural durability of complex mechanical systems, such as aircraft, spacecraft, and energy conversion devices, without incurring any significant loss of performance. This paper presents a concept of robust life-extending controller design for reusable rocket engines, similar to the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), via damage mitigation in both fuel and oxidiser turbines while achieving the required performance for transient responses of the main combustion chamber pressure and the oxidant/fuel mixture ratio. The design procedure makes use of a combination of linear robust control synthesis and nonlinear optimisation techniques. Results of simulation experiments on the model of a reusable rocket engine are presented to this effect.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2001 

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