Experimental Investigations of Thermomechanical Fluid-Structure Interaction in Rocket Combustion Chambers

This paper aims at investigations of thermomechanical fluid-structure interaction in regeneratively cooled rocket combustion chambers. In the first part the setup of a thermal cyclic fatigue experiment for rocket combustion chamber structures is described and discussed. This experiment has an actively cooled fatigue specimen that is mounted downstream of a subscale GCH4/GOX combustion chamber with a rectangular cross section. The fatigue specimen will be loaded cyclically and inspected after each cycle. The second part is devoted to the experimental results of two different test campaigns. In the first test campaign, appropriate test conditions for lifetime investigations are established. These test conditions are used for a cyclic loading in the second test campaign. The thermal and mechanical behavior of the fatigue specimen is described and discussed. An increasing plastic deformation during both test campaigns is measurable and is discussed.