Research on thermomechanical fatigue life prediction of regenerative cooling thrust chamber

Abstract

The ratcheting effect of the liner wall structure in the thrust chamber of liquid rocket engine under cyclic load is studied, and its service life is predicted. Firstly, the 3-D heat transfer analysis of the wall of the thrust chamber is carried out while explaining the mechanism of its "dog room" failure. Based on the results of the heat transfer analysis, the stress-strain evolution of the structure under cyclic load is analyzed by nonlinear plane strain finite element method. According to the finite element analysis results, the ratcheting effect of the liner wall structure is described and the ratcheting damage is calculated. The low cycle fatigue damage is calculated by using modified Morrow model, and the creep damage is also calculated using Norton model. Finally, the total damage of thrust chamber liner wall is calculated by using Miner linear cumulative damage law and the thermomechanical fatigue life of the structure is estimated. The result shows that the middle point of the lower surface of the liner wall will fail first, and the calculated service life is 33 times, which is good agreement with its actual service life. In the total damage of the weak point, ratcheting damage, creep damage and low cycle fatigue damage account for 52%, 32% and 16% respectively, indicating that the ratcheting effect is the main reason for the failure of the thrust chamber structure. The research results of this paper provide important engineering reference for the structural optimization design and rapid life prediction of regenerative cooling thrust chamber of liquid rocket engine and the future reusable aerospace power.