Low Cost Flexible Method of Manufacturing Channel Wall Combustors

This program will result in the development of a drastically reduced cost, reduced lead time and increased capability channel wall rocket combustor manufacturing technology. Demonstrated will be the feasibility of a technology that will provide tremendouscost and lead-time reductions from the current tubular wall construction designs, as well as from channel wall designs manufactured by other methods. This will be immediately available to support test/demonstration phases of current liquid rocketprograms. It will support improved engine designs by increasing design options that are available to advance the liquid rocket engine technology in general. Phase II will make it feasible for technology commercialization to support production phases ofSLI, RLV and other programs.While this experimental technology has been demonstrated to be capable of generating complex combustor channel geometries, its advancement is limited by control and repeatability problems. These issues are addressed in this program.Key technical data that will be made available to support engine developers includes economic and technical performance. The economic and lead-time data that will be needed to support future engine program cost projections will be a key outcome.This novel dual-use abrasive-jet machining technology has attracted commercial investment and from both commercial and defense markets. It is anticipated that the completion of the proposed Phase I program will result in the availability of a drastically reduced cost, reduced lead time and increased capability channel wall rocket combustor manufacturing technology to supportdevelopment/test/demonstration phases of current liquid rocket programs. A Phase II program will result in a technology that is suitable for large or small scale production orders. Commercialization success is a high probability due to current supportfrom the Pratt & Whitney Propulsion Groups and others in industry.While this experimental technology has been demonstrated to be capable of machining combustor channel geometries in vacuum plasma sprayed GRCop-84, its advancement to the shop floor is currently limited by issues related to process control andrepeatability. The proposed program is aimed at overcoming these limitations.This is a dual use technology that will be commercialized in commercial and defense industries to support many applications that depend on the availability of an economic method of generating channels in difficult to machine materials.The completion of this Phase I program will benefit several market areas where Ormond is utilizing variations to the proposed technology. Examples of commercial applications include ground based power generating turbines, PEM fuel cells and others. TheAir Force and NASA programs that directly benefit from this technology due to SCRAMJET manufacturing include HySET (Hypersonic Engine Technology), Robust SCRAMJET, Single Engine Demonstration (SED), Integrated System Test of an Air-breathing Rocket(ISTAR), SCRAMJET Missile, and X-43C Programs. It will also be of benefit to advanced turbine propulsion programs where Ormond is utilizing variations of the technology to machine micro-cooling channels (ATEGG, JTAGG, IHPTET).