~ N A S AC O N T R A C T O R

REPORT

LOAN COPY: RETURN TO AFWL (WLlL-2) KlRTLANB AFB, N MEX

OF SPECIFIC NUCLEAR fi: LIGHT BULB AND OPEN-CYCLE VORTEX-STABILIZED GASEOUS NUCLEARROCKET ENGINES
~.,

4 STUDIES
i ! :

'

by G. H. McLdfferty und H, E. Bmer

i .
i.v!.,

1
[%$

$ri

' . Prepared by

UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION ' East Hartford, Conn. j for

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, D. C.

APRIL 1968

"

.-

TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NM

OObO4Ob NASA CK-l U Y U

'

STUDIES OF SPECIFIC NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB AND OPEN-CYCLE VORTEX-STABILIZED GASEOUS NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINES

By G. H. McLafferty and H. E. Bauer

Distribution of t h i s r e p o r t is provided in the interest of informationexchange.Responsibilityforthecontents resides in the author or organization that prepared it.

Issued by Originator as Report No. F-910093-37

P r e p a r e d uxlUr.UNITED AIRCRAFT LtJ~n~NASw-847 - by -_ -~ East Hartford, Conn. for

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
For sole by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield, Virginio 22151 CFSTl price $3.00

Studies of SDecific Nuclear Linht

Eulb and

Open-Cycle V o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous NuclearRocketEngines

Page .
SUMMARY

FVSULTS

................................... ...................................
. . . . . . . . . . ............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..............

1
2

................. VORTEX-STABILIZED NUCLEAR LIGHT WTLB ENGINE . P r i n c i p oe p e r a t i o n lf O . . . . . . . . . Reference Configuration a t Design Point Reference Configuration During Startup .
II!JTROLUCTION VORTEX-STABILIZZD OPEN-CYCLE
ENGINE

4
5 5 5 17

19
19 19
22 25 29

P r i n c i p l e of Operation a t Design Point Specific onfiguration C Interpretation f uel oF Loss Rate Parameters REFERENCES

......................... ................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.................................

LET OF SYMBOLS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VESSEL DESIGN STUDY FOR NUCLEAR LIGHT

APPENDIXES

.FILAMENT-WOUND PRESSURE
WTLB ENGINE

............................

31
47

......................... TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NUCL;EAR LIGHT BULB

.ANALYSIS

OF R DN ENERGY EMITTED FROM PROPELIANT S R A OF AA T I TEM

50
70

iii

S t u d i e s of S p e c i f i c N u c l e a r L i g h t

Eulb and

Open-Cycle V o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous .~Nuclear Rocket Engines .

SUMMARY
A n a l y t i c a l s t u d i e s were conducted t o determine t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f two s p e c i f i cv o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e dg a s e o u sn u c l e a rr o c k e te n g i n e s : a n u c l e a rl i g h tb u l b engineandanopen-cycleengine. Both engines are based on t h e t r a n s f e r o f energy by t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n from gaseous nuclear fuel suspended i n a vortex to seeded hydrog e np r o p e l l a n t . The two e n g i n e s d i f f e r i n t h a t t h e n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e employs aninternally-cooledtransparent wall to s e p a r a t e t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n i n g v o r t e x r e g i o n from t h e p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n , w h i l e t h e o p e n - c y c l e e n g i n e r e l i e s e n t i r e l y on f l u i d m e c h a n i c sc o n t a i n m e n tf o rp r e f e r e n t i a lr e t e n t i o no ft h en u c l e a rf u e l . The m a j o r i t y o f t h e work h a s b e e n d i r e c t e d t o w a r d t h e n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e , s i n c e r e c e n t f l u i d mechanics r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e f u e l r e t e n t i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a n opencyclevortex-stabilizedengine are i n s u f f i c i e n t t o p r o v i d e economic f u e l c o n t a i n m e n t . The n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e o f f e r s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f p r o v i d i n g e s s e n t i a l l y p e r fectcontainmentofthenuclearfuel. One s p e c i f i c n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e a n d one specificopen-cycleenginehave b e e ns e l e c t e df o rs t u d y . Both engines have a c a v i t y volume of 1 0 cu ft. The open7 cycle engine employs a s i n g l e c a v i t y h a v i n g b o t h a d i a m t e r a n d a length of 6 ft; t h en u c l e a rl i g h tb u l be n g i n e employs s e v e ns e p a r a t ec a v i t i e s ,e a c hh a v i n g a length of 6 f t . The s t u d i e si n d i c a t ea p p r o x i m a t ev a l u e so ft h et h r u s t ,w e i g h t ,a n ds p e c i f i c impulseofbothconfigurations. The s t u d i e s have been made only i n s u f f i c i e n t detail to provide information necessary for guidance o f t h e r e s e a r c h e f f o r t s which are being conducted t o d e t e r m i n e t h e f e a s i b i l i t y o f t h e e n g i n e s . The appendixes t o t h e r e p o r t d e s c r i b e : a n a n a l y s i s by t h e U n i t e d Technology Center, a d i v i s i o n of United Aircraft Corporation, of the weight of a f i l a m e n t wound p r e s s u r e vessel for a n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e , a n d an a n a l y s i s o f t h e radiant energy emitted from t h e p r o p e l l a n t stream of a n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e .

RESULTS

1. A t y p i c a l v o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e d n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b r o c k e t e n g i n e m i g h t following characteristics:

have t h e

a.

C a v i t yc o n f i g u r a t i o n -- seven s e p a x a t ec a v i t i e sh a v i n g volume of 170 f t 3 and each having a l e n g t h of 6 T ' t .

a total overall

b. avity ressure C p c

--

5 0 atm. 0

S p e c i f i ci m p u l s e

--

1870 s e c .

d.

T o t a lp r o p e l l a n tf l o w( i n c l u d i n gs e e da n dn o z z l et r a n s p i r a t i o nc o o l a n t f l o w ) -- 49.3 l b / s e c

e .T h r u s t ,
f.

92, 000 l b .

Engine power Engine weight

-- 4600 m e g w .

g.

--

70,000 l b .
neon d e n s i t y

h .R a t i o

of a v e r a g ed e n s i t yi nf u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o nt o

a t edge of f u e l
i.

--

0.7.
Reynolds number i n neon v o r t e x

E q u i v a l e n ta x i a lf l o w

--

5000.

2. A t y p i c a lo p e n - c y c l ev o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e de n g i n em i g h t have t h ef o l l o w i n g characteristics(notethatfluidmechanics t e s t s have i n d i c a t e d t h a t s u c h a n e n g i n e would notprovide economic f u e l c o n t a i n m e n t ) :

a.

C a v i t yc o n f i g u r a t i o n lengthanddiameterof

--

s i n g l ec y l i n d r i c a le n g i n ec a v i t yh a v i n gb o t h f t and volume of 170 f t 3

b. avity ressure C p c

--

1000 atm.

Specificimpulse P r g p e l l a n tf l o w Thrust

-1 0 '

2190 sec

d.

-- 660 l b / s e c .
lb.

e.
f

-- 1.45 x
--

Engine power

90,000mew.

g. Engine weight
h.

--

140,000 l b .

R a t i o of a v e r a g e d e n s i t y i n f i e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n t o p r o p e l l a n t d e n s i t y at edge o f f u e l 10.0.

--

Equivalent axial flow Reynolds number i n v o r t e x

--

480,000.

3. The use of a v a r i a b l e - t h r o a t - a r e a n o z z l e i n a n u c l e a r l i g h t bulb engine r a t h e r t h a n a fixed-throat-area nozzle w i l l r e s u l t i n a major decrease in required cavitypressureduring the s t a r t u p p r o c e s s .

INTRODUCTION

One o f t h e most i n t e r e s t i n g p r o p u l s i o n c o n c e p t s f o r f u t u r e s p a c e travel is the gaseous nuclear rocket engine in which h e a t i s t r a n s f e r r e d f r o m a g a s e o u s f i s s i o n i n g f u e l b yt h e r m a lr a d i a t i o nt os e e d e dh y d r o g e np r o p e l l a n t . Because o f t h e h i g h temperaturesobtainableinthegaseousnuclearfuel,such an e n g i n e c a n t h e o r e t i c a l l y provide a v a l u e o f s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e on t h e o r d e r o f 1500 t o 3000 sec and a t h r u s t t o - w e i g h tr a t i og r e a t e rt h a nu n i t y .S u c c e s s f u l development o f a gaseousnuclear rocketenginehavingthesecharacteristics would r e s u l t i n o r d e r s - o f - m a g n i t u d e decreasesinthecost o f many space missions. Investigationsofvariousphasesofgaseousnuclearrockettechnology are being conducted a t t h e U n i t e d A i r c r a f t C o r p o r a t i o n R e s e a r c h L a b o r a t o r i e s u n d e r C o n t r a c t NASw-847 withtheSpaceNuclearPropulsionOffice.Theseinvestigations are designed to obtain information applicable to determining the feasibility of three d i f f e r e n tg a s e o u sn u c l e a rr o c k e tc o n c e p t s :t h ec o a x i a l - f l o wr e a c t o r (Ref. 1); t h e v o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e dn u c l e a rl i g h tb u l br e a c t o r ;a n dt h eo p e n - c y c l ev o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e d r e a c t o r . The most r e c e n t work c o n d u c t e du n d e rt h i sc o n t r a c t i s d e s c r i b e di n Refs. 2 through 16. The p r e s e n tr e p o r ta l o n gw i t hR e f s . 1 2 through 16 d e s c r i b e t h e progressincertainofthetechnical areas made throughSeptember 16, 1967. The m a j o r i t y o f t h e work under Contract NASw-847 up t o 1967 has been directed tom'rd determining the fluid mechanics characteristics of two-component g a s v o r t e x e s . The i n f o r m a t i o nd e t e r m i n e df r o mt h e s ei n v e s t i g a t i o n s is e s s e n t i a li n determiningthefeasibilityoftheopen-cyclevortex-stabilizedengine,sincethe open-cycle engine r e l i e s on f l u i d mechanics phenomena f o r p r e f e r e n t i a l c o n t a i n m e n t of t h e n u c l e a r f u e l . T h i sf l u i dm e c h a n i c si n f o r m a t i o n i s a l s oi m p o r t a n ti nt h e nuclearlightbulbenginebecausethecharacteristicsofvortexflowappearto be i d e a l l y s u i t e d for p r o v i d i n g s e p a r a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e g a s e o u s n u c l e a r f u e l a n d t h e t r a n s p a r e n t wall. R e s u l t so ff l u i dm e c h a n i c st e s t sc o n d u c t e d a t Reynolds numbers approximatelyequal t o t h o s e i n a f u l l - s c a l e o p e n - c y c l e e n g i n e (Refs. 2 and 3 ) indicate that the fuel-retention characteristics of a vortex at high density ratios andhighReynolds numbers a r e i n s u f f i c i e n t t o p r o v i d e economic containment o f f u e l i n a f u l l - s c a l eo p e n - c y c l ee n g i n e . As a r e s u l t , t h e program h a sb e e nr e d i r e c t e d so that the vortex fluid mechanics and other r e l a t e d programs w i l l provide information applicable to the nuclear light bulb vortex-stabilized engine.

i s p a r t o f a c o n t i n u i n g program The work d e s c r i b e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s t o provide information which can be u s e d i n i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e r e s e a r c h programs i n terms o f t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a f u l l - s c a l e e n g i n e (see Refs. 9, 10, 11, 14, and 1.7). The m a j o r i t y o f t h e work d e s c r i b e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s is a p p l i c a b l e t o a n u c l e a rl i g h tb u l be n g i n e . However, t h ea n a l y s e s which were d i r e c t e d toward the open-cycle engine and which were employed i n R e f . 2 i n e v a l u a t i n g t h e fuel-retention characteristics of this engine are included because of their possible application to other concepts.

VORTEX-STABILIZED J!JUCLFAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE

P r i n c i p l e ofOperation Sketches illustrating the principle of o p e r a t i o n of t h e n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b enginearegiveninFig. 1. Energy i s t r a n s f e r r e d b y t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n from gaseous nuclear fuel suspended in a neon v o r t e x t o s e e d e d h y d r o g e n p r o p e l l a n t . The v o r t e x a n d p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n s a r e s e p a r a t e d by an i n t e r n a l l y - c o o l e d t r a n s p a r e n t wall. A s e v e n - c a v i t y c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s shown i n F i g . 1 r a t h e r t h a n a s i n g l e - c a v i t y configuration in order to increase the total surface radiating area a t t h e edgeof t h ef u e l . The t o t a l r a d i a t i n g s u r f a c e a r e a f o r t h e s e v e n - u n i t c o n f i g u r a t i o n is approximately 2.2 t i m e s t h a t f o r a s i n g l e - u n i t c a v i t y c o n f i g u r a t i o n h a v i n g t h e same t o t a l c a v i t y volume. Neon i s i n j e c t e d t o d r i v e t h e v o r t e x , p a s s e s a x i a l l y t o w a r d t h e e n d walls, and i s removed through a p o r t a t t h e c e n t e r ofone or both end walls. The r e s u l t i n g aerodyrmmic c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s r e f e r r e d t o as a " r a d i a l i n f l o w " v o r t e x ( s e e R e f s . 2 through 5 ) . The neon d i s c h a r g i n g from t h ec a v i t y ,a l o n gw i t ha n ye n t r a i n e d fuel and fission products, i s cooled by being mixed with low-temperature neon, thuscausingcondensation of t h en u c l e a rf u e li n t ol i q u i df o r m . The l i q u i d f u e l i s c e n t r i f u g a l l y s e p a r a t e d from t h e neon and pumped back i n t o t h e v o r t e x r e g i o n . The neon i s t h e n f u r t h e r c o o l e d a n d pumped back t o d r i v e t h e v o r t e x . Reference Configuration
a t Design P o i n t

A referenceenginedesign has been chosen for use in evaluating the results of v a r i o u s component s t u d i e s i n terms of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a full-scalenuclear l i g h tb u l br o c k e te n g i n e . The g e n e r a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n of t h e r e f e r e n c e d e s i g n is based on seven decisions which, although somewhat a r b i t r a r y i n n a t u r e , a p p e a r l o g i c a l on t h e basis o f e n g i n e s t u d i e s made u s i n g t h e component i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l et od a t e . Thesesevendecisionsare:

O v e r a l lc o n f i g u r a t i o n :s e v e ns e p a r a t eu n i tc a v i t i e sw i t hm o d e r a t o r r e f l e c t o r m a t e r i a l l o c a t e d between each cavity and surrounding the assembly of cavities. S i z e :l e n g t h of i n d i v i d u a l c a v i t y e q u a l t o 6.0 f t and volume of a l l seven cavities equal to 169.8 f t 3 ( e q u a l t o t h e volume of a s i n g l e cavity having a diameter of 6 f t and a l e n g t h of 6 f t ) . Vortex volume f o r s e v e n c a v i t i e s : e q u a l t o h a l f of t h e t o t a l c a v i t y volume o r 84.9 f t 3 . The corresponding volume w i t h i nt h et r a n s p a r e n t w a l l of each of the seven unit cavities i s 12.1 ft3.

a v a l u e of c a v i t y p r e s s u r e of 500 atm i s chosen on t h e Cavitypressure: basis of c r i t i c a l i t y a n d me1 d e n s i t y r a t i o c o n s i d e r a t i o n s (see f o l l o w i n g section).

of t h ef u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o n F u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o n :t h er a d i u s assumed t o b e 85 p e r c e n t of t h e r a d i u s of t h e t r a n s p a r e n t wall.
F u e lr a d i a t i n gt e m p e r a t u r e : Propellantexittemperature: fuelradiatingtemperature,
is

assumed t o b e e q u a l t o

15,000 R .

assumed t o be e q u a l t o 80 p e r c e n t of t h e o r 12,000 R.

Sketches showing the dimensions and conditions i n a u n i t c a v i t y of t h e r e f e r e n c e n u c l e a rl i g h tb u l be n g i n e are given i n F i g s . 2 and 3. A s i d e viewdrawingof the complete reference engine configuration i s given in Fig. 4 andcross-sectional views showing d e t a i l s of t h e e n g i n e a r e g i v e n i n F i g s . 5, 6, and 7. Engine Power The black-body heat flux a t the outside edge of the fuel-containment region f o r t h e assumed black-body radiating temperature of 15,000 R i s 24,300 B t u / s e c - f t 2 . The " s u r f a c e a r e a " a t t h e edgeof thecylindricalfuel-containmentregion of a l l s e v e nu n i tc a v i t i e s i s 179.8 f t 2 . T h e r e f o r e , t h e t o t a l e n e r y r a d i a t e d outwardfrom t h e f u e l i s the product of these two q u a n t i t i e s o r 4.37 x 1 Btu/sec (4600 megw) 0

S u r f a c e r e f l e c t i o n a t t h e t r a n s p a r e n t walls w i l l r e s u l t i n a p p r o x i m a t e l y 15 p e r c e n t of t h e i n c i d e n t e n e r g y b e i n g r e f l e c t e d b a c k t o w a r d t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n . Thus, t h e n e t h e a t t r a n s f e r b y r a d i a t i o n t h r o u g h t h e t r a n s p a r e n t wall t o t h e p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n w i l l be 85 p e r c e n t of t h a t i n d i c a t e d i n t h e p r e c e d i n g paragraph. However, t h e e n e r g y l o s t from t h ef u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o nb yt h e r m a l radiation represents only approximately 85 p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l e n e r g y c r e a t e d i n t h ef i s s i o np r o c e s s . The remaining 15 p e r c e n t of t h e e n e r g y c r e a t e d i n t h e f i s s i o n p r o c e s s i s convected away from the fuel-containment region by neon flow (see f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s ) or i s d e p o s i t e d i n the moderator walls by neutrons and gamma r a y s .T h e r e f o r e , i t hasbeenassumed thatthetotalenergycreatedintheengine i s equal to that corresponding to black-body radiation a t 15,000 R ( i. e . , a t o t a l power of 4.37 x lo6 Btu/sec o r 4600 megw). The e n g i n e s i z e a n d r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e chosen provide an engine power which i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y e q u a l t o t h a t c o n s i d e r e df o ra d v a n c e ds o l i dc o r en u c l e a rr o c k e t s .T h e r e f o r e , many of t h e f a c i l i t i e s t h a t a r e t o be developed for the Rover programand t h a t a r e s i z e d by engine power l e v e l s h o u l d b e a p p l i c a b l e t o t h e r e f e r e n c e n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b configuration. Hydrogen P r o p e l l a n t S t r e a m P r o p e r t i e s
A t t h e assumedhydrogen

exit temperature of 12,000

R, t h e e n t h a l p y a c c o r d i n g

t o R e f . 9 i s 1.033 x lo5 Btu/lb. If t h e t o t a l e n g i n e power i s d i v i d e d b y t h i s value of hydrogen enthalpy, a r e s u l t i n g hydrogenflow r a t e of 42.3 l b / s e c i s i n d i c a t e d f o r a l l seven units, which y i e l d s a value of 6.04 l b / s e c f o r e a c h u i nt cavity. Since the hydrogen propellant must absorb approximately 15 p e r c e n t of t h e total energy created in the process of removing h e a t from t h e e n g i n e walls a n d t h e neon r e c y c l e system, the hydrogen i n l e t e n t h a l p y mustbe 15 percent of the hydrogen e x i t enthalpy, o r 15,500 Btu/lb (see Fig. 3). The correspondinghydrogen i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e a c c o r d i n g t o R e f . 9 i s 4050 R. Thistemperature i s a p p r o x i m a t e l yt h e same as t h a t c o n s i d e r e d f o r t h e hydrogen e x i t t e m p e r a t u r e in s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r rockets.

The h y d r o g e n f l o w c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l a r e a i n t h e ' p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n has been assumed t o be p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e l o c a l a v e r a g e hydrogenenthalpy. Thus, t h e c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l a r e a a t t h e i n l e t i s 15 p e r c e n t of t h e c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l a r e a a t the e x i t . The c o r r e s p o n d i n g v a l u e s ofhydrogen velocity at the inlet and exit are 35.5 and 23.7 f t / s e c r e s p e c t i v e l y ( F i g . 3 ) . It mightbedesirable t oi n c r e a s et h e i n l e t area a n d d e c r e a s e t h e e x i t area i n o r d e r t o p r o v i d e a uniformhydrogen v e l o c i t y of approximately 30 f t / s e c i n t h e p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n . However, i n s u f f i c i e n t information i s a v a i l a b l e a t present to properly design the geometry of t h e propellant region.
The c a l c u l a t e d dynamic p r e s s u r e of thehydrogen a t t h e i n l e t t o t h e p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n i s l e s s t h a n 0.05 p s i( s e eF i g . 3 ) . Note t h a t t h i s dynamic p r e s s u r e i s much l e s s t h a n that u s u a l l y c o n s i d e r e d i n s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r r o c k e t s . The dynamic p r e s s u r e a t t h e e x i t of t h e p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n i s l e s s t h a n t h a t a t t h e e n t r a n c e of thepropellantregionbecause of t h e changeofhydrogen density.
. P r.o.p e l l a..n t. Seed C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
~

It i s assumed i n t h e f o l l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n that t h e r e q u i r e d normal o p t i c a l depth of t h es e e d s a t t h e p r o p e l l a n t i n l e t s t a t i o n i s 3.0. I f a l l of t h e l i g h t e m i t t e d from t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n p a s s e d o n l y i n a d i r e c t i o n normal t o t h e propellant region, the energy transmitted through the propellant region wouldbe l/e3, or 5 p e r c e n t of t h ei n c i d e n te n e r g y . However, many o f t h e l i g h t r a y s e m i t t e d from t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n p a s s i n a n o b l i q u e d i r e c t i o n t h r o u g h t h e p r o p e l l a n tr e g i o n .A c c o r d i n gt oF i g . 3 of R e f . 19, t h ep e r c e n t a g e of l i g h t which i s e m i t t e d from a b l a c k body and which would pass through a region having an o p t i c a l d e p t h of 3.0 i s approximately 2 p e r c e n t of t h e i n c i d e n t e n e r g y . It i s a l s o e x p e c t e d that a l a r g e p o r t i o n of t h e e n e r g y which passes through the seeded propellant region and impinges on t h e o u t e r wall w i l l b e r e f l e c t e d back i n t o t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m ( s e e Appendix B )

It i s a l s o assumed i n t h e f o l l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n that t h e hydrogen seed composed of t u n g s t e n p a r t i c l e s h a v i n g a diameter of 0.05micron.Information

is
on

the absorption characteristics of s u c h t u n g s t e n p a r t i c l e s i s g i v e n i n F i g . 19 of R e f . 6. I n t e g r a t i o n o f t h e s p e c t r a l a b s o r p t i o n p a r a m e t e r s i n t h i s f i g u r e y i e l d s an .average absorption parameter weighted by the black-body spectrum a t 15,000 R of approximately 5000 cm2/g or 2440 f t 2 / l b . The d i s t a n c ea c r o s st h ep r o p e l l a n ts t r e a m a t theductinlet i s 0.0931 f t or 2.84 ern ( s e e F i g . 2 ) . Thus, t h e a b s o r t i o n c o e f f i c i e n tr e q u i r e dt op r o v i d ea no p t i c a ld e p t ho f 3.0 must be 1.06 em or 32.2 ft''. The r e q u i r e d s e e d d e n s i t y , o b t a i n e d b y d i v i d i n g t h e r e q u i r e d a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n tb yt h ea b s o r p t i o np a r a m e t e r , i s 1.32 x loe2 l b / f t 3 .T h i ss e e dd e n s i t y i s e q u a l t o 3.9 p e r c e n t of t h e i n l e t p r o p e l l a n t d e n s i t y .

-Y

A s noted i n Ref. 6, it i s e x p e c t e d t h a t t h e o p a c i t y o b t a i n a b l e b y u s i n g t h i n p l a t e s w i l l be g r e a t e r t h a n t h a t o b t a i n a b l e b y u s i n g s p h e r i c a l p a r t i c l e s . However, t h e data on s p h e r i c a l p a r t i c l e s r a t h e r t h a n f l a t p l a t e s has b e e n u s e d i n t h e precedinganalysisbecause no i n f o r m a t i o n i s a v a i l a b l e on t h e a b s o r p t i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e s e t h i n f l a t p l a t e s , whereasdata on a b s o r p t i o n of l i g h t i n s t r e a m s containingsphericaltungstenparticles i s availableinRefs. 20, 21, and22.
Neon C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s The r e a s o n f o r i n j e c t i n g neon coolant between the nuclear f u e l and the t r a n s p a r e n t wall i s t o p r e v e n t d i f f u s i o n of t h e n u c l e a r f u e l t o w a r d t h e wall, thereby preventing fuel plating on t h e wall a n d p r e v e n t i n g f i s s i o n f r a g m e n t s from impinging on t h e w a l l . If t h e neon c o o l a n t i s t o s e r v e t h i s p u r p o s e , t h e t h i c k n e s s of the diffusion layer a t t h e o u t s i d e edge of the fuel-containment region mustbe less than the distance between the edge of the fuel-containment region and the t r a n s p a r e n t w a l l . T h i s d i f f u s i o n layer t h i c k n e s s i s r e l a t e d t o t h e t h i c k n e s s of t h ev i s c o u sl a y e ri nt h i sr e g i o n .I nt h ef o l l o w i n gc a l c u l a t i o n s it i s assumed that t h e t h i c k n e s s of t h e v i s c o u s l a y e r e v a l u a t e d on t h e b a s i s of t h e c o n d i t i o n s a t theedgeofthefuel-containmentregion i s 0.05 f t . The a c t u a l t h i c k n e s s of the viscous layer wouldbe c o n s i d e r a b l y l e s s t h a n 0.05 f t because of the decrease i n temperature(andthecorrespondingdecreaseindiffusivity)withincreasing radiusinthisregion.Inaddition,thethicknessofthediffusionlayer w i l l be lessthanthethicknessoftheviscousboundarylayerbecausethe Schmidt number i s greaterthanunityfor low f u e l c o n c e n t r a t i o n s ( s e e R e f . 2 3 ) . The t h i c k n e s s of t h e v i s c o u s b o u n d a r y l a y e r a t the outside edge of the f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n i s a f u n c t i o n of t h e a x i a l v e l o c i t y i n t h i s r e g i o n a n d t h e t u r b u l e n c e l e v e l of t h ef l o w . It i s assumed i n t h e f o l l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n t h a t t h e flow i n t h i s r e g i o n i s laminarbecause of t h e s t a b i l i z i n g e f f e c t o f radial temperaturegradients. It was determined on t h e basis of t h e c a l c u l a t i o n s p r o c e d u r e s i n Ref.24 t h a t a v i s c o u s b o u n d a r y l a y e r t h i c k n e s s a t t h e edge of t h e f u e l r e g i o n of 0.05 f t would r e q u i r e a n a x i a l v e l o c i t y i n t h i s r e g i o n o f 1.95 f t / s e c n e a r t h e e n d walls. (The a x i a l v e l o c i t y i n c r e a s e s l i n e a r l y from z e r o a t t h e midplane t o a s p e c i f i e dv a l u en e a rt h ee n d wall a c c o r d i n g t o t h e a n a l y s i s o f R e f . 2 4 . ) It was a l s o assumed i n t h e a n a l y s i s of R e f . 24 t h a t t h e a x i a l dynamic p r e s s u r e i s c o n s t a n t i n the region between the outside edge of the fuel-containment region and the

p e r i p h e r a l wall ( n e g l e c t i n g b o u n d a r y l a y e r e f f e c t s a t both boundaries of this r e g i o n ) .S i n c ed e n s i t yi n c r e a s e sb y a f a c t o r o f 7.5 betweentheoutsideedgeof the fuel-containment region and the peripheral wall, t h e v e l o c i t y must decrease by a f a c t o r o f (7.5)'*5 = 2.74 i n o r d e r t o p r o v i d e a c o n s t a n t a x i a l dynamic p r e s s u r e . The c o r r e s p o n d i n g a x i a l v e l o c i t y o f t h e neon n e x t t o t h e p e r i p h e r a l wall i s 0.71 ft/sec. Insufficient information i s available a t present to determine the variation of temperature with radius in the neon r e g i o n ( t h i s t e m p e r a t u r e d i s t r i b u t i o n c a n be c o n t r o l l e d b y p r o p e r s e l e c t i o n o f s e e d s i n t h e n e o n ) . However, sample c a l c u l a t i o n s were c a r r i e d o u t assuming a l i n e a r v a r i a t i o n o f t e m p e r a t u r e w i t h r a d i u s between the values of 15,000deg R a t t h e edgeof t h e f u e l a n d 2000 deg R a t t h e w a l l . T h i s assumed v a r i a t i o n of t e m p e r a t u r e p e r m i t t e d c a l c u l a t i o n of a v a r i a t i o n of d e n s i t y w i t h r a d i u s a n d , f r o m t h e a s s u m p t i o n of c o n s t a n t axial dynamic p r e s s u r e , a v a r i a t i o n of a x i a l v e l o c i t y w i t h r a d i u s . The t o t a l f l o w p a s s i n g t o w a r d s b o t h e n d walls, o b t a i n e d b y i n t e g r a t i n g t h e r e s u l t i n g mass f l o w d i s t r i b u t i o n , i s equal to 2.96 lb/sec per cavity. The t o t a l e n e r g y c a r r i e d away by t h i s f l u i d was determined byintegratingtheproduct of d e n s i t y , a x i a l v e l o c i t y , s p e c i f i c h e a t , a n d t h e neon t e m p e r a t u r e r i s e as a f u n c t i o n of r a d i u s . The t o t a l e n e r g y c a r r i e d away fromeach u n i t by the propellant flow passing towards both end walls was determined t o be 4120 Btu/sec (a c o n s t a n t neon s p e c i f i c h e a t of 0.253 w a s assumed i n t h i s a n a l y s i s ) . The t o t a l e n e r g y c a r r i e d away by the neon i n a l l s e v e n u n i t s i s e q u a l t o 28,900 Btu/sec.Thisenergyremovalrate i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y0 . 7p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l e n e r g y created in the engine.
A n a x i a l - f l o w Reynolds number of 5500 was c a l c u l a t e d on t h e basis of t h e a x i a l neon v e l o c i t y of 1.95 f t / s e c , t h e r a d i u s of t h e i n s i d e e d g e of t h e t r a n s p a r e n t wall, and the density and viscosity of neon a t t h e edgeof t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n . Note that t h e r a d i u s of the fuel-containment region i s assumed t o be e q u a l t o 85 p e r c e n t of t h e t r a n s p a r e n t wall r a d i u s a c c o r d i n g t o F i g . 2. I n s t u d i e s of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ofanopen-cyclevortex-stabilizedengine(Ref. l 7 ) , t h e edge of thefuel-containmentregionhasbeenassumed t o be e q u a l to 75 p e r c e n t of t h e r a d i u s of t h e v o r t e x t u b e . If t h e neonflowof 2.96 l b / s e c were p a s s e d t h r o u g h t h i s increased-areaannularregion,theequivalentaxial-flow Reynolds number would be 3500

It w i l l probably be n e c e s s a r y t o p r o v i d e a t a n g e n t i a l v e l o c i t y w i t h i n t h e transparent w a l l ofthenuclearlightbulbengine which i s somewhat g r e a t e r t h a n t h e a x i a l neon v e l o c i t y i n o r d e r t o p r o v i d e t h e s t a b i l i z i n g e f f e c t n e c e s s a r y t o c r e a t e laminar flow a t theedgeofthefuel-containmentregion. It hasbeen a r b i t r a r i l y assumed i n the f o l l o w i n g c a l c u l a t i o n s that t h i s t a n g e n t i a l v e l o c i t y i s 10 f t l s e c , or approximately 5 times t h e maximum a x i a l v e l o c i t y . The corresponding dynamic p r e s s u r e of t h e neon a t t h e i n s i d e edge of t h e t r a n s p a r e n t w a l l i s approximately 0.075 lb/in. 2 . The c e n t r i f u g a l a c c e l e r a t i o n c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e t a n g e n t i a l v e l o c i t y

a t the

i n s i d e edge o f t h e t r a n s p a r e n t w a l l i s 3.9 g ' s . I n s u f f i c i e n t i n f o r m a t i o n i s available a t present to determine whether this c e n t r i f u g a l a c c e l e r a t i o n i s s u f f i c i e n t t o p r e v e n t problems r e s u l t i n g from a x i a l v e h i c l e a c c e l e r a t i o n s . If such problems should arise, it w i l l be n e c e s s a r y t o i n c r e a s e t h e t a n g e n t i a l v e l o c i t y at t h eo u t e rp e r i p h e r yo ft h ev o r t e xt u b e . However, t h e dynamic p r e s s u r e s a t i n j e c t i o n are s u f f i c i e n t l y low i n t h e p r e s e n t r e f e r e n c e d e s i g n that r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e i n c r e a s e s i n v e l o c i t y c a n be t o l e r a t e d w i t h o u t e n c o u n t e r i n g i n t o l e r a b l y h i g h dynamic p r e s s u r e s due t o t h i s t a n g e n t i a l v e l o c i t y . Fuel Region Characteristics Corporate-sponsored studies have indicated a c r i t i c a l mass r e q u i r e m e n t f o r t h e referenceengineofapproximately 25 l b . (More d e t a i l e d s t u d i e s d e s c r i b e d i n R e f . 14 i n d i c a t e t h a t t h i s mass may be somewhat low, b u t i t has beenused i n t h e calculationdescribedinthepresentreport.)Thiscritical mass i s l e s s t h a n that fortheopen-cycleenginebecauseofthemoderatingeffect of t h e m a t e r i a l l o c a t e d between adjacent cavities (the open-cycle engine i s assumed t o have a s i n g l e c a v i t y r a t h e rt h a ns e v e ns e p a r a t ec a v i t i e s ) . The a v e r a g e f i e 1 d e n s i t y b a s e d on t h e volume i n s i d e t h e edge of t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n o f t h e s e v e n c a v i t i e s i n t h e r e f e r e n c e engine i s 0.409 lb/ft3. Thus, t h ea v e r a g ed e n s i t yo ft h ef u e l i s o n l y 44 p e r c e n t of t h e d e n s i t y of t h e neon a t theoutsideedgeofthefuel-containmentregion. The gases in the fuel-containment region are considerably hotter than the gases a t the outsideedgeofthefuel-containmentregion. On t h e b a s i s of t h e s t u d i e s ofRef. 8, t h e a v e r a g e t e m p e r a t u r e i n t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n i s approximately 42,000 R. The r e s u l t i n g a v e r a g e neon d e n s i t y i n t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n i s approximately 0.24 l b / f t 3 ( a c c o u n t i n g f o r t h e f u e l p a r t i a l p r e s s u r e b u t n e g l e c t i n g neon i o n i z a t i o n ) . Thus, t h e a v e r a g e t o t a l d e n s i t y ( t h e sum o f a v e r a g e f u e l d e n s i t y a n d a v e r a g e neon d e n s i t y )i nt h ef u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o n i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y0 . 6 5l b / f t 3 .T h i st o t a l d e n s i t y is o n l y 70 p e r c e n t of t h e d e n s i t y of t h e neon a t t h e o u t s i d e e d g e of t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o n . O t h eb a s i so fr e s u l t so b t a i n e du n d e rt h ef l u i dm e c h a n i c s n p o r t i o n of t h e work underContract NASw-847 ( s e eR e f s . 2, 3, 4, 5, 15 and 16), it i s b e l i e v e d that t h i s low value of t h e r a t i o o f a v e r a g e d e n s i t y i n t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t region to edge-of-fuel density w i l l result in greater stability in the flow in a nuclearlightbulbenginethaninanopen-cycleengine, where t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g r e q u i r e d d e n s i t y r a t i o i s approximately 10. The volume flow of neon p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h e c a v i t y o b t a i n e d by d i v i d i n g t h e neon mass flow of 2.96 lb/sec by the neon d e n s i t y a t t h e o u t s i d e edgeof the fuelcontainmentregionof0.924lb/ft3 i s 3 . 2f t 3 / s e c . The r e s u l t i n ga v e r a g e neon dwell time obtained by dividing the vortex volume of 1 . f t 3by the neonvolume 21 f l o w r a t e i s 3.8 s e e . If t h ea v e r a g ef u e ld w e l lt i m e i s e q u a l t o 5 t i m e st h e average neon dwelltime(seeRefs. 2, 3, 4, 5 , 1-5 and 16), t h ea v e r a g ef u e ld w e l l time would be approximately 19 s e e . S i n c e t h e n u c l e a r f u e l mass p e r u n i t i s approximately 3.6 lb, t h i s f u e l r e t e n t i o n time would correspond t o a fuel flow rate of approximately 0 . l 9 l b / s e c p e r u n i t c a v i t y .

10

An e s t i m a t e o f t h e e n e r g y c a r r i e d away b y t h e f u e l p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h e cavity can be obtained by multiplying the fuel flow rate by the average fuel exit enthalpy.Thisaverage f u e l e x i t e n t h a l p y c a n be estimated b y m u l t i p l y i n g t h e averagefueltemperatureof 42,000 R b y a s p e c i f i c h e a t o f 0.1 Btu/lb-deg R. The corresponding energy removal r a t e i s approximately 800 B t u / s e c p e r u n i t , o r 5600 B t u / s e cf o rt h es e v e nu n i tc a v i t i e s .T h i se n e r g yr e m o v a lr a t e i s approximately 0.13 p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l e n e r g y c r e a t i o n r a t e i n t h e e n g i n e .
;

Specific Impulse Thrust and The e x h a u s t v e l o c i t y which would be c r e a t e d b y c o n v e r t i n g a l l of the hydrogen e n t h a l p y o f 1.033 x lo5 B t u / l b t o k i n e t i c e n e r g y wouldbe71,900 ft/sec.This e x h a u s t v e l o c i t y wouldcorrespond t o a specificimpulseof 2230 s e e . T h i s i d e a l specific impulse has been reduced to account for the following factors:
(1) The s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e h a s b e e n r e d u c e d b y

8 per, nent t o a l l o w f o r incomplete expansion due t o a n a r e a r a t i o of 545 r a t h e r t h a n i n f i n i t y (correspondingpressureratioequals 1 0 , seeRef. 9 ) . 00

(2)

The s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e has beenreducedby 6 percenttoaccountforthe r e q u i r e m e n t f o r a p p r o x i m a t e l y 12 p e r c e n t t r a n s p i r a t i o n c o o l a n t f l o w f o r thenozzle(seeRef. 25).

(3) The s p e c i f i ci m p u l s e has beenreducedby 1.95 p e r c e n t t o a l l o w f o r t h e 3.9 p e r c e n t mass f r a c t i o n of t u n g s t e n s e e d s .

( 4 ) The specificimpulsehasbeenreducedby
and recombination losses The f i n a l s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e of t h ei d e a ls p e c i f i ci m p u l s e ,o r in the nozzle.

1percenttoallowforfriction

on t h e basis of t h e s e f o u r c o r r e c t i o n s 1870 s e e .

i s 84 p e r c e n t

The t o t a l f l o w p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h e n o z z l e e x i t ( i n c l u d i n g a n a l l o w a n c e f o r 12 p e r c e n t t r a n s p i r a t i o n c o o l i n g f o r t h e n o z z l e ) i s 49.3 l b / s e c . The t h r u s t p r o d u c e d b y t h i s f l o w a t a s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e of1870secwouldbe 92,000

3.9 p e r c e n t s e e d a n d

lb

According t o Ref. 9, t h e h y d r o g e n f l o w p e r u n i t a r e a a t the throat for a s t a g n a t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e of 12,000 R and a s t a g n a t i o n p r e s s u r e of500 atm i s 1062 lb/sec-ft2. If t h e f l o w a r e a o c c u p i e d b y t h e s e e d f l o w i s n e g l e c t e d ,a n dh a l f of the transpiration coolant flow i s assumed t o b e i n j e c t e d u p s t r e a m of t h e t h r o a t , thecorrespondingthroatflowarea wouldbe0.0422 f t 2 . If a s i n g l e n o z z l e were employed, t h e t h r o a t d i a m e t e r wouldbe0.232 ft For t h e n o z z l e a r e a r a t i o of 545 assumed i n c a l c u l a t i n g a l o s s i n s p e c i f i c impulse due t o a f i n i t e area r a t i o , t h e n o z z l e e x i t a r e a wouldbe23.0 f t 2 . The correspondingdiameterofthe exit of a s i n g l e n o z z l e i s 5.40 f t , which i s s u b s t a n t i a l l y less t h a n t h e o v e r a l l e n g i n e

11

d i a m e t e r .F o rt h es e v e n - n o z z l ec o n f i g u r a t i o n shown i n F i g s . 2 through 7, t h e t h r o a t and e x i t d i a m e t e r s would be 0,0875 f t (1.05 i n . ) and 2.04 f t , r e s p e c t i v e l y . ModeratorCooling Circuits Rates

Heat "- De-position

" " "

a number of d i f f e r e n t Heat i s d e p o s i t e d i n v a r i o u s p o r t i o n s of t h e e n g i n e b y mechanisms: neutronand g a m r a y h e a t i n g ; c o n v e c t i o n a n d t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n from t h eh o tg a s e s ;c o n v e c t i v ec o o l i n g of t h e f u e l r e c y c l e system;andconductionfrom one p o r t i o n of t h e s t r u c t u r e t o a n o t h e r . The r e s u l t s of a p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s t o determinethemagnitude of t h e n e t e n e r g y d e p o s i t e d i n e a c h p o r t i o n of the r e f e r e n c ee n g i n ed e s i g n i s g i v e ni nT a b l e I . I n some r e g i o n s , more complete a n a l y s i s of t h e s p e c i f i c c o n f i g u r a t i o n shown i n F i g s . 4 through 7 h a s l e d t o differentheatdepositionratesthanthose shown i n Table I . I n o t h e r r e g i o n s , i n s u f f i c i e n t i n f o r m a t i o n i s a v a i l a b l e t o p e r m i t a more a c c u r a t e e s t i m a t e of h e a t d e p o s i t i o nr a t e s . However, t h e h e a t d e p o s i t i o n r a t e s shown i n Table I a r e b e l i e v e d t o be s u f f i c i e n t l y a c c u r a t e for t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s r e p o r t , which i s t o p r o v i d e o n l y a p r e l i m i n a r y i n d i c a t i o n of a p o s s i b l e e n g i n e c o n f i g u r a t i o n . More complete i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e e n e r g y d e p o s i t e d b y t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n i n t h e t r a n s p a r e n t walls i s g i v e n i n R e f . 26, and on t h e e n e r g y d e p o s i t e d b y t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n i n t h e r e f l e c t i n g walls i s g i v e n i n Appendix B.

The moderator i s cooledby two hydrogen c i r c u i t s , t h e p r i m a r y h y d r o g e n p r o p e l l a n tc i r c u i ta n dt h es e c o n d a r yc l o s e dh y d r o g e nc i r c u i t . A schematicflow diagram i s shown i n F i g . 8. The p r i m a r y h y d r o g e n c i r c u i t e n t e r s t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l a n d i s pumped t o a p r e s s u r e of approximately 708 atm. It then passes through a s e r i e s of heat exchangers and then through a turbine which provides the power f o r theprimaryhydrogen,secondaryhydrogen,neonandfuelrecycle pumps. A f t e r e x i t i n g from t h e t u r b i n e , t h e p r i m a r y hydrogen flow cools the solid moderator regions(berylliumoxideandgraphite)andthen i s i n j e c t e d betweenthecavityliner a n dt h et r a n s p a r e n ts t r u c t u r e . The t e m p e r a t u r e a n d p r e s s u r e l e v e l s i n t h i s c i r c u i t a r e shown i n Table 1 . 1 The hydrogen i n t h e s e c o n d a r y c i r c u i t has a minimum temperature of approximately 300 R a t t h e e x i t of t h e s e c o n d a r y c i r c u i t pump. Thishydrogen i s first usedtocoolthepressurevessel,thesolidmoderator flow d i v i d e r , t h e t i e r o d sa n dt h ec a v i t yl i n e rt u b e s .A f t e rc o o l i n gt h ec a v i t yl i n e rt u b e st h e secondary hydrogen c i r c u i t p a s s e s t h r o u g h a hydrogen-neon heat exchanger where i t extracts the heat generated in the fuel recycle system and then passes through the transparentstructure. The h e a t a b s o r b e d b y t h e s e c o n d a r y c i r c u i t is rejected to theprimaryhydrogencircuitin a s e r i e s of h e a t e x c h a n g e r s . A f t e r e x i t i n g from t h e hydrogen-hydrogen heat exchanger, the secondary hydrogen circuit passes through

t h es e c o n d a r yc i r c u i t pump a n d t h e n r e p e a t s t h e same c i r c u i t . The temperatureand pressurelevelsinthesecondaryclosedcircuit are shown i n Table 1 1 The vent 1 . at the exit of the transparent structure region (Station 13 on F i g . 8 ) c o n n e c t s t h e s e c o n d a r y h y d r o g e n c i r c u i t a t that p o i n t w i t h t h e p r i m a r y h y d r o g e n c i r c u i t at its pointofinjectionintothecavity(Station 6 on F i g . 8 ) . The p r e s s u r e a t t h e s e two s t a t i o n s i s e q u a l d u r i n g d e s i g n - p o i n t o p e r a t i o n a n d t h e v e n t i s provided t o reducethepossibility of o v e r p r e s s u r e i n t h e t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e d u r i n g start up or i n t h e e v e n t o f o t h e r f l o w or p r e s s u r e v a r i a t i o n s .

It i s assumed i n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t h a t t h e e n t i r e t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e is made f r o mh i g h - q u a l i t yf u s e ds i l i c a .T h i st r a n s p a r e n ts t r u c t u r e i s d i v i d e di n t o threesegmentswithineachunitcavity,witheach segmentoccupying 120 degof t h e t o t a l c i r c u m f e r e n c e ofeachcavity, as shown i n F i g . 7. Each segment of the t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e i s d i v i d e d i n t o two r e g i o n s : a hydrogen-cooledregionand a neon-cooledregion. The hydrogen-cooledregionconsistsof a f e e d e rp i p ea n d a c o l l e c t o r p i p e which areconnectedby a s e r i e s o f t r a n s p a r e n tt u b e s . Each o f ' t h e transparenttubespassesradiallyinwardthrough one s t r u t , p a s s e s i n a circumfere n t i a l d i r e c t i o n between the vortex region and the propellant region, and then p a s s e s r a d i a l l y outwardthrough a s e c o n ds t r u t .T a b l e IV l i s t s t h e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s andoperatingconditions of the hydrogen-cooled portion of t h e t r a n s p a r e n t st r u c t u r e

The n e o n - c o o l e d p o r t i o n o f t h e t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e c o n s i s t s of a f e e d e r p i p e and a s e r i e s of neon injectiontubes. The neon i n j e c t i o n t u b e s p a s s r a d i a l l y i n w a r d from thefeederpipethrough a strutintothevortexregion. These t u b e s a r e u s e d t o i n j e c t neon t a n g e n t i a l l y a l o n g t h e i n n e r s u r f a c e of the hydrogen-cooled portion of thestructure. The neon p a s s e s t h r o u g h t h e v o r t e x a n d e x i t s from t h e v o r t e x chamber through the forward end plug.

The c a v i t y l i n e r i s c o n s t r u c t e d from a s e r i e s of b e r y l l i u m t u b e s which a r e internallycooledbythesecondaryhydrogencircuit. The t u b e s a r e c o a t e d on t h e o u t s i d e w i t h a t h i n l a y e r of aluminum t o provide a h i g h r e f l e c t i v i t y f o r i n c i d e n t thermalradiation(see Appendix B) The maximum s u r f a c e t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e c a v i t y l i n e r t u b e s i s approximately 1360 R which i s considerably lower than the melting p o i n t of aluminum (1670 R ) . If n e c e s s a r y ,t h et e m p e r a t u r eo ft h ec a v i t yl i n e rc o u l d Se f u r t h e r r e d u c e d b y c o o l i n g t h e c a v i t y l i n e r b e f o r e t h e t i e r o d a n d t h e d i v i d e r betweentheberylliumoxideandgraphite.Althoughtheuseof an aluminum w a l l r a t h e r t h a n a wall made from a h i g h e r t e m p e r a t u r e m a t e r i a l w i l l increase the convectiveheattransfertothe w a l l , t h e r e s u l t i n g change i n c o n v e c t i v e h e a t t r a n s f e r i s small b e c a u s e t h e change i n w a l l temperature i s small r e l a t i v e t o t h e differencebetweenstreamtemperatureand w a l l temperature. The s p e c i f i c a t i o n s o f

t h e c a v i t y l i n e r and i t s components are l i s t e d i n T a b l e V, and a s e c t i o n of t h e l i n e r r e g i o n i s shown in Fig. 7.

The s o l i d m o d e r a t o r r e g i o n c o n s i s t s of a b e r y l l i u m o x i d e r e g i o n surrounding each cavity and a graphite region surrounding the seven-cavity array (see F i g s . 5 and 6 ) . In a d d i t i o n t o t h ec y l i n d r i c a lm o d e r a t o rr e g i o n ss u r r o u n d i n gt h ec a v i t i e s , t h e r e are endplugs of graphitemoderator on bothendsof each c a v i t y . The cylindrical beryllium oxide and graphite regions are separated by an annulus formed by two i n s u l a t e d b e r y l l i u m walls. These walls s e r v e as a f l o w d i v i d e r f o r t h e solid moderator regions and as a c o n t a i n e r for t h e g r a p h i t e a n d b e r y l l i u m o x i d e . The s o l i d m o d e r a t o r r e g i o n i s cooled by passing hydrogen through a s e r i e s of a x i a lc o o l a n tp a s s a g e s . The c o o l a n t e n t e r s t h e b e r y l l i u m o x i d e a t theforwardend of t h e r e a c t o r , p a s s e s t h r o u g h t h e b e r y l l i u m o x i d e , a n d r e t u r n s t o t h e f o r w a r d e n d t h r o u g ht h eg r a p h i t e . The number andspacing of c o o l a n t h o l e s i n t h e s o l i d moderator regions i s d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e i n t e r n a l h e a t g e n e r a t i o n r a t e s , d e s i r e d c o o l a n t - t o - w a l lt e m p e r a t u r ed i f f e r e n c ea n dt h ec o o l i n gh o l eo r i e n t a t i o n . The characteristics a t the selected design point are shown i n Table

VI.

The s t r u c t u r a l componentswhich support the moderator and separate i t from o t h e r p o r t i o n s of t h e e n g i n e a r e : a g r i d a t bothends of t h e r e a c t o r ; a s e r i e s of 24 t i e r o d s c o n n e c t i n g t h e g r i d s ; a n a n n u l a r f l o w d i v i d e r b e t w e e n t h e b e r y l l i u m oxideandgraphite;and a t u n g s t e nl i n e rs u r r o u n d i n gt h eg r a p h i t er e g i o n . The g r i d on t h e a f t end of t h e r e a c t o r i s a t t a c h e d t o t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l by a s e r i e s of r i b s as shown i n F i g . 4. The d e s i g n c r i t e r i a which was used t . 3 d e t e r m i n et h es i z e of the grids and tie rods was a n a c c e l e r a t i o n l o a d of 10 g ' s w i t h t h e r e a c t o r at ambient temperatures (- 530 R ) and 1 g a t o p e r a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e ( 7 0 t o 2700 R 10 depending upon l o c a t i o n ) . The f o r w a r d g r i d may b e c o n s t r u c t e d of i n c o n e l or some similar a l l o y s i n c e the temperature in the forward region i s approximately 1800 R a n d t h e g r i d i s external to the moderator s o that t h e n e u t r o n a b s o r p t i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e n o t c r i t i c a l . Those p o r t i o n s of t h e r e a r g r i d whichsupportthemoderatorendplugs mustbe i n s u l a t e d s i n c e t h e y a r e e x p o s e d t o t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m at the exit. The t i e r o d s a r e c o n s t r u c t e d from b e r y l l i u m i n s u l a t e d w i t h p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e andinternallycooledbythesecondaryhydrogencircuit. The t i e r o d s were s i z e d f o r a 10 g a c c e l e r a t i o n l o a d a t a m b i e n t t e m p e r a t u r e a n d t h e i r s p e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d operating conditions are listed in Table VII. The s o l i d m o d e r a t o r f l o w d i v i d e r

i s anirregularshapedstructurefollowing

t h eo u t e rc o n t o u r s of theberylliumoxideregion. The s t r u c t u r e i s formed b y two b e r y l l i u m walls w i t h p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e i n s u l a t i o n on the outside and hydrogen coolantpassingbetweentheberyllium walls. The s p e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s are shown i n Table VIII. The e x t e r n a l g r a p h i t e c o n t a i n e r i s a thin-walled tungsten liner p r i m a r i l y as a f l o w d i v i d e r b e t w e e n t h e g r a p h i t e a n d t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l . provides support to the graphite pieces in the external moderator. which s e r v e s It a l s o

The s e c o n d a r y h y d r o g e n c i r c u i t t r a n s f e r s t h e e n e r g y a b s o r b e d i n c o o l i n g t h e pressurevessel,supportstructure,berylliumoxide-graphiteflowdivider,cavity l i n e r , t r a n s p a r e n t walls and f u e l r e c y c l e s y s t e m t o t h e p r i m a r y h y d r o g e n c i r c u i t v i a a s e r i e s ofhydrogen-to-hydrogenheatexchangers. The s p e c i f i c a t i o n s f o r t h e s e heatexchangers are shown i n Table Seven heatexchangers were u s e d s i n c e t h i s allows the flow from each cavity to be piped directly to a heat exchanger without a d d i t i o n a lm a n i f o l d i n g ;a l s o ,t h es i z e of theheatexchangers i s such t h a t t h e y may be i n s t a l l e d i n t h e s p a c e betweenthe pumps a n d t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l . The high p r e s s u r e p o r t i o n of the primary hydrogen circuit (P TOO a t m ) i s on t h e t u b e s i d e of the heat exchangers and the secondary hydrogen circuit (P 500 atm) i s on t h e shell side in order to minimize s h e l l t h i c k n e s s .

IX.

The p r e s e n t c o o l a n t f l o w scheme r e q u i r e s a n e x t r e m e l y complex piping and manifoldingsystem a s i n d i c a t e di nF i g s . 4 and 5 . A t p r e s e n tt h ep r e s s u r el o s s e s a n di n s u l a t i o nr e q u i r e m e n t sf o rt h ep i p i n g havebeenestimated. The i n s u l a t i o n thickness has been estimated based on a 1775 R operating temperature i n t h e f o r w a r d r e g i o na n dp y r o l y t i cg r a p h i t ei n s u l a t i o n . The approximatethicknessofinsulation r e q u i r e d i s 0.025 i n c h e s of i n s u l a t i o n p e r i n c h of p i p e r a d i u s , a n d t h i s approximation was u s e d t o e s t i m a t e t h e i n s u l a t i o n w e i g h t r e q u i r e d . The secondary hydrogen c i r c u i t p i p i n g may be b e r y l l i u m from t h e pump t o t h e fuelrecycleheatexchangerentrance,sincethecoolanttemperature i s low ( < 1100 R ) The m a n i f o l d i n g f r o m t h e g r a p h i t e o u t l e t t o t h e p r o p e l l a n t i n l e t r e g i o n mustbe t u n g s t e ns i n c et h ec o o l a n tt e m p e r a t u r e i s above 4 0 R. 00 The intermediate-temperature piping, the fie1 recycle heat exchanger and the hydrogen-to-hydrogen heat exchanger (1600 R t o 2000 R t e m p e r a t u r e r a n g e ) may b e c o n s t r u c t e d from s t a i n l e s s s t e e l a l l o y s . EngineWeight R e s u l t s of a s t u d y t o d e t e r m i n e t h e w e i g h t of a n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b e n g i n e a r e g i v e n i n T a b l e X. The weightof mostof t h e components i n Table X were made on t h e b a s i s of c o n f i g u r a t i o n s d i s c u s s e d i n p r e c e d i n g s e c t i o n s . The turbopump weight was determined.from the turbopump w e i g h t g i v e n i n R e f . 1 with an allowance for differ1 encesinenginepressureandhydrogenflow. The miscellaneous weight noted in

Table X i n c l u d e s a n a l l o w a n c e f o r e x h a u s t n o z z l e s , f u e l r e c y c l e s y s t e m s , a n d t h e equipment necessary to provide a magnetic f i e l d w i t h i n t h e c a v i t y t o p r e v e n t impingementof b e t a p a r t i c l e s on t h e c a v i t y walls ( s e e R e f . 2 7 ) . P a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n was devoted i n t h i s s t u d y t o d e t e r m i n i n g t h e w e i g h t of the pressure vessel because of t h e u n c e r t a i n t y i n p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t n o t e d i n Ref. 1 . The p r e s e n t s t u d y was b a s e d on a n a n a l y s i s w h i c h 1 i s described in Appendix A and which was made by the United Technology Center, a d i v i s i o n of U n i t e dA i r c r a f tC o r p o r a t i o n . O f o u rp r e s s u r es h e l lc o n f i g u r a t i o n s f which a r e c o n s i d e r e d i n Appendix A, t h e c o n f i g u r a t i o n of g r e a t e s t i n t e r e s t i s t h e one which has a contour approximately similar t o t h e c o n t o u r shown i n F i g . 4 and which containssevenseparateholesinthe a f t end for passage of separate nozzles from each of t h e s e v e n u n i t c a v i t i e s . The a c t u a l volume e n c l o s e d b y t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l c o n s i d e r e d i n Appendix A i s l e s s t h a n t h a t i n F i g . 4. The p r e s s u r e s h e l l from Appendix A was e s t i m a t e d t o weigh19k400 lb for an internal pressure of500 atm and a t o t a l e n c l o s e d volume of 559 f t s . The s h e l l w e i g h t p a r a m e t e r , Z (seeRef. l) l, i s therefore

(1)
T h i s v a l u e of Zs i s approximately 4 p e r c e n t l e s s t h a n t h e v a l u e 0 a c y l i n d r i c a l maraging s t e e l p r e s s u r e v e s s e l fromRef. 1 . 1 of Zs of 0.116 f o r

One of the problems noted i n Appendix A i s t h e h i g h a x i a l l o a d p e r u n i t circumferential length in the joint separating the two h a l v e s o f t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l . This load per unit length could be reduced by employing more t h a n two s e p a r a t e pressureshells(again, with a control system to set the pressure betweenadjacent s h e l l s s o as t o e q u a l i z e t h e s t r e s s e s i n eachshell). The u s e of more t h a n two s h e l l s would a l s o r e d u c e s h e l l w e i g h t . For i n s t a n c e ,u s e of f o u r s h e l l s r a t h e r t h a n two s h e l l s would reduce the weight associated with the joints by a f a c t o r of 2 from 2350 l b t o 1175 l b . T h i s r e p r e s e n t s a reductioninoverallshellweight of approximately 6 p e r c e n t . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e r e s u l t i n g r a t i o of wall t h i c k n e s s t o s h e l l d i a m e t e r would be reduced, with a resulting decrease in the factor associated with the finite shell thickness (see Appendix A ) . A r e d u c t i o n b y a f a c t o r of two i n t h e s h e l l t h i c k n e s s would r e s u l t i n a r e d u c t i o n i n s h e l l w e i g h t b y a p p r o x i m a t e l y 9 p e r c e n t . Thus, t h e o v e r a l l r e d u c t i o n i n w e i g h t r e s u l t i n g from t h eu s e of f o u r r a t h e r t h a n two s h e l l s would be approximately 15 p e r c e n t .

It i s a l s o n o t e d i n Appendix A that no allowance has been rnade f o r r a d i a t i o n damage t o t h e s h e l l m a t e r i a l or f o r f a t i g u e due t o many p r e s s u r e c y c l e s w i t h i n t h e s h e l l .T h e r e f o r e , it hasbeenarbitrarilydecidedto employ t h e 15 p e r c e n t f a c t o r of s a f e t y whichwould r e s u l t from u s i n g f o u r r a t h e r t h a n two p r e s s u r e s h e l l s as a n a l l o w a n c e f o r r a d i a t i o n damage a n d p r e s s u r e c y c l i n g e f f e c t s .
The p r e s s u r e s h e l l shown i n F i g .

4 also

has a l a r g e r i n t e r n a l

volume t h a n t h e

16

pressure shell considered in Appendix A by a f a c t o r of approximately 1.57. Therefore, on t h e b a s i s of Eq. ( ) t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t s h o u l d b e i n c r e a s e d l, by a f a c t o r o f 1.57 t o a p p r o x i m a t e l y 30,500 l b . T h i s p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t is shown i n Table X. Reference Configuration During Startup
Two analyses have been made t o d e t e r m i n e t h e s t a r t u p c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e r e f e r e n c ee n g i n ed i s c u s s e d i n p r e c e d i n gs e c t i o n s . The f i r s t a n a l y s i s i s b a s e d on t h e u s e of a f i x e d n o z z l e t h r o a t area of 0.0398 f t 2 ( e x c l u d i n g t h e a l l o w a n c e f o r half of t h et r a n s p i r a t i o nc o o l a n tf l o w s e ep r e c e d i n gs e c t i o n ) . The second a n a l y s i s i s based on the use of a variable-throat-area nozzle which w i l l maintain a f i x e d neon d e n s i t y a t t h e o u t s i d e edgeof thefuel-containmentregion.Results of these two a n a l y s e s a r e d e s c r i b e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g two s u b s e c t i o n s .

--

Engine S t a r t u p w i t h F i x e d

Nozzle Throat Area

The mass flow passing through the throat area of the reference engine discussed i n the preceding section i s a f u n c t i o n of t h e t o t a l p r e s s u r e a n d t o t a l temperatureofthehydrogenpropellantupstream of t h e t h r o a t . R e s u l t s of c a l c u l a t i o n s of t h i s w e i g h t f l o w made u s i n g t h e p a r a m e t e r s t a b u l a t e d i n R e f . 9 are given i n F i g . 9. The engine power obtainedbymultiplyingthenozzleflow i n F i g . 9 by t h e e n t h a l p y d e t e r m i n e d fromRef. 9 i s shown i n F i g . 10. The power c r e a t e d i n t h e e n g i n e i s proportional to the fourth power of the fuel radiating temperature if the ratio of r a d i a t e d e n e r g y t o t o t a l e n e r g y is independentofengine power. F u e l r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s c a l c u l a t e d on t h i s b a s i s usingthetotalengine powers g i v e n i n F i g . 10 a r e shown i n F i g . 1 . The combi1 n a t i o n s of c o n d i t i o n s i n F i g . 1 which l e a d t o a p r o p e l l a n t e x i t t e m p e r a t u r e e q u a l 1 t o 80 p e r c e n t of t h e f u e l r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e a r e a l s o i n d i c a t e d on F i g s . 9 and 10. The d e n s i t y of t h e neon a t t h e edge of t h e f u e l i s p r o p o r t i o n a l t o e n g i n e p r e s s u r ea n di n v e r s e l yp r o p o r t i o n a lt of u e lr a d i a t i n gt e m p e r a t u r e .V a l u e s of neon d e n s i t y a t t h e edge of t h e f u e l d e t e r m i n e d from t h e t e m p e r a t u r e s a n d p r e s s u r e s i n Fig. 1 aregiveninFig. 1 12. A s n o t e d on t h i s f i g u r e a n d i n p r e c e d i n g f i g u r e s , t h ed e s i g nv a l u e of e d g e - o f - f u e ld e n s i t y i s 0.924 lb/ft3. The c o n d i t i o n s which lead to this edge-of-fuel density are also noted on t h e c u r v e s i n F i g s . 9 through 1 . 1 The f u e l d e n s i t y r e q u i r e d f o r c r i t i c a l i t y w i l l p r o b a b l y n o t be s i g n i f i c a n t l y different during startup than it i s d u r i n g o p e r a t i o n a t t h e e n g i n e d e s i g n p o i n t . Since the ratio of average fuel density t o edge-of-fuel density during design-point o p e r a t i o n w i l l probably be c l o s e t o t h e maximum v a l u e a l l o w a b l e from f l u i d mechanics s t a b i l i t y c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , i t w i l l p r o b a b l y n o t b e p o s s i b l e t o o p e r a t e w i t h a r e d u c e de d g e - o f - f u e ld e n s i t yd u r i n ge n g i n es t a r t u p . It can be seenfrom Fig. 12 t h a t o p e r a t i n g w i t h a p r o p e l l a n t e x i t t e m p e r a t u r e e q u a l t o 80 p e r c e n t of the edge-of-fuel temperature results in very low e d g e - o f - f u e l d e n s i t i e s d u r i n g

s t a r t u p . If t h e d e n s i t y a t t h e edge of f u e l i s f i x e d a t 0.924 l b / f t 2 during startup,theenginepressuresandweightflows become extremelyhigh.Thiscanbe partially avoided by the use of a v a r i a b l e - t h r o a t - a r e a n o z z l e as d i s c u s s e d i n t h e following subsection. Engine S t a r t u p w i t h V a r i a b l e
.

NozzleThroatArea - .. - -~

With a v a r i a b l e n o z z l e t h r o a t a r e a , it i s p o s s i b l e t o a d j u s t t h e d e n s i t y at the edge of the fuel-containment region to any arbitrarily specified value i n d e p e n d e n to ft h ec h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h ep r o p e l l a n ts t r e a m . The e n g i n ep r e s s u r e required to maintain an edge-of-fuel density of 0.924 l b / f t 3 i s shown i n F i g . 13 as a f u n c t i o n of f u e l r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e ( p r e s s u r e is inversely proportional to f u e lr a d i a t i n gt e m p e r a t u r ei nt h i se x a m p l e ) . The e n e r g y c r e a t e d i n t h e r e a c t o r is a l s o shown i n F i g . 1 3 and i s p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e f o u r t h power of f u e l r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e( s e ep r e c e d i n gs e c t i o n ) . The hydrogen p r o p e l l a n tf l o wr a t ep a s s i n g through the reactor i s a f u n c t i o n of t h e t o t a l power a n d t h e r a t i o of p r o p e l l a n t e x i tt e m p e r a t u r et of u e lr a d i a t i n gt e m p e r a t u r e , Te/Tx. The e f f e c t of f u e l r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e on t h i s w e i g h t f l o w i s shown i n F i g . 14 f o r v a l u e s of Te/T* of 0.5 and 0.8. Theseweightflows were d e t e r m i n e d b y d i v i d i n g t h e t o t a l power by the enthalpy corresponding to the propellant exit temperature. The e x h a u s t n o z z l e t h r o a t a r e a r e q u i r e d t o p a s s t h e p r o p e l l a n t f l o w i n d i c a t e d i n F i g . 14 i s a l s o shown i n t h i s same f i g u r e .T h i sn o z z l ea r e a was determined on t h e b a s i s of t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t a b u l a t e d i n Ref. 9. It canbeseenfromFig. 14 t h a t a reduction in radiating temperature by a f a c t o r of 2 ( w i t h a corresponding r e d u c t i o n i n e n g i n e power by a f a c t o r of 16) w i l l r e s u l t i n a r e q u i r e d r e d u c t i o n innozzlethroatareaby a f a c t o r ofapproximately 3. The mechanism r e q u i r e d t o vary the throat area must w i t h s t a n d a h i g h p r e s s u r e d i f f e r e n t i a l ; however, s i n c e the absolute areas involved are small, t h i s mechanism should not be extremelyheavy. It mightbedesirable t o employ two d i f f e r e n t t h r o a t s : a f i x e d - g e o m e t r yt r a n s p i r a t i o n c o o l e d t h r o a t for use a t high temperatures and a variable-geometry throat located downstreamof t h e f i x e d - g e o m e t r y t h r o a t f o r u s e a t lower t e m p e r a t u r e s . Values of s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e t e m p e r a t u r e s a n d p r e s s u r e s shown i n F i g s . 13 and 14 a r e g i v e n i n F i g . 15. Valuesofenginethrustdetermined b ym u l t i p l y i n gw e i g h tf l o wb ys p e c i f i ci m p u l s ea r ea l s o shown i n F i g . 15. These v a l u e s of t h r u s t were c o r r e c t e d t o a l l o w for t h e t h r u s t o f t h e t r a n s p i r a t i o n c o o l a n t f l o w i n t h e same manner as d e s c r i b e d in a p r e c e d i n g s e c t i o n .

18

VORTEX-STABILLZED O!EN-CYCLE

ENGINE

PrincipleofOperation (Refs. 2, The p r i n c i p l e o f o p e r a t i o n o f a n o p e n - c y c l e v o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e d e n g i n e 1 and 24) i s t h e same as that f o r a v o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e d n u c l e a r l i g h t 1 bulb engine except that the open-cycle engine does not employ a p h y s i c a l t r a n s p a r e n t wall betweenthefuel-containmentandpropellantregions. The o p e n - c y c l ee n g i n er e l i e s e n t i r e l y on f l u i d mechanics phenomena t o p r o v i d e p r e f e r e n t i a l r e t e n t i o n of t h e nuclear fuel. Becauseof t h i s the primary problems i n such an engine are f l u i d mechanic i n n a t u r e . As a result,theinvestigation of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a n open-cycle vortex-stabilized engine which w a s i n i t i a t e d a t t h e UAC Research L a b o r a t o r i e s i n 1959 have c o n c e n t r a t e d on t h e f l u i d mechanics c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of v o r t e xf l o w .E x t e n s i v ei n v e s t i g a t i o n s of t h ec h a r a c t e r i s t i c so fv o r t e xf l o w have i n d i c a t e d that t h e f u e l r e t e n t i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h i s e n g i n e a r e lower t h a n a r e r e q u i r e d from economic c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . Summaries of t h e s e f l u i d mechanics i n v e s t i g a t i o n sa r eg i v e ni nR e f s . 2, 3, 4 and 5. Although t h i s e n g i n e d o e s n o t a p p e a r t o b e f e a s i b l e a t t h ep r e s e n tt i m e ,t h er e s u l t s of s t u d i e s of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of theenginearedescribedinthefollowingsectionsbecause of t h e p o s s i b l e a p p l i c a t i o n of t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n t o o t h e r e n g i n e c o n c e p t s .

Specific Configuration

a t Design P o i n t

a s p e c i f i c c o n f i g u r a t i o n of The r e s u l t s o f s t u d i e s of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a no p e n - c y c l ev o r t e x - s t a b i l i z e de n g i n ea r eg i v e n i n Refs. 10 and 1 . A s k e t c h of 1 t h ec o n f i g u r a t i o nc h o s e n i s given i n Fig. 16. The diameterofthecavity in this engine i s 6 f t a n dt h ea v e r a g ec a v i t yl e n g t h i s 6 f t . The c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e c a v i t y of t h er e f e r e n c ee n g i n ed e s i g na r eg i v e n i n Table X I . Thisengine was determined t o have a s p e c i f i c i m p u l s e of 2190 see and a t h r u s t of 1.45 x lo6 lb a c c o r d i n g t o Ref. 1 . The f u e l d e n s i t y r a t i o i n R e f . 1 1 was based on a c r i t i c a l f u e l mass of 1 18.1 l b . However, e a r l y r e s u l t s of more r e c e n ts t u d i e s( R e f . 14) have i n d i c a t e d that the actual critical fuel mass i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y t w i c e t h i s v a l u e or 36.2 l b . Therefore,thecorrespondingfueldensityratio i s 10.0 r a t h e r t h a n t h e v a l u e of 5 .O n o t e d i n R e f . 10.

ModeratorConfiguration Threemodifications t o t h e m o d e r a t o r c o n f i g u r a t i o n of t h e s p e c i f i c g a s e o u s nuclear rocket engine configuration presented in Ref. 1 were i n v e s t i g a t e d t o 1 d e t e r m i n et h e i re f f e c t s on overalldesignandperformance.Thesemodifications were (1)replacement of t h e t u n g s t e n l i n e r t u b e s w i t h p y r o l y t i c - g r a p h i t e - c o a t e d b e r y l l i u m t u b e s , ( 2 ) e l i m i n a t i o n of theheavywatermoderator,and (3) s u b s t i t u t i o n of hydrogen f o r helium i nt h em o d e r a t o r coolant c i r c u i t . The s p e c i f i cc o m b i n a t i o n s of t h e s e m o d i f i c a t i o n s whichwere i n v e s t i g a t e d a r e l i s t e d i n T a b l e XII. Configuration A represents the original design ofRef. 1 , Configuration B incorporates 1

m o d i f i c a t i o n (1)above;Configuration C i n c o r p o r a t e s m o d i f i c a t i o n s (1)a n d (2), C o n f i g u r a t i o n D i n c o r p o r a t e s m o d i f i c a t i o n s (1)and (3); a n d C o n f i g u r a t i o n E i n c o r p o r a t e s a l l t h e e o ft h em o d i f i c a t i o n s . The e f f e c t s on the moderatorconfiguration, operating conditions, and engine weight, exclusive of pressure vessel, are discussed.

The u s e o f b e r y l l i u m l i n e r t u b e s r e d u c e s t h e amount o f t u n g s t e n i n t h e i n n e r liner region and eliminates the bimetallic tungsten-beryllium joints where t h e t u b e sj o i nt h eb e r y l l i u ml i n e r . The b a s i cc o n f i g u r a t i o no ft h el i n e rt u b e s is similar to the original design and i s shown i n F i g . 8 ofRef. 1 . 1
Becauseof t h e h i g h c a v i t y w a l l temperatures ( - 5000 R ) a n d t h e h i g h r a d i a n t a n d c o n v e c t i v e h e a t flux ( - 2360 B t u / s e c - f t 2 ) , t h e b e r y l l i u m t u b e s mustbe surroundedbyaninsulatorsuch as p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e . The p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e i s c o a t e d w i t h niobiumcarbide t o p r o t e c t i t from thehothydrogen i n the c a v i t y . It i s assumed that the p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e i s d e p o s i t e d on t h e b e r y l l i u m t u b e s i n s u c h a manner that t h e t h e r m a l c o n d u c t i v i t y i s low i n t h e r a d i a l d i r e c t i o n (- 1.8 x lom4 Btu/sec-ft-deg R ) and i s h i g h i n t h e c i r c u m f e r e n t i a l d i r e c t i o n ( - 1.7 x lom2 Btu/secft-deg R ) . The r a t i o of p y r o l y t i c g r a p h i t e t h i c k n e s s t o half circumference i s on the order of 0.3, and a comparison of the quotient of t h e t h e r m a l c o n d u c t i v i t y a n d distance predicts a relatively uniform circumferential temperature distribution. The e n t i r e s u r f a c e a r e a of t h e l i n e r t u b e was u s e d as a h e a t t r a n s f e r a r e a i n t h e c a l c u l a t i o n of t h e f i l m t e m p e r a t u r e d r o p a n d t h e r e q u i r e d t u b e d i a m e t e r .
A comparisonofthedesigncharacteristicsofthelinertubesforthevarious c o n f i g u r a t i o n s i s shown i n Table XIII. The o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s f o r t h e b e r y l l i u m tube configurations are based on a m a x i m u m b e r y l l i u m t e m p e r a t u r e of 1500 R .

R e f e r r i n g t o C o n f i g u r a t i o n B, where helium i s used as a moderator coolant and the heavy water moderator i s present, the calculations predict an extremely high pressure loss i nt h et u b e s . The h e a tg e n e r a t e di nt h eh e a v yw a t e rm o d e r a t o r i n c r e a s e s t h e minimum i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e t o t h e t u b e s t o 900 R and allows only 600 R f o r a f i l m temperaturedrop i n t h e t u b e s . The r e q u i r e d f i l m temperaturedropcan be achieved only by a small tube diameter (- 0 .O3l i n . ) w i t h a h i g h d y n a k c p r e s s u r e (- 8 atm) or a change i n t u b e l e n g t h whichwouldmodify the inner liner c o n f i g u r a t i o n . If theheavywater i s removed, t h e i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e i s r e d u c e dt o 564 R a n d t h e r e s u l t i n g c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s shown as C o n f i g u r a t i o n C.
If hydrogen i s used as a c o o l a n t , t h e t o t a l p r e s s u r e loss in the tubes d e c r e a s e s b y a f a c t o r of 10, a n d t h e b e r y l l i u m t u b e s c o u l d be used w i t h the heavy water present (Configuration D ) or w i t h t h e heavy water removed ( C o n f i g u r a t i o n E ) .

20

The h e a t g e n e r a t e d i n t h e heavy water r e g i o n of the moderator i s approximately 9.0 x lo5 Btu/sec and, s i n c e t h e h e a v y w a t e r mustbe maintained a t a temperature below 1000 R, it r e p r e s e n t s a r e l a t i v e l y l o w - t e m p e r a t u r e h e a t s o u r c e . The heavy water mustbe cooled by the moderator coolant before it e n t e r s t h e l i n e r t u b e s , a n d t h e combined h e a t from t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l a n d t h e D20 raises t h e c o o l a n t i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e t o 903 R. E l i m i n a t i o n o f t h e D20 l o w e r s t h e t u b e i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e t o 564 R, e l i m i n a t e s t h e D20 h e a t e x c h a n g e r s a n d c i r c u l a t i o n s y s t e m , a n d e l i m i n a t e s t h eo u t e rc o n t a i n m e n ts h e l l of t h e D20 r e g i o n . The t h i c k n e s so ft h eb e r y l l i u m oxide and graphite regions i s i n c r e a s e d i n o r d e r t o m a i n t a i n t h e 4500 R o u t l e t temperature. The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the moderator region with the heavy water removed of R e f . 1 i n Table X I V . I n 1 ( C o n f i g u r a t i o n s C and E ) a r e compared w i t h t h e d e s i g n addition to the weight saving in the solid moderator which i s shown i n t h e t a b l e , t h e r e i s a decrease of 4.3 i n . i n t h e i n s i d e r a d i u s of t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l which would reduce the pressure vessel weight.

as a moderator coolant permits a r e d u c t i o n by a f a c t o r of rates i f t h e t e m p e r a t u r e l e v e l s a r e m a i n t a i n e d at t h e same l e v e l s as s p e c i f i e d i n t h e p r e l i m i n a r y d e s i g n . T h i s r e d u c t i o n i n f l o w r a t e i s more than enough t o o f f s e t t h e d e c r e a s e s i n f l u i d d e n s i t y , a n d t h e dynamic p r e s s u r e i s reducedby a f a c t o r of 5 t o 10 depending on t h e f l u i d t e m p e r a t u r e . If a l l of t h e c o o l i n g h o l e a n d p i p i n g d i m e n s i o n s a r e h e l d c o n s t a n t , t h e t o t a l c o o l a n t p r e s s u r e d r o p wouldbe reduced from 35 t o 7 a t m and the pumping power requirements r e d u c e d .A n o t h e ra l t e r n a t i v e i s t o reducethepipingandheatexchangerdimensions inordertoreducetheengineweight. A comparison of p i p i n g s i z e s a n d w e i g h t s is shown i n Table A r e d e s i g n of thehigh-temperatureheatexchanger showed a 40 percent reduction in the weight was p o s s i b l e w i t h a hydrogen moderator coolant.

The useofhydrogen

3.2 i n the moderator coolant flow

X. V

The useofhydrogen as a moderator coolant makes it n e c e s s a r y t o c o a t t h e graphite moderator with niobium carbide i n o r d e r t o p r o t e c t i t from a t t a c k by the hothydrogen. The q u a n t i t y of niobium c a r b i d e n e c e s s a r y as a f u n c t i o n of p r e s s u r e drop i n t h e g r a p h i t e r e g i o n i s shown i n F i g . 17. T h i s p l o t i s based on t h e graphite thickness used in engine Configuration D (8.7 i n . ) a n d a 0.002 i n . niobiumcarbidecoating on t h e c o o l i n g h o l e s u r f a c e s . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e niobium c a r b i d e on t h e c o o l i n g p a s s a g e s , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 15 l b a r e r e q u i r e d t o c o a t t h e graphite i n the region of the propellant and coolant inlets. EngineWeight
A comparisonof t o t a l e n g i n e w e i g h t e x c l u s i v e o f p r e s s u r e s h e l l f o r t h e c o n f i g u r a t i o n s i n v e s t i g a t e d i s shown i n Table In addition to total weights,

XI V .

21

t h e a b s o r b i n g a r e a of the tungsten-184 and niobium carbide are l i s t e d t o show t h e r e l a t i v e amounts of neutron absorbillg materials p r e s e n t i n t h e v a r i o u s c o n f i g u rations.

The l a r g e s t u n c e r t a i n t y i n t h e e s t i m a t e of t h e w e i g h t o f t h e o v e r a l l c o n f i g u r a t i o n in Ref. 1 w a s due t o u n c e r t a i n t y i n t h e w e i g h t 1 of t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l . As n o t e d i n Table X I V ofRef. 1 , theestimatesofpressurevesselweight 1 v a r i e d from 30,000 t o 125,000 l b . The s t u d i e sc o n d u c t e d a t theUnitedTechnology Center Division of United Aircraft Corporation (see AppendixqA ) permit a more a c c u r a t ee s t i m a t et ob e made o f t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t . These e s t i m a t e s of p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t were made on t h e b a s i s of a v a l u e of the parameter Z, D f a0695 l b / f t 3 - a t m( s e e Eq. (1)). The volumes w i t h i n t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l r e q u i r e d i n t h e e s t i m a t i o n of p r e s s u r e v e s s e l w e i g h t a r e g i v e n i n t h e u p p e r row o f Table XVII f o r e a c h of t h ee n g i n ec o n f i g u r a t i o n sn o t e di nT a b l e X I I . The corresponding weightsofthepressurevesselare shown i n t h e second row. The t h i r d row c o n t a i n s weights of components o t h e rt h a nt h ep r e s s u r ev e s s e l fromTable The f o u r t h and l a s t row i n d i c a t e s the t o t a l w e i g h t of t h e o v e r a l l c o n f i g u r a t i o n .

XI V.

I n t e r p r e t a t i o n of F u e l Loss RateParameters Criteria for Acceptable Fuel

Loss Rate

In t h e f o l l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n , i t i s assumed that economics w i l l govern the minimum a c c e p t a b l e l o s s r a t e of n u c l e a r f u e l from a g a s e o u s n u c l e a r r o c k e t e n g i n e . In determining t h i s a c c e p t a b l e f u e l loss r a t e , it i s n e c e s s a r y t o s p e c i f y a mission for t h ee n g i n e . In t h ef o l l o w i n gd i s c u s s i o n ,t h em i s s i o nc o n s i d e r e d w i l l be that of Ref. 17 i n which the gaseous-nuclear-rocket-powered vehicle i s boosted by a Saturn I - C launch vehicle, after which the gaseous nuclear rocket engine is employed t o a c c e l e r a t e t h e v e h i c l e i n t o o r b i t a n d t h e n c e t o a v e l o c i t y 50,000 f t / s e c greaterthanorbitalvelocity. It i s assumed t h a t t h e r e i s one gaseousnuclear r o c k e te n g i n es t a g ea n d two t a n k a g es t a g e s . The e n g i n e c o n s i d e r e d i n t h e a n a l y s e s i s assumed t o have t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s d i s c u s s e d i n t h e p r e c e d i n g s e c t i o n ( s e e Table According t o F i g . 76 of Ref. 17, t h i se n g i n ec o u l d be u s e d t o a c c e l e r a t e a payload of 285,000 l bt h r o u g ht h ev e l o c i t yi n c r e m e n tc o n s i d e r e d . If t h e r e were no l o s s of n u c l e a r f u e l , t h e t o t a l p r o p e l l a n t consumed by the gaseous n u c l e a r r o c k e t wouldbe approximately 875,000 l b , a n d t h e c o s t wouldbe $225 per l b of payload on t h e b a s i s of t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i n F i g . 100 ofRef. 17.

XI).

The p e r m i s s i b l e f u e l loss r a t e must bejudged on t h e basis of t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n mission costs calculated using gaseous nuclear rockets and solid-core nuclear rockets.According t o Table V of Ref. 17, t h ec o s t of u s i n gf o u rs t a g e s of s o l i d core nuclear rockets in a s u b o r b i t - s t a r t mode wouldbe$2,426 p e r l b of payload for t h e same missionconsideredforthegaseousnuclearrocket. Thus t h e p o t e n t i a l savings that could be accrued by using a gaseous-core nuclear rocket providing perfectcontainmentratherthansolid-corenuclearrockets i s $2,426minus $225 o r

22

$2,201 p e r l b ofpayload.Sincethepayloadforthegaseousnuclearrocket 285,000 lb, t h e a b s o l u t e s a v i n g s p e r f l i g h t wouldbe $6.28x lo8.

is

The f i r s t r e f e r e n c e p o i n t f o r f u e l loss r a t e i n a g a s e o u s n u c l e a r r o c k e t i s c a l c u l a t e d on t h e b a s i s that t h e t o t a l c o s t p e r poundof payloadwouldbe t h e same f o rt h eg a s e o u sn u c l e a rr o c k e t as f o r t h e s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r r o c k e t . If t h e f u e l c o s t i s assumed t o be $7,000 p e r l b (as i n R e f . l ) t h i s b r e a k - e v e n c r i t e r i a would 7, permit loss of89,700 l b o fn u c l e a rf u e l .T h e r e f o r e ,t h er a t i oo ft h et o t a l p r o p e l l a n t employed t o t o t a l f u e l l o s s wouldbe875,000/89,700 or 9.76. The a c t u a l r a t i o of p r o p e l l a n t f l o w t o f u e l f l o w wouldhave t o b e c o n s i d e r a b l y g r e a t e r t h a n this value in order to justify the developmentof a g a s e o u s n u c l e a r r o c k e t . Next,assume that the costs associated with the flight of a gaseous nuclear r o c k e t mustbe o n e - t h i r d of t h o s e f o r a s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r r o c k e t i n o r d e r t o j u s t i f y e n g i n e development. Thus t h e c o s t p e r pound ofpayloadwouldbe2426/3 o r $808 p e r l b ofpayload. The a l l o w a b l e c o s t of t h e f u e l wouldbe $808 minus $225 or $583 p e rl bo fp a y l o a d , o r $1.66 x lo8. Proceeding as b e f o r e , t h e t o t a l f u e l l o s s wouldbe (1.66 x 108)/(7000) o r 23,700 lb, a n d t h e r a t i o of t h e t o t a l p r o p e l l a n t u s e d t o f u e l loss wouldbe875,000/23,700 o r 36.9. I n t e r p". e t a . i o n . o AcceptabJe-&e& . r t . . .-f - . - - ~

"

"

"

Logs. R a t e s - i n - Terms o f Time Constant

Parameters

A number of d i f f e r e n t f u e l l o s s r a t e p a r a m e t e r s havebeenemployed in t h e f l u i d mechanics t e s t s d e s c r i b e d i n R e f s . 2, 3, 4 and 16. One of t h e s e i s t h e f u e l time constant parameter, tF, which i s d e f i n e d as t h e f u e l s t o r e d (36.2 l b f o r t h e c o n d i t i o n s of Table X I ) d i v i d e d b y t h e f u e l f l o w r a t e . F u e l or heavy-gastime c o n s t a n t s measured in t h e f l u i d mechanics t e s t s of R e f s . 2, 3, 4 and 16 havebeen made dimensionlessbydividingbytheparameter (p/,u)r:. Ininterpretingthese dimensionlessfueltimeconstantsinterms of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a f u l l - s c a l e engine, it i s n e c e s s a r y t o s e l e c t t h e v a l u e of p/,u w h i c h h a s t h e g r e a t e s t i n f l u e n c e on t h e f u e l l o s s r a t e i n t h e f u l l - s c a l e e n g i n e . The s t u d i e s of Ref. 17 employed a value o f p / p determined on t h e b a s i s of t h e p r o p e l l a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s at the centerlinetemperatureandthefuelcavitypressure. As n o t e d i n T a b l e X I , the resulting definition of (p/,u)rf provides a v a l u e o f f u e l t i m e c o n s t a n t p a r a m e t e r of 1195 s e e . It i s a l s op o s s i b l et od e f i n et h ef u e lt i m ec o n s t a n tp a r a m e t e r on t h e basis of p/p a t t h eo u t s i d ee d g eo ft h ef u e l - c o n t a i n m e n tr e g i o n( S t a t i o n 6 ) . This second choice of p / p p r o v i d e s a v a l u e of ( p / p ) r : of 2820 s e e as n o t e d i n T a b l e

X. I

Some of t h e data i n R e f s . 2, 3, 4 and 16 has a l s o b e e n p l o t t e d i n t e r m s of t h e r a t i o of f u e l t i m e c o n s t a n t t o a minimum time constant determined on t h e b a s i s of completemixingofthe f u e l a n d p r o p e l l a n t a t i n j e c t i o n . In c o n v e r t i n g v a l u e s of from model t e s t s t o f u l l - s c a l e e n g i n e s , it i s a l s o n e c e s s a r y t o make a choice as t o t h e d e n s i t y employed i n c a l c u l a t i n g volume flow. In Table X t h i s I , volume flow, Y6r was d e t e r m i n e d b y d i v i d i n g t h e c a v i t y p r o p e l l a n t f l o w b y t h e d e n s i t y a t S t a t i o n 6. As n o t e d b y t h e last iteminTable X t h e r e s u l t i n g m i n i m I ,

time constant determined by dividing the cavity t o 0.01546 see.

volume by the volume flow i s e q u a l

The i n t e r r e l a t i o n between various parameters which are a measure of f u e l loss r a t e or containment time and various criteria for containment i s given in Table X I I I n a d d i t i o n t o the economics c r i t e r i a d e t e r m i n e d i n t h e p r e c e d i n g VI. subsection, a l l parameters are calculated on t h e b a s i s of t h r e e a d d i t i o n a l c r i t e r i a : fully-mixed flow, a v a l u e of r of 0.01, and a r a t i o of p r o p e l l a n tf l o wt of u e l F1-8 2 flow of 1 3 m ep a r a m e t e r s t 0 . W used in T N' (P//1)6rf~ (p/p)8'1>wF and e v a l u a t i n g Columns @ through% Table of X V I I I were o b t a i n e d from Table The c o n s t a n t employed i n e v a l u a t i n g Column was o b t a i n e d b y m u l t i p l y i n g t h e c o s t p e r poundof f u e l ($7,000 p e r l b ) b y t h e p r o p e l l a n t consumed (875,000 l b ) and dividing b yt h ep a y l o a d (285,000 l b ) . The r e d u c t i o n i n h y d r o g e n p r o p e l l a n t w e i g h t r e s u l t i n g from theweightof the f u e l r e q u i r e d ( i . e . , t h e change i n s p e c i f i c impulsedue t o t h e change i nm o l e c u l a rw e i g h t ) i s n e g l e c t e d . The c o n s t a n t of 225 u s e d i n e v a l u a t i n g Column @ r e p r e s e n t st h ec o s t se x c l u s i v e of t h e f u e l c o s t s . The economic c r i t e r i a which s t a t e s that t h e c o s t s mustbe o n e - t h i r d of t h o s e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a s o l i d - c o r e nuclear ockelead t t o values f o tF/t o f 150 o r a value o f r F 1-8 of 0.001942 a t a n a x i a l - f low Reynolds number of 480,%!

X. I

A a n a l y s i s similar t o t h a t d e s c r i b e d i n t h e p r e c e d i n g p a r a g r a p h s f o r t h e n s u b o r b i t - s t a r t m i s s i o n p r o f i l e was a l s o c a r r i e d o u t f o r a n o r b i t - s t a r t m i s s i o n p r o f i l e . If t h e r e was no l o s s of f u e l from t h eg a s e o u sn u c l e a rr o c k e t ,t h ec o s t p e r pound o f payload w i t h o r b i t s t a r t wouldbe $578 p e r l b of payload on the b a s i s of u s i n g t h e same engine, the same payload,andthe same r e q u i r e d v e l o c i t y i n c r e m e n t beyond o r b i t as f o r t h e s u b o r b i t - s t a r t p r o f i l e . According t o Table V ofRef. 17, the costs with orbit start u s i n g s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r r o c k e t s wouldbe$2,703 per l b of payload. The r e q u i r e d r a t i o of f u e l t i m e c o n s t a n t t o minimum f u e l t i m e c o n s t a n t to provide overall mission costs equal to those for a solid-core nuclear rocket and e q u a l t o o n e - t h i r d of t h o s e f o r a s o l i d - c o r e n u c l e a r r o c k e t wouldbe22.0and 194, r e s p e c t i v e l y (the corresponding numbers f o r s u b o r b i t s t a r t a r e 39.8 and150, r e s p e c t i v e l y , a c c o r d i n g t o Table XVIII).

24

REFERFNCES

1. Ragsdale, Robert G. and Frank E. Rom: Gas-Core Reactor Work a t NMA/Lewis. A I M Paper NO. 67-499 p r e s e n t e d a t t h e AIM 3 r d P r o p u l s i o n J o i n t S p e c i a l i s t Conference, Washington, D. C. July 17-21? 1967.

2. Clark, J . W. J. S. Kendall, B. V. Johnson, A. E . Mensing, and A. Travers: Summary of Gaseous Nuclear Rocket Fluid Mechanics ResearchConductedUnder Contract NASw-847. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport F-910091-13 prepared underContract NASw-847, May 1967. To beissued as NASA CR r e p o r t .

3.

Kendall, J . S., A. E. Mensing, and B. V. Johnson: Containment Experiments Vortex Tubes withRadialOutflowandLargeSuperimposedAxialFlows. UAC Research Laboratories Report F-910091-12 prepared under Contract NASw-847, May 1967. To be i s s u e d as NASA CR r e p o r t .

in

4.

Johnson, B. V. : Exploratory Flow and Coctainment Experiments i n a DirectedWall-Jet Vortex Tube w i t h Radial Outflow and Moderate Superimposed Axial Flows. UAC Research Laboratories Report F-910091-11 prepared under Contract NASw-847, May 1967. To be i s s u e d as N S CR r e p o r t . AA Travers, A . : Experimental nvestigation f I o Flow P a t t e r n s n a d i a l - O u t f l o w i R VortexesUsing a R o t a t i n g - P e r i p h e r a l - w a l l Water Vortex Tube. UAC Research Laboratories Report F-910091-10 prepared under Contract NASw-847, May 1967. To be i s s u e d as NASA CR r e p o r t . K r a s c e l l a , N . L.: T h e o r e t i c a l n v e s t i g a t i o n f h e b s o r p t i v e r o p e r t i e s f I ot A P o S m a l lP a r t i c l e sa n d Heavy-Atom Gases. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport E-910092-7 preparedunderContract NASw-847, September 1966. Alsoissued NASA CR-693.

5.

6.

as

7.

Kinney, R . B.: Theoretical Effect Seed of Opacity Turbulence and on Temperature Distributions in the Propellant Regionof a V o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous Nuclear Rocket. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport E-910092-8 preparedunderContract NASw-847, September 1966. Alsoissued as NASA CR-694. Kesten, A. S. and N. L. K r a s c e l l a :T h e o r e t i c a lI n v e s t i g a t i o no fR a d i a n t Heat Transfer in the Fuel Regionof a Gaseous NuclearRocketEngine. UAC Research LaboratoriesReport E-910092-9 preparedunderContract NASw-847, September 1966. Also issued as NASA CR-695. Roback, R . : Theoretical Performance o f Rocket Engines Using Gaseous Hydrogen intheIdealState at StagnationTemperaturesup t o 200,000 R. UAC Research LaboratoriesReport E-910093-30 preparedunderContract NASw-847. Also i s s u e d as NASA CR-696.

8.

9.

REPERENCES (Cont 'd)

1 . Latham, T. S . : 0

N u c l e a rC r i t i c a l i t yS t u d yo f a S p e c i f i cV o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous NuclearRocketEngine. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport E-910375-1 preparedunderContract NASW-847,September 1966. Also i s s u e d as NASA CR-697.

11. McLafferty, G. H., H. E. B u e r ,a n d D. E . Sheldon: Preliminary Conceptual DesignStudy of a S p e c i f i c - V o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous NuclearRocketEngine. UAC Research Laboratories Report E-910093-29 prepared under Contract ~~~w-847, September 1966. Alsoissued as NASA CR-698.
12. Douglas, F. C . , R . Gagosz, and M. A. I k C r e s c e n t e :O p t i c a lA b s o r p t i o ni n TransparentMaterialsFollowingHigh-TemperatureReactorIrradiation. UAC Research Laboratories Report F-910485-2 prepared under Contract N~W-847, September 1967. To be i s s u e d as NASA CR r e p o r t . GagOsz, R . , J . Waters, F. C . Douglas, and M. A. DeCrescente: Optical Absorption i n F u s e d S i l i c a During TRIGA Reactor Pulse I r r a d i a t i o n s . UAC Research LaboratoriesReportF-910485-1preparedunderContract l!L&3w-847, September 1967. To be i s s u e d as N S CR r e p o r t . AA

13.

14.

15. Travers, A.:

E x p e r i m e n t a lI n v e s t i g a t i o n o f Radial-InflowVortexes i nJ e t I n j e c t i o na n dR o t a t i n g - P e r i p h e r a l - W a l l Water VortexTubes. UAC Research LaboratoriesReport F-910091-14 preparedunderContract NAsw-847, September 1967. To be i s s u e d as NASA CR r e p o r t .

16. Kendall, J .

S. : E x p e r i m e n t a lI n v e s t i g a t i o no f Heavy-Gas Containment i n Constant-TemperatureRadial-InflowVortexes. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport F-910091-15 preparedunderContract ~Mw-847, September 1967. To be i s s u e d as NASA CR r e p o r t .

McLafferty, G. H.: A n a l y t i c a lS t u d yo ft h eP e r f o r m a n c eC h a r a c t e r i s t i c so f V o r t e x - S t a b i l i z e d Gaseous Nuclear Rocket Engines. UAC ResearchLaboratories Report D-910093-20 preparedunderContract NMw-847, September 1965. To be i s s u e d as N S C r e p o r t . AA R McLafferty, G. H., H. H. Michels, T. S. Latham, and R . Roback: A n a l y t i c a l Studyof Hydrogen Turbopump C y c l e s f o r Advanced NuclearRockets. UAC Research LaboratoriesReport D-910093-19 preparedunderContract NASw-847, September 1965. Alsoissued as NASA CR-68988.

26

REFERENCES (Cont ' d )

19.
20.

Patch, R. W.: w d r o g e n Gas.

Methods f o rC a l c u l a t i n gR a d i a n t UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport

Heat T r a n s f e ri n "1492-1, November

High-Temperature

1961.

Marteney, P. : E x p e r i m e n t a lI n v e s t i g a t i o n of t h eO p a c i t yo fS m a l lP a r t i c l e s . UAC Research Laboratories Report C-910092-2 prepared under Contract N~W-847, September 1964. Also i s s u e d as NASA CR-211.

J.

21. Lanzo, C . D. and R . G. Ragsdale: Experimental &termination of S p e c t r a l n d a T o t a l T r a n s m i s s i v i t i e s of Clouds of S m a l l P a r t i c l e s . NASA Technical Note D-1405, September1962. 22. Lanzo, C . D. and R . G. Ragsdale: Heat T r a n s f e rt o a Seeded Flowing Gas From a n Arc Enclosed by a Quartz Tube. N S Technical Memorandum X-52005, June 1964. AA

23. Schneiderman, S. B.: Theoretical iscosities nd iffusivitiesn V a D i HighTemperatureMixturesof Hydrogen and Uranium. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport C-910099-1 preparedunderContract NMw-847, September 1964. Alsoissued as N S CR-213. AA

25. McLafferty, G. H . : Approximate L i m i t a t i o n s n h e p e c i f i c o t S NuclearRocketEngines Due t o Nozzle Coolant Requirements. LaboratoriesReport D-110224-1, A p r i l 1965. 26.

Impulse of Advanced UAC Research

McLafferty, George H . : A b s o r p t i o no fT h e r m a lR a d i a t i o ni nt h eT r a n s p a r e n t of a NuclearLight Bulb RocketEngine.Journal of SpacecraftandRockets, v o l . 4, N O . 6, 1967.

Wall

27. McLafferty, G. H . : Analytical Study Moderator of Wall Cooling of Gaseous Nuclear Rocket Engines. UAC ResearchLaboratoriesReport C-910093-9 prepared underContract NASw-847, September 1964. A l s o i s s u e d as N S CR-214. AA 28.
Darms, F. J., R . Molho, and B. E . Chester: Improved Filament-Wound Construction forCylindricalPressure Vessels. Aero jet-GeneralCorporation,preparedunder Contract No. AF 33( 616)-8442.Technical Documentary Report No. ML-TDR-64-43, Vol. I, March 1964.

29.

Soffer, Louis M. and Ralph Molho: Cryogenic Resins f o r Glass-Filament-Wound Composites. A e r o j e tG e n e r a lC o r p o r a t i o nr e p o r tp r e p a r e du n d e r NASA Contract No. NAS-3-6287 as NASA CR-72114, January 1967.

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31.

Jaffe, I,. D. and J . B. Rittenhouse: Behavior of Jet P r o p u l s i o nL a b o r a t o r y ,C a l i f o r n i aI n s t i t u t eo f November 1961.

Materials i n Space Environments. Technology, T. R. No. 32-150,

32.

Darms, F. J., R . Molho, and B. E . Chester: Improvied Filament-Wound Construction f o rC y l i n d r i c a lP r e s s u r e Vessels. Aerojet-GeneralCorporation,preparedunder Contract No. AF 33(616)-8442.Technical Documentary Report No. ML-TDR-64-43, Vol. 11, March 1964.

28

LIST OF SYMBOLS ( I n c l u d e s SymbolsUsed i n Appendix B, b u t n o t AT Nozzle t h r o a t area, ft2

Appendix A )

AW

Surface area o f opaque walls s u r r o u n d i n gp r o p e l l a n tr e g i o n , R a d i a t i n g area a t edge o f fuel-containment region,

ft2

ft

D
F H

Diameter o f e n g i n ec a v i t y , Engine t h r u s t , l b

2rl,

ft

P r o p e l l a n t or coolantenthalpy,Btu/lb P r o p e l l a n t e x i t enthalpy,Btu/lb Specific impulse, sec Lengthofpropellantduct Engine p r e s s u r e , atm Energy d e p o s i t e d i n p r o p e l l a n t region, Btu/sec Engine power, Btu/sec Energy r a d i a t e d from p r o p e l l a n t r e g i o n walls, Btu/sec and absorbed in opaque surrounding by r a d i a t i o n from the fuel-containment

H,
ISP
L P

or enginecavity,

ft

1 '

Radiusofvortextube, Average r e f l e c t i v i t y o f Axial-flowReynolds

f t or i n .

opaque walls surrounding propellant region

ReZ tF

number i n f u l l - s c a l e e n g i n e ( s e e R e f .

17)

Heavy-gas or fueltimeconstant,WF/WF,sec Minimum time constant based on

p6, sec

F6MIN
T
T~~

Temperature,deg

Black-body r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e o f i n c i d e n t e n e r g y s p e c t r u m , P r o p e l l a n te x i tt e m p e r a t u r e , deg R

deg R

Te

Tm

Median temperature, defined as t e m p e r a t u r e i n p r o p e l l a n t l o c a t i o n where Y = Ye/2, deg R Temperature a t outsideedgeoffuel-containmentregion, Centerlinetemperature,deg

R

stream a t axial

deg R

Effectiveblack-bodyradiatingtemperature region,deg R

a t edge of f'uel-containment

29

V
e ''
wC

Volume o f c a v i t y t u b e ,

f't3 or v e l o c i t y , f t / s e c
f't/sec

Axial neon v e l o c i t y at end of t h e t u b e ,

Cavitypropellantflow,lb/sec

w F
wP
wT

Fuel f l o w rate, l b / s e c
Hydrogen p r o p e l l a n t f l o w , l b / s e c T o t a lp r o p e l l a n tf l o w ,l b / s e c Weight f l o w p e r u n i t lb/sec-ft2

(
W

area passing through nozzle throat (see Ref.

9),

Amount of f u e l s t o r e d i n e n g i n e c a v i t y , l b Cavity volume, f t 3 Temperatureintegralparameter,see Value of Y a t p r o p e l l a n t e x i t s t a t i o n Cavity volume flow based Distancefromupstreamend on f 6 , f t 3 / s e c
Eq.

X Y
e '

( 3 ) i n Appendix B

6 '
Z
zS

of p r o p e l l a n t d u c t ,

ft

P r e s s u r es h e l lw e i g h tp a r a m e t e r

(see Eq. ( ) , l b / a t m - f t 3 l)

F
P
P

Effectivefuelemissivity;ratioofradiantenergyabsorbed t o t h a t r a d i a t e d by f i e 1 Propellantemissivity;ratioofenergyemitted black-bodyradiation at propellanttemperature Viscosity, b/sec-ft l V i s c o s i t y a t o u t s i d e edge o f f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n , l b / s e c - f t V i s c o s i t y of p r o p e l l a n t at c e n t e r l i n e c o n d i t i o n s , l b / s e c - f t Density, b/ft3 l Volume-averaged f u e l d e n s i t y , WF/V, Neon or p r o p e l l a n t d e n s i t y D e n s i t yo fp r o p e l l a n t Stefan-Boltzman constant, lb/ft 3

by p r o p e l l a n t

by p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m t o

at edge ofPuel-containmentregion,lb/ft

a t centerlineconditions,lb/ft3

0.48 x

Btu/sec-ft

(deg R ) 4

APPENDIX A

F I W - W O U N D PRESSURE VESSEL DESIGN STUDY FOR NUCLEAR LIGHT E!ULB ENGINE

m:
Approved by:

F.

G. Siedow C. H. Martin

S e n i o r Design Engineer, Motor Case & s i g n Group Group Head, Motor Case Design Group

D. A. North - SectionChief,MechanicalSystems&sign R . A. Jankowski Program Manager

UnitedTechnologyCenter;Division

of United Aircraft Corporation

Abstract
A design study was conducted t o determine the optimum c o n f i g u r a t i o n f o r a f i l a m e n t - w o u n dg l a s sp r e s s u r es h e l lf o r a n u c l e a rr o c k e te n g i n e . Also investigated were t h e v a r i o u s problem a r e a s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e d e s i g n o f components, materials, f a b r i c a t i o n methods, a n d s t r u c t u r a l d e g r a d a t i o n due t o t h e a n t i c i p a t e d e n v i r o n m e n t .

Design S p e c i f i c a t i o n s ( F u r n i s h e d

by UARL)

It i s d e s i r a b l e t o o b t a i n p r e l i m i n a r y estimates o f t h e s t r u c t u r a l w e i g h t of f o u rd i f f e r e n tp r e s s u r es h e l ld e s i g n s which a r e shown i n F i g . 18. Configurations A and B a r e s p h e r i c a l a n d e n c l o s e a volume which i s c o n s i d e r a b l y l a r g e r t h a n t h e a c t u a l volume ofthemajorenginecomponents.Configurations C and D have a s m a l l e r envelope which i s s l i g h t l y l a r g e r t h a n t h e m a j o r components o f a preliminary conf i g u r a t i o n c o n s i d e r e d a t UARL. A l l f o u rc o n f i g u r a t i o n s have a 0 . 5 f t - d i a h o l e i n t h e f o r w a r d e n d which w i l l c o n t a i n t h e d u c t t h r o u g h which t h e hydrogen i s c a r r i e d i n t ot h ee n g i n e .C o n f i g u r a t i o n s A and C have a 1 f t - d i a h o l e i n t h e a f t endofthe p r e s s u r ev e s s e lt op e r m i ti n s e r t i o no f a s i n g l ee x h a u s tn o z z l e .C o n f i g u r a t i o n s B and D h a v e s e v e n h o l e s i n t h e a f t endofthepressurevessel,eachholehaving a diameterof 0.4 ft, f o r i n s e r t i o n o f s e v e n s e p a r a t e n o z z l e s f o r s e v e n s e p a r a t e unitcavities. Each o f t h e c o n f i g u r a t i o n s would r e q u i r e a flangeof some kindnear thepointof m a x i m u m diameter t o p e r m i t a c c e s s t o t h e i n s i d e o f t h e p r e s s u r e v e s s e l . The d e s i g n c a v i t y p r e s s u r e f o r a l l c o n f i g u r a t i o n s i s 500 a t m (7350 p s i ) . The neutron and gamma f l u x a p p r o a c h i n g t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l is approximately If t h ed e n s i t yo ft h ep r e s s u r e vessel i s t a k e n as 120 l b / f t 3 , t h ea t t e n u a t i o nc o e f f i c i e n t i s 1.8 ft-l. Thus t h e e n e r g y d e p o s i t i o n p e r u n i t volume
100 Btu/sec-ft2.

31

due t o a b s o r p t i o n o f n e u t r o n a n d gamma e n e r g y n e a r t h e i n s i d e s u r f a c e o f t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l would be 180 %tu/sec-ft3.Thisheatdeposition rate would d e c r e a s e by a f a c t o r o f l / e for e v e r y 0.55 f t o f d i s t a n c e t h r o u g h t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l .

It i s necesss:-y t o c o n d u c t t h e h e a t d e p o s i t e d w i t h i n t h e volume o f t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l t o a coolact fluid located on one side or t h e o t h e r o f t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l . Thisconductionofheatrequiresthatthetemperatureinthecenteroftheshell t h i c k n e s s be g r e a t e rt h a nt h et e m p e r a t u r e on e i t h e r s i d e . T h i st e m p e r a t u r ed i f f e r e n c e i s a f u n c t i o no ft h et h i c k n e s so ft h ep r e s s u r es h e l l .P r e l i m i n a r yc a l c u l a t i o n s were made on t h e b a s i s t h a t t h e p r e s s u r e s h e l l was made from a series of i n d i v i d u a ls h e l l s ,w i t ht h e f i r s t s h e l l h a v i n g a t h i c k n e s s of 2.0 i n . I n a shell having a t h i c k n e s s o f 2 . 0 i n . , t h e t e m p e r a t u r e at t h e c e n t e r of t h e s h e l l t h i c k n e s s would be approximately 100 R h i g h e r t h a n t h e t e m p e r a t u r e a t t h e edge f o r a thermal c o n d u c t i v i t y of Btu/sec-ft-deg R. If t ht e m p e r a t u r e e a t t h e edge i s t a k e n as 400 R, t h e c e n t e r l i n e t e m p e r a t u r e would 500 be R. The a l l o w a b l et h i c k n e s s of e a c h s u c c e e d i n g s h e l l for t h e same a l l o w a b l e t e m p e r a t u r e d i f f e r e n c e would be greater than in the first s h e l l .
The m a j o r p o r t i o n o f t h e e n e r g y d e p o s i t e d i n t h e s h e l l wouldberemovedby h y d r o g e np r o p e l l a n tp a s s i n ga l o n gt h ei n s i d eo ft h ei n n e rs h e l l . The energy removed from t h e o u t e r p o r t i o n o f t h e inner s h e l l andfromboth sides o f anysucceeding s h e l l s wouldbe d e p o s i t e d i n hydrogenwhichwould l a t e r be u s e d f o r t r a n s p i r a t i o n c o o l i n go ft h en o z z l e . The p r e s s u r e betweeneachlayer of p r e s s u r e s h e l l would be c o n t r o l l e d s o as t o p r o p e r l y d i v i d e t h e b u r s t i n g l o a d on e a c h l a y e r . The outermost p r e s s u r e s h e l l wouldbecooledalmostentirelyfrom i t s i n s i d es u r f a c e . It i s recommended t h a t t h e i n i t i a l d e s i g n employ t o p r e s s u r e s h e l l s , a l t h o u g h w more a r e permissible. The fast n e u t r o n f l u x i n c i d e n t on t h e i n n e r s h e l l i s approximately 2 x neutrons/cm2-sec. The b u r n i n gt i m ei n a s i n g l e f l i g h t i s approximately l o 3 s e c . Therefore,thetotal f a s t neutrondose t o t h e i n s i d e s u r f a c e of thepressureshell would be approximately 2 x 1 1 neutron/cm 2 07

Summary and Conclusions which g e n e r a l l y f o l l o w s t h e m o t o r c o n t o u r a n d employs w s employed i n a l l s t u d i e s u n l e s s a o t h e r w i s es p e c i f i e d . The d e s i g n c o n f i g u r a t i o n s e l e c t e d i s shown i n F i g . 19 and was d e r i v e d from t h e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s g i v e n i n F i g . 1 8 c . An oblate-ovaloid shape,

a singlecentrallylocatednozzleopening,

A weightandcost summary o f t h e f o u r c o n f i g u r a t i o n s g i v e n i n F i g . 18 i s pres e n t e d i n T a b l e X I X . The weight o f t h e r e f e r e n c e d e s i g n s e l e c t e d f o r d i s c u s s i o n i n t h i s Appendix i s 18,965 l b . The e s t i m a t e du n i tc o s to ft h es e l e c t e dd e s i g n ,n o t i n c l u d i n g development c o s t , i s approximately $3OO,OOO. (Note t h a tt h ec o n f i g u r a t i o n d i s c u s s e d i n t h e t e x t i s d e r i v e d from F i g . 18d r a t h e r t h a n 1 8 c . )

32

The i d e a l i z e d g l a s s stress l e v e l c h o s e n i s 400,000 p s i , a n d t h e r e s u l t i n g design allowable stress levels are 251,000 p s i for t h e h e l i c a l f i b e r s a n d 270,000 p s i f o r t h e hoop f i b e r . The i n f l u e n c e o f g l a s s s t r e n g t h on weightandcost i s shown i n F i g . 20. T h i s d a t a h a s b e e n a d a p t e d from UTC e x p e r i e n c e g a i n e d i n designandfabricationoffilament-woundstructuresfrom 50 i n . t o 158 i n . d i a .
Table X I X i l l u s t r a t e s t h a t o v e r a l l s i o n of m u l t i p l e a f t end openings. This a r e small compared t ot h ec a s ed i a m e t e r weight i s n o t o v e r l y s e n s i t i v e t o t h e i n c l u i s due t ot h ef a c tt h a tt h eo p e n i n gs i z e s and wall t h i c k n e s s .

.;q ;E,k

F i g u r e 21 i l l u s t r a t e s t h e i n f l u e n c e of thermal environments on fiberglas l a m i n a t ep r o p e r t i e s . A t t h et e m p e r a t u r e sa n t i c i p a t e d , no s t r e n g t hr e d u c t i o nh a s been considered. DesignAssumptionsand Limitations

The d e s i g n s p e c i f i c a t i o n s employed i n t h i s s t u d y were provided by United A i r c r a f tR e s e a r c hL a b o r a t o r i e s (UARL) ( s e ep r e c e d i n gs e c t i o n ) .S i n c es e v e r a l a s p e c t so ft h ed e s i g ns t u d y were n o t w i t h i n c u r r e n t i n d u s t r y s t a t e - o f - t h e - a r t , it became n e c e s s a r y t o make c e r t a i n a s s u m p t i o n s and s i m p l i f i c a t i o n s i n o r d e r t o c o m p l e t e t h es t u d y . The s p e c i f i c a t i o n s assumed i n t h e s t u d y havebeensummarizedbelowand arediscussedingreaterdetailinsubsequentparagraphs.

(1) A d e s i g nu l t i m a t ep r e s s u r eo f
(2)

7350 p s i .

m d r o g e np r e s s u r ec a n shells.

be c o n t r o l l e d t o

3675 p s i between t h e two p r e s s u r e

19 can employed. be

( 3 ) The optimum dome c o n t o u r s shown i nF i g .

(4)

The temperature a t t h e wall s u r f a c e will be maintained a t 400 R and t h a t a 100 R t e m p e r a t u r e r i s e w i l l occur midway t h r o u g h t h e 2 - i n . - t h i c k g l a s s r e s i n c o m p o s i t e wall. havenotbeendegraded forfatigue

( 5 ) M a t e r i a lp r o p e r t i e s
effects.

or r a d i a t i o n

( 6 ) J o i n tm a t e r i a lp r o p e r t i e s
attainable in

assumed f o r t h e b a s i c c o n f i g u r a t i o n a r e a case o f t h i s s i z e . 300 KSI s t r e n g t h l e v e l w i t h s u y f i c i e n t at t h e lowertemperaturelimitsofthe

( 7 ) F a s t e n e r sa r eo b t a i n a b l ei nt h e
toughness t o w i t h s t a n d l o a d i n g hydrogen coolant.

( 8 ) Technicalproblemsassociatedwithfabricationcould
ficient time

be s o l v e d g i v e n

suf-

f o r study.

33

(9)

NO

transientconditions s t a r t u p or shutdown.

of p r e s s u r e a n d t e m p e r a t u r e

were assumed

during

-sign Considerations The s u c c e s s f i l a p p l i c a t i o n o f g l a s s f i l a m e n t r e s i n composite materials for pressure vessels require special consideration be given the influence of c a s e geometryand t o t a l e n v i r o n m e n t o n t h e u l t i m a t e s t r e n g t h c a p a b i l i t y o f t h e m a t e r i a l s . The e x t e n t t o which t h e s e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n f l u e n c e t h e p r o p o s e d d e s i g n a r e d i s cussed briefly in the following sections. The s t r e n g t h o f a s t r a n d ( a bundle of continuous filaments gathered together i n t h e forming operation) i s g e n e r a l l y l e s s t h a n t h e p u r e f i l a m e n t s t r e n g t h by a f a c t o r of 20 t o 30 p e r c e n t . The s t r e n g t ho f a s t r a n d Composite t h a t i s a c t i n g as p a r t o f a filament-wound s t r u c t u r e i s g e n e r a l l y 25 t o 30 p e r c e n t less t h a n t h a t determined from a s t r a n d t e s t . UTC d e s i g ne x p e r i e n c ei n d i c a t e st h a t a p u r es t r a n d s t r e n g t h o f 5OO,OOO p s i c a n be c o n s i s t e n t l y o b t a i n e d w i t h S-gOl g l a s s . T h i s s t r e n g t h mustbe f u r t h e r r e d u c e d by v a r i o u s f a c t o r s d i s c u s s e d i n f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s . CaseGeometry Filament-wound p r e s s u r e v e s s e l s w i t h small l e n g t h - t o - d i a m e t e r r a t i o s , e q u a l bossopeningsizes,and small boss-to-casediameters are most e f f i c i e n t when using a h e l i c a l winding p a t t e r n employing a g e o d e s i c - o v a l o i d dome contour (see Ref. 28). Accordingly, a h e l i c a l winding p a t t e r n h a s b e e n c h o s e n a n d m o d i f i e d s l i g h t l y t o account f o r t h e u n e q u a l end opening diameters and non-optimum winding angle r e s u l t i n g from t h e u n e q u a l dome s i z e s . Chamber wall t h i c k n e s s i n f l u e n c e s t h e r e a l i z a b l e f i l a m e n t s t r e n g t h as a resultofthehigherstressesdeveloped at theinnersurfacethan at theouter s u r f a c e due t o t h e t h i c k s e c t i o n a n d a l s o by m a n d r e l s h r i n k a g e d u r i n g f a b r i c a t i o n which a l l o w st h ei n n e rw i n d i n g st or e l a xd u r i n gw i n d i n gu n d e rp r e t e n s i o n .T h i s e f f e c t c a n becompensated f o r i n e i t h e r of t o ways: w (1)by a p p l i c a t i o n of Lame I s equations to determine the amount of winding tension required to produce equal stress i n e a c h f i l a m e n t l a y e r t h r o u g h o u t t h e w l; or, ( 2 ) by a p p l i c a t i o n o f a al strengthreductionfactortotheallowablestrandstrengthtoaccountforthe resulting degradation. Pastexperiencehasindicatedthatthere i s some loss i n s t r e n g t h w i t h i n c r e a s i n gd i a m e t e r . The l o s s i ne f f i c i e n c yh a s been a t t r i b u t e dt o : (1)t h e i n c r e a s e d t h i c k n e s s i f pressureremainsconstant; ( 2 ) theincreasedprobability of t h e p r e s e n c e o f s t r u c t u r a l d e f e c t s due t o t h e added volume of m a t e r i a l i n v o l v e d ; and ( 3 ) l o a d s a r e t r a n s f e r r e d l e s s e f f i c i e n t l y between l a y e r s of f i b e r s i n v e r y t h i c k l a m i n a t e s . Any s t r e s s e s a r e m a n i f e s t e d i n t h e formof s h e a r s t r e s s between l a y e r s .T h i se f f e c th a sb e e n compensated f o r b ya p p r o p r i a t e l yr e d u c i n gt h ed e s i g n

allowablestrandstrength. When a s e c t i o n or hole has been cut out of a dome, t h e membrane l o a d must be t r a n s f e r r e da l o n ga n o t h e rp a t hs u r r o u n d i n gt h e removed m a t e r i a l . To p r o v i d e t h i s addedloadcarryingcapacity,reinforcing media, g l a s s c l o t h , t a p e , e t c . mustbe employedbetween f i l a m e n t l a y e r s d u r i n g f a b r i c a t i o n . As a result o f t h e above, a strength reduction factor is generally applied to the design allowable strand strength to account for this effect. To o b t a i n a f u l l - d i a m e t e rp e n i nig o n a filament-wound pressure vessel, the v e s s e l must first be wound i n t e g r a l l y a n d t h e n s e c t i o n e d . T h i s r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e j o i n t a r e a be r e i n f o r c e d t o compensate f o r t h e r e d i s t r i b u t i o n of forces between the f i l a m e n t sa n dt h ej o i n i n g medium, b o l t s ,p i n s ,e t c .I na d d i t i o n ,l o c a ld i s c o n t i n u i t i e s r e s u l t i n g from t h ed i f f e r e n ts e c t i o ns i z e sr e s u l ti na d d i t i o n a ll o a d sb e i n g imposedon a d j a c e n t f i l a m e n t s . Environmental Factors Elevated temperature affects filament-wound composites essentially as shown i n F i g . 21. S i n c e t h e t e m p e r a t u r e i n t h e f i b e r g l a s wall i n t h i s a p p l i c a t i o n i s e s t i m a t e d t o be 500 R a t t h e c e n t e r and 400 R a t t h e o u t s i d e s u r f a c e , no s t r e n g t h degradationhasbeen assumed for t h i s d e s i g n . The above t h e r m a l g r a d i e n t s w i l l r e s u l t i n a thermal stress of approximately 560 p s i i n t h e w a l l which i s insignificant

tL

r,

1
'

The exposure o f f i l a m e n t - w o u n d s t r u c t u r e s t o l o w t e m p e r a t u r e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h l i q u i d hydrogen d u r i n g s t a r t u p is not deemed t o be a problem (seeRef. 29). R e s u l t s of a t e s t program conducted by S t a n f o r d L i n e a r A c c e l e r a t o r C e n t e r , S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y ,S t a n f o r d ,C a l i f o r n i a , on UTC-prepared s p e c i m e n si n d i c a t e dt h a tc e r t a i n compositesareentirelysuitable for use a t 50 R i n p r e s s u r e v e s s e l a p p l i c a t i o n s . (seeRef. 30). F a t i g u e t e s t s a t lo7 c y c l e s and 9000 p s i f l e x u r a l a n d 300 p s i s h e a r s t r e s s showed t h a t t h e filament-wound s t r u c t u r e hadnot l o s t i t s o r i g i n a l p r o p e r t i e s . Gamma r a y and p a r t i c u l a t e r a d i a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y t h a t above 1/2-1 MEV energy, are p o t e n t i a l l yd a n g e r o u st of i b e r g l a sl a m i n a t e s . The epoxy matrix, beingan organic compound, c a n b e a t t a c k e d a n d d e g r a d e d i n s e v e r a l ways by both gamma r a y s andneutrons. No attempthasbeen made t o e s t i m a t e t h e i n f l u e n c e o f r a d i a t i o n on thedesignallowableglassstrength. Glass-fiber reinforced plastics are susceptible to degradation in a vacuum environment as a r e s u l t of t h e weakeningoflongchainpolymeric compounds. =gradation i s a functionoftemperatureand time, and i s evidenced by a loss i n weightandassociatedchanges i nm e c h a n i c a lp r o p e r t i e s . The r e s u l t s o f R e f . 31 i n d i c a t e t h a t , at e l e v a t e d t e m p e r a t u r e i n a vacuum, a 5 t o 10 p e r c e n t r e d u c t i o n i n s t r e n g t hp e ry e a rc a n be e x p e c t e d .A c c o r d i n g l y ,t h em i s s i o nd u r a t i o n ,i na d d i t i o n

35

to actual operating duration, must b e c o n s i d e r e d i n c o n s i d e r i n g g l a s s - r e s i n c o m p o s i t ed e s i g n sf o rs p a c ea p p l i c a t i o n . Final burst pressure for any chamber i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y a f f e c t e d by t h e number o f prior pressurization cycles and their duration and the rate o f p r e s s u r i z a t i o n ; t h e f a s t e r rates p r o v i d i n gh i g h e rb u r s tv a l u e s .A c c o r d i n g l y ,t oa s s u r et h e maximum r e l i a b i l i t y w i t h a minimum o f s t r u c t u r a l d e g r a d a t i o n , it i s UTC's p r a c t i c e t o employ a minimum f a c t o r o f s a f e t y o f 1.25 times proof pressure and t o p r o o f t e s t from 8 t o 10 percentabovethe maximum e x p e c t e do p e r a t i n gp r e s s u r e . This providesadequate margin f o r a 5 p e r c e n t d e g r a d a t i o n d u r i n g p r o o f t e s t i n g a n d a s s u r e s s u c c e s s f u l o p e r a t i o n a t thesubsequentoperatingpressure. Description of Selected Design The design employed i n most o f t h e s t u d i e s i s shown i n F i g . 19. The oblateshape is t e r m i n a t e d by modified geodesic isotensoid domes which are t h e most e f f i c i e n t d e s i g na t t a i n a b l e . The s i n g l ee n do p e n i n g s were c h o s e n f o r t h i s s t u d y f o r manuf a c t u r i n gs i m p l i c i t ya n dw e i g h ts a v i n g s . The w e i g h ti n c r e a s ef o rm u l t i p l eo p e n i n g s would be only a few p e r c e n t ,b u tc o s t sm i g h t be 8 t o 10 p e r c e n th i g h e r .M u l t i p l e openingsrequiretheaddition of specialreinforcementssurroundingeachopeningto transfer the loads around the opening, in addition to the extra fittings required. Weights a r e p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e XIX for a l l f o u r c o n f i g u r a t i o n s shown i n F i g . 18. There are s e v e r a lr e a s o n sf o rt h ew e i g h ti n c r e a s ef o rt h es p h e r i c a ls h e l l c o n f i g u r a t i o n . The f i r s t i s t h a tt h eg l a s sa n dr e s i nw e i g h t ,a n dt h e r e f o r ew e i g h t performance, of a p u r e v e s s e l of optimum i s o t e n s o i d d e s i g n i s d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o t h ee n c l o s e d volume. S i n c et h e volume of t h es p h e r e i s g r e a t e r t h a n t h a t f o r t h e o b l a t es h a p e ,t h eb a s i cs h e l lw e i g h t s w i l l a l s ob eg r e a t e r .I na d d i t i o n ,t h eo b l a t e shape was chosen over the spherical shape because a true filament-wound sphere cannot be made becauseofmanufacturingconsiderations. It i s a na p p r o x i m a t i o na r r i v e d at w i t h a succession of windings, each at anangleandthicknesscorrespondingto its stress a t t h eh i g h e s tp o i n t . Each winding, t h e n , i s u n d e r - s t r e s s e d a t a l l o t h e r points,andthevessel as a whole may be 20 t o 30 p e r c e n t h e a v i e r t h a n a n o v a l o i d a l vessel.

A furtherdisadvantageofthesphericalcase i s theaddedweight of the f u l l d i a m e t e rj o i n t . The j o i n tw e i g h t i s increasedovertheprimarydesignbecauseof thegreaterradius, as t h e l a r g e r r a d i u s p r o d u c e s l a r g e r j o i n t l o a d s a n d t h e g r e a t e r r a d i u sc o n t a i n s more volume o f s t r u c t u r a l material i n t h e j o i n t . The c o s t o f t h e s p h e r i c a l c a s e is g r e a t e r due t o t h e a d d e d f a b r i c a t i o n d i f f i c u l t i e s c a u s e d by t h e differentwindingpatternsandtherefore machine setups required during winding.
End Domes The end domes a r e g e o d e s i c i s o t e n s o i d s h a p e s , m o d i f i e d s l i g h t l y on t h e a f t end t o a l l o w for t h e i n c l u s i o n o f j o i n t b u i l d u p s , a n d on t h e f o r w a r d e n d t o a l l o w f o r

mismatchesbetween t h e dome a n d c o n i c a l c a s e , non-optimum windingangle,and smaller forwardpolaropening. The a f t domes will be wound a t a n e a r l y optimum a n g l e ( 7 0 ) and average contour t o s u i t t h e s h e l l a n d p o l a r f i t t i n g diameters. The forward domes are f o r c e d by case geometry t o be wound a t a much higherthan-optimw angle (loo), and w i l l havemodified COntOUrS t o f i t t h i s C o n d i t i o n , t h e t r a n s i t i o n from t h e c o n i c a l c a s e w l, a n d t h e S m a l l P o l a r f i t t i n g . al

Conical Sect ion The c e n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e v e s s e l i s conicalinshape,tapering from 60 i n . i n s i d e r a d i u s on t h e a f t end t o 34.4 i n . i n s i d e r a d i u s on t h e f o r w a r d e n d w i t h a 84 i n .l o n gc o n i c a ls e c t i o n . The o u t e r s h e l l a f t i n s i d er a d i u s (65.6 i n . ) i s sized to clear the inside shell joint buildup and tapers down t o c l e a r t h e i n n e r s h e l l a t t h e f o r w a r d e n d (37.4 i n . ) This produces a tapered gap between the s h e l l s as t h e o u t e r s h e l l h a s a higher cone angle than the inner shell.

a f t dome, i n c r e a s i n g t o w a r d t h e The windingangle a t t h e a f t endmatchesthe forwardend as t h ed i a m e t e rd e c r e a s e s . The h e l i c a l w i n d i n gt h i c k n e s si n c r e a s e s toward the forward end, and the hoopwindingthickness i s t a p e r e d t o compensate f o r t h e s e two e f f e c t s t o k e e p w e i g h t down. The t o t a l w a l l t h i c k n e s s i s 2.108 i n . a f t and 2.016 i n . fwd f o r t h e i n n e r s h e l l a n d 2.308 i n . a f t and 2.216 i n . fwd f o r theoutershell.

stress i s 251,000 p s i f o r t h e h e l i c a l The d e s i g n a l l o w a b l e u l t i m a t e g l a s s windingsand 270,000 f o r t h e hoops. The maximum h e l i c a l s t r e s s ( t h e o r e t i c a l ) i s n e a rt h ej o i n ta n dt h e hoop s t r e s s i s uniform. The c a s e i s designed s o t h a t e a c h shell withstands half the pressure load with the hydrogen coolant located between t h e s h e l l s a t half t h e chamber. pressure.

The r e s i n c o n t e n t 0.0705 l b / i n . 3. Joints

i s 2 percent b w which g i v e s a l a m i n a t e d e n s i t y o f 4

The j o i n t d e s i g n was d i c t a t e d by t h e v e r y h i g h a x i a l l o a d s p r e s e n t (117,500 l b / i n . ) . T h i s l o a d i s near or above t h e l o a d / d i a m e t e r r a t i o a t which f i b e r g l a s j o i n t s become d i f f i c u l t b e c a u s e o f t h e low b e a r i n g - s h e a r t o t e n s i l e s t r e n g t hr a t i o . If small b o l t s are u s e d ,t h eb e a r i n g ,s h e a r ,a n db o l t stresses are t o o h i g h , a n d w i t h l a r g e b o l t s t h e t e n s i l e a n d s h e a r s t r e s s between t h e b o l t s i s too high. The double-rowboltedflangeconceptallows enough b e a r i n g , s h e a r , a n d i n t e r b o l t t e n s i l e area with a m o d e r a t e l y t h i c k s e c t i o n , a n d s t i l l allows enough b o l t t e n s i l e area by v i r t u r e o f t h e d o u b l e row o f b o l t s . B o l t s are spacedevery 4.2 i n .

37

average,which means e v e r y w b o l t s s h a r e 494,000 l b , or 247,000 l b p e r b o l t . to The b o l t s are 1 . 1 2 5 - i n . - d i a s t u d s made from a material having 287,000 p s i min t e n s i l e yield strength. 54,200 p s i ,s h e a r - 17,850 p s i , The f i b e r g l a s stress v a l u e s are: b e a r i n g i n t e r l a m i n a rs h e a r about 3800 p s i , and i n t e r - b o l t t e n s i l e - about 34,200 p s i . These are a l l a t t h e u p p e r limit of UTC's p r e s e n t f i b e r g l a s j o i n t t e c h n o l o g y , a n d some developmentwouldhave t o bedone t o verify and improve t h e s e v a l u e s . The jointproblemscouldbealleviated, i f necessary,bytheuseofthree or more separate shells rather than the t o s h e l l s shown i n F i g . 19. w

Usually, a d o u b l e - c l e v i s j o i n t i s t h e most e f f i c i e n t b e c a u s e o f t h e g r e a t e r ratioofinter-pintopindiadimensions.Thisallows a g r e a t e r number of pins, r e d u c i n gt h ef i b e r g l a sb e a r i n g stress a n d t h e p i n a n d l i n k s h e a r s t r e s s e s . With veryhighloading, however, t h e s e c t i o n s become v e r y t h i c k which i s e v i d e n t i n t h e p r e s e n td e s i g n shown i n F i g . 19. There a r e 90 2-in.-diapinsand 90 l i n k s f o r e a c h s h e l l , a l l o f 3OO,OOO p s i s t e e l . The f i b e r g l a s yoke t h i c k n e s s i s 3.17 i n . a n dt h es t r e s s e sa r e :b e a r i n g 40,000 p s i ,s h e a r 20,000 p s i ,a n di n t e r - p i nt e n s i l e - 30,000 p s i . These v a l u e s are basedon U T C ' s p r e s e n t j o i n t t e c h n o l o g y f o r t h i s t y p e o f c o n s t r u c t i o n , a n d c a n probably be r a i s e d 2 0 p e r c e n t , - p o s s i b l y 30 percent, a f t e r a s u i t a b l e development programaimed a t o p t i m i z i n g t h i s j o i n t d e s i g n .

The c l e v i s j o i n t d e s i g n , a l t h o u g h h e a v i e r , i s p r o b a b l yt h e more f e a s i b l e of t h e t o based on present technology because of the reasons given w i n t h e first p a r a g r a p h .W e i g h t so ft h ec a s ew i t ht h ec l e v i sj o i n t are g i v e ni nT a b l e XIX. Polar Fitt inns aluminum, designed a t an u l t i m a t e s t r e s s P o l a r f i t t i n g s are made from 7075-T6 o f 60,000 p s i , t o a l l o w a g e n e r o u s s a f e t y f a c t o r f o r p o s s i b l e h e a t i n g o s radiation d e g r a d a t i o ne f f e c t s . The p o l a r f i t t i n g s are designed so t h a tt h ei n n e ra n do u t e r f i t t i n g s i n d e x on e a c h o t h e r t o l o c a t e t h e o u t e r dome c o n c e n t r i c t o t h e i n n e r dome. The i n n e r p o l a r f i t t i n g h a s p o r t s f o r t h e p a s s a g e o f t h e h y d r o g e n c o o l a n t from between t h e s h e l l s . The o u t e r p o l a r f i t t i n g h a s t h r u - h o l e s s o t h a t it can be h e l d i n p l a c e by t h e b o l t s which h o l d on t h e n o z z l e or a f t c l o s u r e .

Materials and Fabrication Techniques

The g l a s s f i l a m e n t s c o n s i d e r e d i n t h i s d e s i g n s t u d y are Owens Corning S-9Ol G sizefilaments. Thesehavebeen shown by UTC and many o t h e r c a s e w i n d e r s t o be thehigheststrengthand most c o n s i s t e n t q u a l i t y f i l a m e n t s a v a i l a b l e . The r e s i n s y s t e m u s e d f o r t h i s s t u d y

i s Union Carbide FRL 2256 epoxy r e s i n ,

o r o t h e r similar low-viscosity type with metaphenylenediamine o r similar aromatic polyamine hardener.Thissystemhasbeen shown by TJTC t o produce t h e s t r o n g e s t filament-wound vessels i n s i z e s from 2 i n . t o 14 f t i n diameter.
The inner vessel wouldbe wound using standard winding techniques using a h e l i c a l p a t t e r n and w e t w i n d i n g ( g l a s s r o v i n g s i m p r e g n a t e d w i t h r e s i n as t h e y are wound o n t o t h e c a s e ) . The a f t dome wouldbe wound i n t e g r a l w i t h t h e f o r w a r d p a r t of t h ec a s et o b ec u to f f after cure. oint uildup einforcement J b r would be added in the joint area and wound i n between t h e h e l i c a l w i n d i n g s . I n t h e c a s e of a seven-nozzle configuration, reinforcements f o r t h e o z z l e s would also be added n between t h e h e l i c a l l a y e r s . These reinforcements, o f s p e c i a l o r i e n t a t i o n , are pre-woundon a d i f f e r e n t m a n d r e l a n d k e p t r e f r i g e r a t e d u n t i l u s e .
After t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f w i n d i n g , t h e c a s e would be B-staged and given an i n i t i a l c u r e a t approximately 200 F. Then it wouldbe o v e r c o a t e d w i t h p l a s t e r a n d swept t o t h e p r o p e r c o n t o u r f o r w i n d i n g o f t h e o u t e r s h e l l . The o u t e r s h e l l would t h e n be wound o v e r t h e p l a s t e r o v e r c o a t i n g , 3-staged as above, and then the whole mass c u r e d f u l l y . I n t h e b o l t e d f l a n g e v e r s i o n , t h e c a s e would t h e n be c u t open at theflangeinterface,theshellsseparated fromeachother,andthen drilled a n db a c ks p o t f a c e df o rt h eb o l th o l e s .I nt h ec l e v i sj o i n tv e r s i o na l s o ,t h ep i n kioleswould probably be d r i l l e d a f t e r t h e c a s e was c u t a p a r t .

1
'!/

Problem Areas Conical Case Filamentwindingofconicalcasesalwaysposesproblansbecause of the changing windingangle from t h e l a r g e t o t h e small end. The a n g l ei n c r e a s e s down thecone, f o r c i n g t h e small dome t o u s u a l l y be wound w i t h t o o h i g h a windingangle.This e r r o r c a n be n e u t r a l i z e d by a l t e r i n g t h e dome contours,butcan impose r e s t r i c t i o n s on d i a m e t e rr a t i o s ,d i a m e t e r - t o - l e n g t hr a t i o s ,a l l o w a b l e w a l l s t r e s s ,e t c . Cases of t h i s t y p e a r e p r o v e n e n t i r e l y by b u r s t t e s t s , and may t u r n o u t h e a v i e r (or lighter) than anticipated. I n a d d i t i o n , it i s v e r y d i f f i c u l t t o u s e hoop windings on c o n i c a l walls; UTC h a s wound c a s e s u p t o 15' h a l f a n g l e , b u t o n l y by s e m i - s t a g i n g t h e r e s i n u n t i l verytacky,thenquicklywinding one hoop l a y e r . When done properly,thewindings canbe made t o s t i c k b u t , i f n o t , t h e n t h e c a s e h a s t o b e r e d e s i g n e d w i t h a lower coneangle. The p r e s e n td e s i g n( w i t h 1 and 16' h a l f angles) i s basedonthe 5 ' possibilityofwinding on t h i s coneangle; however, the forward end diameter m u l d p r o b a b l y have t o be i n c r e a s e d t o a l l o w a lower cone angle. Joint The p r e s e n t j o i n t ( b o t h d e s i g n s ) i s a t t h e l i m i t of known technology,and, while based on actual strengths realized in t e s t s , may n o t b e f e a s i b l e i n t h e s i z e

39

contemplated.Thicksections are n o t a l w a y s s t r o n g e r i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e i r t h i c k nessand may have t o be o p e r a t e d a t lower stresses t h a n a n t i c i p a t e d . As noted i n a preceding section, many of t h e j o i n t problems could be alleviated by u s i n g t h r e e or more r a t h e r t h a n t o p r e s s u r e s h e l l s . w In the present design, the necessary hoops may be impossible t o wind i n t h e j o i n t area because of t h e h i g h s l o p e s o n t h e b u i l d u p s ; i n t h a t c a s e , h i g h - a n g l e h e l i c a l s would b e u s e d i n t h e b u i l d u p a r e a s which would raise t h e w e i g h t s l i g h t l y . Thermal The l i n e r , f i b e r g l a s , a n d j o i n t b o l t s mightbecooled t o 36 R d u r i n g t h e pausephases. While t h i s h a s b e e n shown t o a c t u a l l y i n c r e a s e t h e performance of t h e f i b e r g l a s , it would e m b r i t t l e t h e b o l t s a n d l i n e r , p o s s i b l y t o t h e p o i n t of f a i l u r e i f full o p e r a t i n g p r e s s u r e i s r e a c h e d b e f o r e t h e s e materials can heat up. Sharp thermal gradients during startup may c r e a t e t h e r m a l stresses u n t i l t h e r m a l e q u i l i b r i u m i s reached. Radiation Effects
Gm a r a y a n d p a r t i c u l a t e r a d i a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y t h a t a m above 1/2-1MEV energy, are p o t e n t i a l l yd a n g e r o u st o a f i b e r g l a sl a m i n a t e . The epoxy matrix,beingan organic compound, can be a t t a c k e d a n d d e g r a d e d i n several ways by b o t h gamma r a y s and neutrons.

whole atoms or groupsof N e u t r o n s , e s p e c i a l l y above 1-5 MEV energy,displace atomsfrom t h e m o l e c u l e , c r e a t i n g b r o k e n m o l e c u l e s whichcombine i n d i f f e r e n t ways, or are permanentlyterminateddepending on o t h e r c o n d i t i o n s . If small groupsof atoms are b r o k e n o f f , t h e s e c a n b e l i b e r a t e d as a gas, c r e a t i n g g a s b u b b l e problems i na d d i t i o nt od e s t r o y i n gt h ec h a i ns t r u c t u r eo ft h ep o l y m e r .N e u t r o n sc a n ,i n some c a s e s , a l s o p r o d u c e s e c o n d a r y r a d i a t i o n s , s u c h as b e t a or a l p h a p a r t i c l e s , e t c . which t h e n c.an produce secondary radiation damage.

Gamma r a y s p r i m a r i l y p r o d u c e c h a i n s i s s i o n s ( i o n i z i n g ) which p r o d u c e s f r e e r a d i c a l s which can recombine with other such radicals, or t e r m i n a t e i f H atoms or ions are p r e s e n t .T h i sc h a n g e st h em o l e c u l a rw e i g h ta n dt y p eo ft h e polymer, thereforecompletelychanging i t s p r o p e r t i e s . If primarilyrecombination o f t h e free radicals occurs, then the polymer w i l l g r a d u a l l y i n c r e a s e i n s t r e n g t h a n d modulus a n dd e c r e a s ei ne l o n g a t i o n ,c r e a t i n g a b r i t t l e material. A s t h ep r o c e s s c o n t i n u e s , t h e polymerwould start b r e a k i n g i n t o s u b - u n i t s ( d e g r a d a t i o n ) a n d s t r e n g t h a n d e l o n g a t i o n would d e c r e a s es h a r p l y . These e f f e c t s would a l l be reduced noticeablyinthefiberglaslaminate,sincetheglassacts as a f i l l e r which seems t o reducetheradiation damage e f f e c t s .

Various sources have reported damage t h r e s h o l d levels from 30 t o 1000 m a d (megarads: 1 Wad = 100 ergs/@-secabsorbed) of gamma or f a s t n e u t r o n r a d i a t i o n .

t h a ta b o u t 600 m a d o f however, The general consensus seems t o be, 1000 mad il neutronsabove 50 MEV wl begin t o degrade epoxies,and fiberglaslaminates.

gamma r a y s or shoulddegrade

r a d i a t i o n s will damage t h e g l a s s f i l a It i s p o s s i b l e a l s o t h a t t h e s e i n t e n s e ments, e s p e c i a l l y when t h e y are under stress. A b s o r p t i o n o f r a d i a t i o n i s proportional to density, and the glass filaments would t h u s b e e x p e c t e d t o a b s o r b t h e g r e a t e r p o r t i o n of t h e r a d i a t i o n e n t e r i n g t h e l a m i n a t e . A l t h o u g h g l a s s i s not c r y s t a l l i n e i n n a t u r e , it i s h e l d t o g e t h e r by p o l a r , or a s s o c i a t i o n bond-type, a t t r a c t i o n between i t s atoms,and it i s p o s s i b l e t h a t a s u f f i c i e n t number o f atom " d i s l o c a t i o n s , " or d i s s o c i a t i o n s or f r e e e l e c t r o n s , c o u l d d e g r a d e t h e s t r e n g t h o f the glass.
If t h e combined gamma a n d n e u t r o n f l u x a b s o r b e d i n t h e f i b e r g l a s i s 180 Btu/secft3 w i t h a n a t t e n u a t i o n f a c t o r o f 1/e e v e r y 0.55 f t , approximately 0.47 times 180Btu/sec-ft3 w i l l beabsorbed i n 5 i n . o f w l t h i c k n e s s . This corresponds t o a l 84 Btu/sec-ft3, or 89 x 1010 e r g / s e c - f t 3 , o r 15.8 x lo7 erg/gm-sec, o r 1.58 Mradlsec a b s o r b e di nt h e wall. I n a 1000 s e cr u n ,t h i s means 1580 m a d o fr a d i a t i o n i s

absorbed,probablyl/3-l/2of which i s p o t e n t i a l l y damaging r a d i a t i o n . If t h e s e arethecorrectfigures,thenthere is a definite radiation effect to be c o n s i d e r e d in designing this shell of fiberglas. Iksign Analysis
Glass S t r e s s

are many f a c t o r s which I n a caseofthissizeandoperatingpressure,there a f f e c tt h eu s a b l es t r e n g t ho f t h e g l a s sf i l a m e n t s . An i n d i v i d u a l f i b e r h a s a strengthofover 650,000 p s i ; ' i n s t r a n d formabout500,000 psi; and in a small optimum p r e s s u r e vessel, about400,000psi is r e a l i z a b l e (400,000 p s i i s termed " i d e a l i z e d ' g l a s s stress i n F i g . 2 ) A f e w o r g a n i z a t i o n sh a v ee m p i r i c a l l yd e f i n e d 0. theallowableglass stress as a functionofvariousparameters,such as c a s e diameter, w l t h i c k n e s s ,w i n d i n ga n g l e ,p o l a ro p e n i n gd i f f e r e n c e s ,e t c .I nt h i s a l study, we w i l l use some d e s i g n f a c t o r s t a b u l a t e d i n R e f . 3 2 .
U C has assumed an average composite filament strength of T h a s b e e n m u l t i p l i e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g r e d u c t i o n f a c t o r s : H e l i c aa c t o r Fl
400,000 p s i which

Hoop F a c t o r

Case diameter (120 i n . ) K = 0.85 0.90 Wall t h i c k n e s s / d i a m e t e r ( - = 0.016) 2 K = 0.73 0.75 120 -" P o l a r opening/diameter (18 = 0.15) K = 10 .1 120 Helicalultimateglass stress: 400,000 x 0.85 x 0.73 x 1 0 = 251,000 p s i .1 Hoop u l t i m a t e g l a s s stress: 400,000 x 0.90 x 0.75 = 270,000 p s i

41

If r e s i n c o n t e n t i s assumed t o be 24 p e r c e n t bw, t h e r e s i n b u l k f a c t o r , 1.68, and t h e c o m p o s i t e d e n s i t y is 0.0705 l b / i n . 3

K, i s

Dome Design

Aft i n s i d e dome :

t
GQ

PR

2c

GQ
=

cos2a

3675 X 60 2 x 251,000 x 0.9825 = 0.447 i n .

0.447 x 1.68 = 0.750 i n .

a = sin-'
"

t Q=

tGQ

Aft o u t s i d e dome :

7.9 = 68 .' 66.5

GQ

3675 x 65.6 = 0.487 i n . 2 . x 251,000 x 0.986 0.487 x 1.68 = 0.818 i n .

wall

t, =

The dome contours w i l l be c a l c u l a t e d f o r t h e abovewindinganglesand thickness and modified t o include the joint buildups.
Fwd i n s i d e dome:

= sin

-1 7.9 x 60.5 = 1 . ' at dome-cone e q u a t o r 02

"

60.5 44.4
t
GQ
=

0.447 x 60

44,rc

0.604 i n . ; tQ= 0.604 x 1.68 = 1.015 i n .

a = sin-'

Fwd o u t s i d e dome:

7.9 x 66.5 = 96 .'

66.547.4
t
G,
=

0.487 x - = 0.684 i n , ; t Q= 0.684 x 1.68 = 1.148 i n . 66.6 47.4

The c o n t o u r s o f t h e fwd domes w i l l have t o be compromised t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e a c t u a l w i n d i n g angle a n d t h e optimum a n g l e r e q u i r e d by the forward polar opening s i z e . The t h e o r e t i c a l angles based on RE are: I n s i ds h e l l : e
01

sin

-1 4.3 = 5.4 0

o u t s i ds h e l l : e

a = sin-'

4.3 = 51 .' 48.4

42

Thus t h e b a s i c c o n t o u r o f t h e i n s i d e s h e l l wl be a 6O c o n t o u r a d j u s t e d n e a r il the polar fitting for the smaller RE, and n e a r t h e e q u a t o r t o match a 1 contour 0 and 15 c o n i c a l w l. The. o u t s i d e c o n t o u r w al l be a 6 c o n t o u r a d j u s t e d s i m i l a r l y l i near the pole, and near the equator for a 9O contour and the 1 6 O c o n i c a l wall.
Conical Wall

A t t h e aft tangent line :

Inside hell: s
cy =

7.5 0, t
=

Ga

= 0.447 in.,

t, = 0.750
= 0.809 i n .

GJ

PR T e G

(1

tan2:) 2
K t

3675 x 60 (1 - 0.1322)
270,000
2
=

te
O u t s i d es h e l l :

Ge

1.68 x 0.809
tGa =

1.358 i n .
= 0.818in.

a = 6.8O,

0.487 i n . , t,
=

t
Ge

3675 x 65.6 (1 - 0.1192 2 )

270,000 2
=

0.887 i n .

to
Inside hell: s

1.68 x 0.887

1.490 in.

A t t h e forward t a n g e n t l i n e :

10.2,

Ga

= 0.604 i n . ,

to! = 1 . 0 1 5 n . i

t
2

270,000

PR

2 2 (1 - - = 3675 x 44.4 (1 - 0.180 ) = 0.596 i n . t a n a) 2

t8
Outside hell: s

Kt

Ge
=

1.68 x 0.596
0

= 1.001 i n .

cz

9.6

, t Ga

= 0.684 i n . ,

ta = 1.148 i n .

t
Ge

3675 x 47.4 (1 - 0.1691)= 0.636 i n .

270,000

2
= 1.068in.

t
Bolted Flange Joint Assume 1.125 i n . b o l t s i n

1.68 x 0.636

a double row w i t h 2 . 2 i n . s p o t f a c e d i a a n d 2 . 0 i n .

43

space between spot faces; spacing Joint oad, l 2

= 2.2

+ 2.0

= 4.2in.

P n = -Rx 2

3675 x 64 = 117,500 l b / i n .

l o a d / b o l t = 117,500 x 4 . 2 = 247,000 l b 2 b o l t ut = " F F 247,000 = ~ / 4 1.053* = 284,000 p s i x

A-rrm2
Fiberglasbuildupstresses:

Bearing:

x/&(Do'

a;,

Did)
=

x/4 (2.2'
=

247,000 = 54,200 p s i - 1.125j2)

B l shear-out: ot

F rDot

247,000 = 17,850 p s i 2 . 2 x 2.0

t e n s illtee:r b on I

ut

F/2 b o l t s buildup t x s p a c i n g - s p o t f a c e a r e a s s h e a r area x usu

cu t

4.5 x 4 . 2
34,200 p s i

494,000 2 ~ / 42.P2

+ 4.2 x 6 x 4500 36, ooo

=

Interlaminarshear,assuming

5 h e l i c a ll a y e r s :( n

5)

A l t e r n a t e Clevis J o i n t Assume t h e f o l l o w i n g f i b e r g l a s yoke u l t i m a t e stresses:

Bearing

cBV 40,000 psi =

otu = 30,000 p s i

Inter-bolt tensile

B l shear-out csu= 20,000 p s i ot

44

Use 90 p i n s ,2 . 0i n .d i a

PTR2 utu (2rR

yokes) nd) 30,000

60 3675 x (2 (27762

in.

180)
=

= 6.60

e = d

c B 1
%

= 40,000 2 2 20,000

-1

1.00 i n ( u s e . 0 n . ) . 2 i

518,000 = 0 .i n . 72 tlink = F/link = u X w 300,000 x 2.4 tu l sn k a r : i he

os =

F = 2 x 2 t e0.72

518,000

133,000 p s i

x 2.7
=

(usu M 180,000 p s i )
359,000 p s i
M

l i nb e a r i n g : k

uB

-F

518,000
0.72
X

t d

460,000 p s i )

Polar Fittings & s i g n c a n be quickly approximated by f i n d i n g t h e a x i a l l o a d / i n c h at R V, assuming t h i s c o n c e n t r a t e d h a l f way up t h e f l a n g e from %, a n d s o l v i n g f o r c o n s i d e r i n g a s e c t i o no ft h ef l a n g e 1 in.inwidth.

tu
A f t p o l a rf i t t i n g :
Rv = 7.3; Rc = 9.68; Mat'l = 7075

T6 aluminum

u = 60,000 tu

45

n = P% = 3675 x 7.3
e

13,500 l b / i n .

x 13,500 x 1.19

=tu

Fwd p o l a r fitting:

4.0,

t =

46

APPElYDIX B

ANALYSIS O F RADIANT ENERGY EMITTED FROM PROPELLANT

S R A O F NUCLEAR LIGHT BITE3 TE M

A s i m p l i f i e d a n a l y s i s has been made t o determine the approximate magnitude of the energy which i s e m i t t e d from t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m of a n u c l e a r l i g h t b u l b andwhich i s a b s o r b e d i n t h e s u r r o u n d i n g opaque walls ( i . e . , a l l surrounding walls e x c e p tt h et r a n s p a r e n t walls). Thisanalysisdoesnotconsiderenergywhich is e m i t t e d from t h e f u e l andwhichpassesthroughtheseededpropellantregion. It i s assumed i n t h e a n a l y s i s that t h e p r o p e l l a n t d u c t l e n g t h i n t h e flow d i r e c t i o n i s l a r g e r e l a t i v e t o i t s width so that t h e e n e r g y i n c i d e n t on any s e c t i o n of t h e w a l l i s determined by t h e t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e p r o p e l l a n t g a s e s a d j a c e n t t o t h e wall. It i s a l s o assumed t h a t t h e t e m p e r a t u r e a c r o s s e a c h a x i a l s t a t i o n is c o n s t a n t . The t o t a l energyabsorbed by t h e opaque walls s u r r o u n d i n gt h ep r o p e l l a n t stream i s given by t h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o n :

c p i s t h ee m i s s i v i t y of t h ep r o p e l l a n tg a s e s and i s a p p r o x i I nt h i se x p r e s s i o n , mately equal to unity if t h e r e i s sufficient seed material in the propellant gases t o a b s o r b a l a r g e f r a c t i o n of the energy emitted from t h e f u e l - c o n t a i n m e n t r e g i o n . I nt h ef o l l o w i n ga n a l y s i s , c p i s assumed i n d e p e n d e n to fa x i a lp o s i t i o n . The r e f l e c t i v i t y of t h e w a l l averagedovertheincidentenergyspectrum, R, i s a l s o assumed t o b e i n d e p e n d e n t of a x i a l p o s i t i o n . The s u r f a c e a r e a of t h e opaque wall i s assumed t o b e p r o p o r t i o n a l t o a x i a l d i s t a n c e . T h e r e f o r e , Eq. (1) becomes

The t e m p e r a t u r e i n t e g r a l p a r a m e t e r ,

Y,
z/ L

i s d e f i n e d as f o l l o w s :

=
0

( T/Te )' d Z/L

The valueof

Y a t Z/L = 1.0 i s denoted as Y,

Therefore, Eq. ( 2 ) becomes

47

It i s assumed i n t h e f o l l o w i n g analysis that t h e e n t h a l p y of t h e p r o p e l l a n t streamvarieslinearlywithaxialdistance. Suchanassumption i s valid i f the heat deposition rate in the propellant stream i s independent of axial position and i f t h e e n e r g y l o s t from t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m by c o n v e c t i o n a n d r e r a d i a t i o n i s n e g l i g i b l e . It i s a l s o assumed t h a t t h e i n i t i a l e n t h a l p y i s 15 p e r c e n t of the exit enthalpy, whichcorresponds t o a removal of 1-5 p e r c e n t of the energy created in the engine structure by t h e hydrogen propellant before this p r o p e l l a n t i s heated by t h e r m a l r a d i a t i o n . T y p i c a l r e s u l t i n g e n t h a l p y d i s t r i b u t i o n s f o r a p r e s s u r e of 500 atm a r eg i v e ni nF i g .2 3 . The e x i t e n t h a l p i e s n o t e d on t h i s f i g u r e weredeterminedusingthetables ofRef. 9 fortheindicatedvalues of p r o p e l l a n t exittemperature.Correspondingvalues of l o c a lt e m p e r a t u r ea r eg i v e ni nF i g . 24 and were a l s o d e t e r m i n e d u s i n g t h e t a b l e s of Ref. 9.
Valuesof theparameter, Y ( s e e Eq. ( 3 ) ) , d e t e r m i n e d b y g r a p h i c a l i n t e g r a t i o n u s i n gt h et e m p e r a t u r e s shown i n F i g . 24 a r e g i v e n i n F i g . 25. E x i tv a l u e s of t h i s temperature integral parameter, Ye a r e g i v e n i n F i g . 26 f o r f o u r d i f f e r e n t hydrogen p r e s s u r e s as a f u n c t i o n of p r o p e l l a n t e x i t t e m p e r a t u r e . A s noted on t h i s f i g u r e , Ye would b e e q u a l t o 0.235 i f t h e s p e c i f i c h e a t o f hydrogenwereconstant(i.e., if thetemperaturevariedlinearly from 0.15 T, t o T, a l o n g t h e l e n g t h of t h e tube)

The a v e r a g e r e f l e c t i v i t y of t h e opaque wall ( s e e Eq. ( 4 ) ) i s determined by thespectrum of t h er a d i a t i o na p p r o a c h i n gt h e w a l l . Thisspectrum, i nt u r n , i s governed by t h e p r o p e l l a n t t e m p e r a t u r e and o p a c i t y . A median p r o p e l l a n t temp e r a t u r e , T, , hasbeendefined as t h e t e m p e r a t u r e a t t h e l o c a t i o n where Y i s e q u a lt oh a l fo f Ye. Valuesof t h i s median temperaturedeterminedfrominformation such as that g i v e ni nF i g s . 24 and 25 a r e p l o t t e d i n F i g . 2 7 . It can b es e e n from F i g . 2 7 t h a t t h e median t e m p e r a t u r e d e f i n e d i n t h i s manner i s approximately e q u a l t o 85 p e r c e n t of t h e p r o p e l l a n t e x i t t e m p e r a t u r e . The a v e r a g e r e f l e c t i v i t y of t h e opaque w a l l i s determined by t h e w a l l m a t e r i a l employed. The a v e r a g e r e f l e c t i v i t i e s of t u n g s t e n and aluminum a r e shown i n F i g . 28 as a f u n c t i o n of t h e b l a c k - b o d y r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e i n c i d e n t energy spectrum The i n f o r m a t i o n n i g . 8 i F 2 was obtained from 29 Ref. Fig. of 6. The productof Ye and t h ea v e r a g e wall a b s o r p t i v i t y ( e q u a l t o 1-E) i s p l o t t e d i nF i g .2 9 . The a v e r a g e r e f l e c t i v i t i e s used i n c a l c u l a t i n g F i g . 29 were determined from F i g . 2 8 u s i n g t h e mediantemperaturesfromFig.27.

It i s now of i n t e r e s t t o d e t e r m i n e t h e r a t i o of the radiant energy absorbed b y t h e opaque w a l l t o t h e energycontent of t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m . The t o t a l energywhich i s emitted from the fuel-containment region and absorbed by the p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m i s given by the following equation:

Inthisexpression, the e f f e c t i v e f u e l e m i s s i v i t y , o fr e f l e c t i o n sf r o mt h es u r f a c e so ft h et r a n s p a r e n t Eq. ( 5 ) y i e l d s

F,

i s less than u n i t yb e c a u s e wall. Dividing Eq. ( 4 ) by

$wR QF

( L E ) Y,

The p r e c e e d i n g e q u a t i o n h a s b e e n evaluated u s i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e numbers from p r e c e e d i n ga n a l y s e sa n d is plottedinFig. 30. The parameter ( l - E ) Y e w a s d e t e r mined fromFig. 29. The e m i s s i v i t i e s ep and EF were assumed t o b e e q u a l t o 1.0 and 0.85, r e s p e c t i v e l y . The area of t h e o u t e r p o r t i o n o f t h e p r o p e l l a n t d u c t wall a n d t h e s t r u t s c o n n e c t i n g t h i s o u t e r p r o p e l l a n t d u c t wall, 4, s 2.O5A, i f o r t h e e n g i n e i n F i g . 4.

Information similar t o t h a t p r e s e n t e d i n F i g . 30 is g i v e n i n F i g . 31 as a f u n c t i o n of w a l l r e f l e c t i v i t y f o r a r a d i a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e , W, of l5,OOO R , t h e s t a n d a r dv a l u ef o rt h er e f e r e n c ee n g i n ed i s c u s s e d i n p r e c e d i n gs e c t i o n s . The o t h e r p a r a m e t e r s employed i n e v a l u a t i n g F i g . 3 1 a r e t h e same as t h o s e i n F i g . 30. It i s o b v i o u s l y d e s i r a b l e t o m a i n t a i n as h i g h a w a l l r e f l e c t i v i t y as p o s s i b l e i n o r d e r t o minimize t h e f r a c t i o n of t h e p r o p e l l a n t s t r e a m e n e r g y r e r a d i a t e d t o t h e wall.

A s noted i n a p r e c e d i n g s e c t i o n , it w a s assumed i n t h e a n a l y s i s that t h e p r o p e l l a n tt e m p e r a t u r e was c o n s t a n ta c r o s se a c h axial s t a t i o n . However, i t should be possible to adjust the seed density distribution s o that t h e p r o p e l l a n t t e m p e r a t u r e i s c o n s t a n te x c e p t Y t h e r e g i o n s n e a r t h es u r r o u n d i n g walls. The pron pellant region near the transparent w a l l would b e l e f t unseeded i n o r d e r t o maint a i n a c o l db u f f e rl a y e rn e x tt ot h i s wall. The p r o p e l l a n t n e a r t h e opaque surrounding walls would b e h i g h l y s e e d e d i n o r d e r t o i n t e r c e p t t h e e n e r g y reradiated from the propellant region before it intercepts the peripheral w a l l . Such a p r o p e l l a n t s e e d d i s t r i b u t i o n t h e o r e t i c a l l y would r e d u c e t h e r a t i o of t h e energy deposited i n t h e w a l l t o that d e p o s i t e d i n t h e p r o p e l l a n t from t h a t shown i n F i g s . 30 and 31.

TABLE I
HEAT DEPOSITION " J E S I N VARIOUS REGIONS

WITHIN NUCLEAR =GET BUIB ENGINE AT DESIGN POINT

Region PressureVessel Tie Rods

Mechanism of Heating Neutron & Gm a am Neutron & Gm a and Conduction am

I1
I1
11

Heat Deposition Rate Btu/sec

Coolant Circuit Used t o Remove Energy Deposited Secondary

I1

o . 0 x 105 4
0.04

x 105

Flow Divider
Cavity Liner Transparent Structure Fuel Recycle System

I1

11

0.189 x 105
0.508 x 105
0.812 x 105

11

Thermal Radiation & Convection

I1
11
11

I1

11

Removal o f Heatfrom Neutron & Gamma

I1
I1 11

Fuel

0.88

x 105
Primary

Beryllium Oxide Graphite

1.601 x lo5
2.14 x 105

TOTAL

6.57

x 105

TABLE I 1
TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE LEXELS I N F'FUMARY HYDROGEN

PROPELLANT CIRCUIT

OF NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE

Hydrogen P r o p e l l a n t Flow = 42.3 l b / s e c

NOTE:
.

S t a t i o n Numbers Refer t o Locations Shown i n F i g .

-

8
Enthalpy Btu/ l b
120

Station
"

Location
.. "

Pres sure atm

1
2

Pump i n l e t Heat exchanger i n l e t Heatexchanger T u r b i n eo u t l e t Beryllium oxide outlet G r a p h i t eo u t l e t

. .

1.o

707 -6 707 *5 507.5 501.4 500 .o

.
~~

550
7200

outlet

4
5

6650
10) 440

6
~~

.~ .

15> 500

_.

TABLE I11

TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE LEVELS I N CLOSED SECONDARY

O NUCLEAR LCGHT B U D ENGINE F Hydrogen C o o l a n t C i r c u i t NOTE:

HYDROGEN C I R C U I T

Flow = 42.3 l b / s e c

S t a t i o n Numbers Refer t o Locations Shown i n F i g .

.~

Station

Location
~~ ~~ ~

7
8
9
1 0

Pressure vessel liner inlet Tie rod inlet Flow d i v i d e r i n l e t Cavity liner inlet Fuel cycle heat exchanger inlet Transparent w a l l i n l e t T r a n s p a r e n t wall o u t l e t

11
12

13

14

Heat e x c h a n g e r o u t l e t
.

..

TotalPressure

Loss

15.1 atm

TABLE I V TRANSPARENT STRUCTUKE

REGION CONFIGURATION AND OPERATING CONDITIONS

F R N U C U A R LIGHT BULB ENGINE O (Coolant Stations

1 t o 13 on F i g . 8 ) 2
f t

I n s i d e r a d i u s of t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e , Length of t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e , ft Tube i n s i d ed i a m e t e r ,i n . Tube wall t h i c k n e s s , i n . Tube o u t s i d ed i a m e t e r ,i n .

o .802
6.o
0.066 o .005

o .076
948

Number of t u b e s i n e a c h 120 degree segment o f e a c h c a v i t y T o t a l hydrogensecondarycoolantflowpercavity,lb/sec Totalheatdepositionintransparentstructurepercavity,Btu/sec Coolant i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e , deg R C o o l a n to u t l e tt e m p e r a t u r e , deg R F i l mt e m p e r a t u r ed i f f e r e n c ei n s i d et u b e s , deg R Temperature difference i n w a l l , deg R Maximum t u b e s u r f a c e t e m p e r a t u r e , deg R Dynamic p r e s s u r e i n t u b e s , atm T o t a l p r e s s u r e loss i n t u b e s , a t m RepoXds number i n t u b e s Feederandcollectorpipeaverageinsidediameter,in. Averagedynamic pressureinfeederandcollectorpipes, P r e s s u r e loss i n f e e d e r p i p e , atm Pressure loss i n c o l l e c t o r p i p e , atm AverageReynolds number i n f e e d e r a n d c o l l e c t o r p i p e s T o t a l p r e s s u r e loss i n t r a n s p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e , atm

6.04 11,600 1665 2160

120

90
2 370

0 BO725

0.71 26,600
atm

10 . 02 .8

0.625 0.625 1.03 x 106 1.96

53

CAVITY LCNER CONFIGURATION AND OPERATING CONDITIONS FOR NUCLFIAR UGHT BULB ENGINE ( C o o l a n tS t a t i o n s
10 t o 11 on Fig.

8)
0 .g11 1.320

I n s i d e r a d i u s of l i n e r a t p r o p e l l a n t i n l e t , f t I n s i d e r a d i u s of l i n e r a t p r o p e l l a n t o u t l e t , ft Average r a d i u s of l i n e r , f t Length of l i n e r t u b e s , ft Average l i n e r t u b e i n s i d e d i a m e t e r , i n . Average l i n e rt u b eo u t s i d ed i a m e t e r , in. Number of t u b e s p e r c a v i t y Thickness of r e f l e c t i v e c o a t i n g on outside walls, in. Total secondary hydrogen coolant flow per cavity, lb/sec Total heat deposition in liner per cavity, Btu/sec Coolant i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e , deg R C o o l a n to u t l e tt e m p e r a t u r e , deg R Filmtemperaturedifferenceinsidetubes, deg R Temperature difference i n b e r y l l i u m wall, deg R Maximum t u b e s u r f a c e t e m p e r a t u r e a d j a c e n t t o p r o p e l l a n t , d e g Dynamic p r e s s u r e i n t u b e s , atm T o t a l p r e s s u r e loss in l i n e r tubes, atm Reynolds number i n t u b e s

1.1355 13* 5
0 440

0.600 7 2 0.002 6.04

7260 715 1055

20 8 25 16 30 0.012 001 .8 2 2 X 105 .3

54

TABLE V I
S O L I D MODERATOR COOUNG REQUIREMENTS

FOR NUCLFAR U G H " BULB ENGINE

(CoolantStations

4 t o 6 on F i g . 8)
Beryllium Oxide Graphite

Item T o t a l volume, f t 3 D e n s i t y ,l b / f t 3 Void f r a c t i o n Totalweight, Length, f t Coolingpassagediameter,in. Number of c o o l a n t p a s s a g e s p e r Coolant passage configuration Coolantpassagespacing,in. 0.417 Coolant i n l e t t e m2785 t u r e , pera C o o l a n t o u t l e t t e m4050 t u r e , pera Temperaturedifference,coolant deg R deg R
f t2

52.5 188.5
00 .5

193
101 0. 0.05

lb 18,460

9440 65 . 6.O
0.og8

o .098
946
Circularpassages

on t r i a n g u l a r p i t c h

0.417 1845 2785

10 0 10 0

t o wall, deg R
R

Maximum temperature i n s o l i d moderator,deg Dynamic p r e s s u r e P r e s s u r e loss, atm Reynolds number

3057
0.19

4306

0.0341
1.38
17,100

6.1
50,500

55

TABLE V I 1 SPECIFICATIONS FOR BERYLIXUM

TIE R D OS

F R NUCLEAR LIGHT B U D ENGINE O (CoolantStations

8 t o 9 on F i g . 8 )
1.o
1 358
0.30

I n s i d ed i a m e t e r ,i n . O u t s i d ed i a m e t e r ,i n . Fyrolyticgraphiteinsulationthickness O v e r a l ld i a m e t e r ,i n . Number of r o d s Totalflowperrod,lb/sec Totalheatdepositionperrod,Btu/sec Coolant i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e , C o o l a n to u t l e tt e m p e r a t u r e , deg R deg R deg R

1.958

24
1.76
18 6
5 70

595

Filmtemperaturedifferenceinsiderods, Temperature difference

2 7
190

i n b e r y l l i u m wall, deg R
deg R

Maximum beryllium temperature, Dynamic p r e s s u r e i n r o d , Total pressure

813
0.308

atm
atm

loss i n r o d ,

0-67

Reynolds number i n r o d

0 3-17X 1 6

TABU V 1 I1
S O L I D MODERATOR FLOW DIVIDER

FOR NUCIEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE

( C o o l a n tS t a t i o n s

9 t o 1 on Fig. 8) 0

Beryllium w a l l t h i c k n e s s , i n . Clearancebetween walls, i n .

0.048
0.070

P y r o l y t i cg r a p h i t ei n s u l a t i o nt h i c k n e s s ,i n . Berylliumoxideside G r a p h i t es i d e Totalflowindividerregion,lb/sec T o t a l f l o w area, i n . 2 Total heat deposition rate, Btu/sec Coolant i n l e t t e m p e r a t u r e , Coolantoutlettemperature, Filmtemperaturedifference, Temperature difference deg R deg R deg R

0.221

0.288 42.3
22.5

1, 8 goo

5 95 715
110

i n b e r y l l i u m wall, deg R deg R

1 0

Maximum beryllium temperature, Dynamic p r e s s u r e , a t m Totalpressure Reynolds number

835
0.206

l o s s , atm

4.13
30 00

57

TABLE I X
HEAT EXCHANGEX SPECIFICATIONS

F R NUCLEAR LLGW BULB ENGINE O (Coolant Stations 2 to

3 and 13 t o 14 on F i g . 8)

exchangers Number of heat Hydrogen f l o w r a t e

7
per u n i t , l b / s e c
6.04

Heat t r a n s f e r r e d p e r u n i t , B t u / s e c Tube i n s i d ed i a m e t e r ,i n . Tube wall t h i c k n e s s , i n . Tube s p a c i n g ,i n . Number of t u b e s Length of t u b e s , i n .

3.777
0.0625

x 1 0

0.01
0.1145 6300

30

Cross s e c t i o n a l a r e a of tube bundle, in.2

P r e s s u r e loss, atm Tube wall m a t e r i a l
Wall m a t e r i a l d e n s i t y , l b / f t 3

31.3
0.10

S t a i n l e s sS t e e l
500

Tube weight

( 7 heat exchangers), lb
(1.1x tube weight)

860

Total heat exchanger weight

, lb

950

OPERATING CONDITIONS

Inlet She Tube Temperature

1 1

Out l e t She Tube 2000 300

500
1 1

,R

90

2160 500.1

Pressure, a t m

707 6

707 5

TABm X
NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE WEIGHT

All Weights i n Lb
Fyrolytic Graphite

Region Cavity Liner

Beryllium

Graphite

Tungsten

Steel

Sub-Total

45 7

475
270
~

Tie Rods

80
15 4
800

Flow Divider
Tungsten Liner S o l i d Moderator Heat Exchangers Turbopump Piping & Manifolding PressureVessel Miscellaneous Sub-Total

945 500

9-0 44

17,470 1900 3000

26,910 1900 ,3000 850 30,500

5000

400

10 0

300

10 10

9-0 44

550

5200

70,350

TABLE X I

CONDITIONS I N CAVITY OF REFERENCE Information Obtained from

OPEN-CYCm ENGINE DESIGN

R e f . 1 UnlessOtherwiseNoted 1

Cavity diameter, Cavitylength,

D L
=

6 .O f t

6.0 f t

Cavity volume, X = 169.8 f t 3 Cavitypropellantflow, Totalpropellantflow,

WC

236 l b / s e c

WT = 575 l b / s e c

C r i t i c a l m s s , w F = 36.2 l b ( s e e t e x t a n d R e f . Average f u e l d e n s i t y , Cavitypressure,

14)

p~~

36.2/169.5

= 0.214 1 b / f t 3

P = 1000 a t m

Temperature a t outside edge of fuel-containment region, Density a t o u t s i d e edge of fuel-containment region, V i s c o s i t y a t outside edge of fuel-containment region, Time c o n s t a n t p a r a m e t e r e v a l u a t e d u s i n g C e n t e r l i n et e m p e r a t u r e , Density of propellant

T6
P6

= 1200 0,0
, -

= 0.0215 l b / f t 3 =

,U6

6.85 x 10-5 l b / s e c

ft

p and , a t S t a t i o n 6, (p/p)6rl2= 2820 sec u

T8 = 136,000 R

a t c e n t e r l i n e c o n d i t i o n s , p8 = 0.0158 l b / f t 2

V i s c o s i t y of p r o p e l l a n t a t c e n t e r l i n e c o n d i t i o n s ,

p8

11.9 x 10-5 l b / s e c

ft

Time c o n s t a n t p a r a m e t e r , e v a l u a t e d u s i n g c e n t e r l i n e c o n d i t i o n s , Axial-flowReynolds number i n a l l - s c a l e e n g i n e , Re, =

@/,u)8r12 1195 sec =

480,000

C a v i t y volume flow based on ,062 ~6 = Minimum time constant based on

wC/,o6

10,960 f t 3/ s e e

p6,

x/y6 = 0.01546 SeC

TABLE X I 1
DESIGNATION OF VARIOUS OPEN-CYCLE MOUERATOR CONFIGUFATIONS INVESTIGATED

Engine Configuration
A

Structural Material i n Liner Tubes Tungsten-184

~.~

Moderator Coolant Helium

~.

Heavy Water Moderator

Remarks Original design configu1 r a t i o n of Ref. 1

Ye s

B
C

Beryllium Beryllium

Helium Helium

Y s e No

D20 r e p l a c e d b y a d d i tional graphite

Beryllium
~

~~~~~

I
Hydrogen Hydrogen

Y s e

Beryllium

No

D20 r e p l a c e d 'by a d d i tional graphite

61

TABLE X 1 I 1
C M A I OO O P RS NF
LINER TUBE CONFIGURATIONS

F R OPEN-CYCLE ENGINE O Engine Configuration (Refer t o Table XII) Tube a t e r i a l Coolant Tube I n s i d e Diameter, i n . Tube Wall Thickaess FyroliticGraphite n e s s ,i n . Be H e

B
Be H e

D
Be Be

H2
0.031

H2

0.031

0 -055

0.055
005 .0
0 .ow

, in.
Thick-

0.005
0 .ow

o ,005
008 .4

0.005
0 .om

Niobium Carbide Thickness, in. Tube Outside Diameter, Number o f Tubes Coolant Flow per Tube, lb/sec CoolantSpecificHeat, Btu/lbdeg R I n l e t Temperature, deg R OutletTemperature, TotalPressure deg R in.

0 .002

0.002

0.002

0.002

0.141

0.165

011 .4

0.165 4 6.28~10
1 .821~10-~

4 8. ~ 1 0 ~ 6.28~10 1

8. h104

1.635~10~~ 1.821~10'~1.635x1cr2 12 .5 903 17 15

35
1.25

3-37 903 17 15 34 . 1246

33 .7

564 845
3-5

845 0.34 1246

Loss, atm

Total Tube Weight, l b Tungsten-184 Beryllium PyrolyticGraphite Niobium Carbide

1246

1246

7 9 95 4
222

7 9 945
222

7 9 945
222

7 9 95 4
222

62

TABU X I V COMPMISON OF MODERATOR CONFIGURATIONS OPEN FOR Englneconfi@ratlon Engineconfi.+ration

A,B,D C,E

CYCLE ENGINE WITH AND WITHOW HEAVY WATER REGION

- no heavy v a t e r r e g i o n
3
Volume,

v l t h heavywaterregion

Engine

Radial Thickness of Region in.

Radius a t Outside of Revion - i n .

Volme o f Region,

Void F r a c t i o n

Ft3
J,E

1
,
~

Summation of Volume, Ft3

cavity LinerTubes
I

170 9.0
I
0.3

I
I

A,B,D 0

l-

Densit lb,ftS

0.47 3.9
0

Refer t o Table XIII

Beryllium Liner Plenum

1
' ,
'

0.30
0.3

4.5 4.5 66.85

I
I

No Change

0.30

I I

c n

Beryllium oxide Plenum Graphite Plenum

~ ~

3.50
0.10

4.00
0.10

50.5
0

58.1 0.144
0

0.144
1.0

1
!

247 245.8

254.4 256.5 620.3 630.5 641.0

188.5

8.70
0.30

14.15
0.30
0.30
0
0

2.14 373.8
10.18

10 .

327.0 170.2
0

0.123
0

0.123
10 .

'

442.8
450.8 459,6 789.6

100.1

1.0
0

Beryllium Wall
Heavy Water Beryllium Wall Heat txch & P i p i n g

10.54
0
0

10.54 8.2 297.3

10.46
0

115.4

0.103
ii

0
* I

63.0 154 1.
1048.4

800
1385

10 .o

407.36
Totalweightreductioninsolidmoderators

31.7

22.4

0.945

O% .5 2,540 lb

for conrigurations C & E =

C M A I OO O P RS NF

EXTERNAL PIPING COITJ?IGURATIONS FOR OPEN-CYCLE ENGINE WITH !ELCUM AND HYDROGEN MODERATOR COOLANT

Engine configuration A,B,C helium coolant Engine configuration D,E - hydrogen coolant Engine Configuration
ID, in. OD, i n .

I nl e
A,B,C

Out l e t s
~~

Connecti
A,B,
..
~ ~

c
"~

2 2.2
1 0

2.25

24 .5
1 0

Length, f t Number Flow Rate,lb/sec FluidDensity,lb/sec Dynamic Pressure, atrn Re

44
15.1

44
30.1

8.46 0.416 6 7.8~10 0.462

2.72
3.21

5 77x106
0 *4 5 3

(AP/q) F r i c t i o n
@/q)

TlJrns

1.5
08 .0
atm 1002.2

AP Total, atm

6.21 981.7 2400

22

InletPressure,

I n l e t Temperature, deg R InletStation* Volume, f t 3 MaterialDensity,lb/ft3 Material Weight, lb I n s u l a t i o n OD, i n .

38 9
13
? .02

22 .6
54 0

154 1.
233

15 39

2.5

~~

.-

TABLE XV (Cont 'd)

..
~

Outlets

Connecting Pipes

3-36
Insulation Density, lb/f t I n s u l a t i o n Weight, lb

5 *55 148 2.

148 2. 420 63 5

Total Weight, lb

1359

Totalweightsaving
.

for Configurations D or E
~ ~

=
.~
~

2 7 lb 05
I

*Inletstations

refer t o F i g .

of Ref. 1 1

T B E XVI AL COMPARISON OF TOTAL WEIGHT O OPEN-CYCm ENGINE: EXCLUSIVE O PFESSURE VESSEL F F AND TOTAL QUANTITY O NEUTRON ABSORBING MATERIALS F

W
Engine Configuration Moderator & Liner Tubes(') Tungsten-184 Beryllium Beryllium Oxide Graphite Pyrolytic Graphite Heavy Water Niobium Carbide Piping HeatExchangers Total
A
D

1,171
2,611 9,530

17,100
1,015
l8 75' J

50 2,760 10,980 32,800 2,050 0 222 10,561

10,561 13,462 74,200

13 162
72,585

67,196

Neutron Absorbing Niobium Carbide

Material

Weight, l b Absorbing Area(2), cm2 Tungsten-184 Weight, l b Absorbing Area('), T o t a l AbsorbingArea,

0 0

222 390

270

475

1,171
em2 2,060 2,060

50

50

88

88 563

em2

478

(1) Includes a l l i n t e r i o r p i p i n g

for moderatorcoolantandpropellant
o f 3.67 x 10-3 cm2/gm f o r N b C and

(2)

Based on neutron absorbing area 3.86 x 10-3 cm2/grn for W-184

66

TABLE X I V I

TOTAL WEIGHT OF OPEN-CYCUENGINECONFIGURATIONS

I

I-

A I t e m1 - 1
volume, f t 3

Configuration (See Tables X through XVI) I 1

C

d
72,500 65, 296

Pressure vessel internal

Pressure vessel weight, lb Total weight of engine components excluding pressurevessel(see Table X I , lb V) Total engine weight

96 , 000

96,000

72,500 72,585

96,000 67,196

74,200

74,485

163, 196 145, 085 170,485 170,200 137,796

TABLE X II YI RELATION BEWEEN VARIOUS MEASURES OF FUEL LOSS RATE F R OFEN CYCLE ENGINE O InfaruetionObtained
from Ref. 17 andTable

1.0*

1
1

0.0000055

39.8

0.000218

Pay:oad E q u a l t 3 OneTkird of that f o r So:i.l-:xe :iu:lear R x k et

2.32

I!
I

150

o .00822

Dimensi~nless T i m Z x s t a n t , T F , ~= ~3.31

11.95

773

II

0.00424

Inputvalue

=o
1195

0.0000129

:
XI

R a t i o of T o t a l Fuel Propellant Flov Flov Wp = */tF to Flow, lb/sec 'T/'F

( F uo slt ) Ce (Payload Weight)

,$lb

(MissionCost) Payload Weight) lb

, $_

225

2342

81,754

81,979

0.000516

58.8

2x1

24261

0.0019'42

15.6

0.01f

3.02

113

338

0.0528

0.575

I
I

21.5

246

TABLE X I X
SUMMARY O WEIGHTS O FRESSURE VESSELS F F

SeeAppendix A OBLATE

OVALOIDAL CASE

\ 1:

SPHERICAL C S AE

Forward Case Section: ;

A f t Case Section:
Pressure walls Joint Polar Fittings J o i n t Hardware

333 ,0
2J

2, 983

6,060
220 10 0

972 1 , 6 lb 895

5,430 2 , 0 lb 492

Total

Approximate case cost exclusive of tooling and development

$0,0 3000

$380,000

FIG. 1

SKETCHES ILLUSTRATING PRINCIPLE

OF OPERATION OF NUCLEAR LIGHT ENGINE BULB

a)

OVERALL CONFIGURATION
MODERATOR NOZZLES SECTION A-A

EXCHANGERS. HEAT PLUMBING,SEPARATORS,ETC.

IA
UNIT CAVITY

b) CONFIGURATIONOFUNITCAVITY
SEEDED MODERATOR TRANSPARENT

SECTION B-B REFLECTING WALL PROPELLANT

HERMALRADIATION NEON INJECTION PORT GASEOUS N U C L E A R F U E L

DIMENSIONS OF UNIT CAVITY IN REFERENCE NUCLEAR

LIGHT BULB ENGINE

COMPLETE ENGINE COMPOSED OF SEVEN UNIT CAVtTlES

A L L DIMENSIONSIN. VOLUME OF UNIT CAVITY

=

FT

2L
2

((0.911)2+ (1.32)2 ) (6.0) = 24.2

=

F$

VOLUME WITHIN UNIT VORTEX

~(0.802)2 (6.0)= 12.1 F T 3

FIG. 3

FLOW CONDITIONS GIVEN IN

/PROPELLANT

REGION

I-

6.0

FLOW CONDITIONS IN UNIT CAVITY

OF REFERENCE NUCLEAR

LIGHT BULB ENGINE

PRESSURE = 500 ATM DIMENSIONS GIVEN IN FIG.

FLOW RATES THROUGH EACH UNIT HYDROGEN 6 . 0 4 LB/SEC 2.96 LB/SEC NEON

F U E L - 0.19

LB/SEC

NEON CONDITIONS AT EDGE OF FUEL

7-

.LS

FIG. 6

SECTOR OF REFERENCE NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE CONFIGURATION

PRESSURE SHELLS

75

SEGMENT OF TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE

AND CAVITY LINER FOR NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE

TYPICAL 120'SECTION OF SINGLE CAVITY

HYDROGEN COOLED INJECTION NEON PIPE

/

TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE

FEEDER PIPE
FOR TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE COOLANT

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF COOLING CIRCUITS FOR NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB

P GIVEN IN ATM T GIVEN IN DEG R H-~ BTU/LB GIVEN IN

ENGINE

"-

SECONDARY CLOSED CIRCUIT PRIMARY PROPELLANT CIRCUIT

""_ ""

BERYLLIUM OXIDE 1.601 x 1 s BTU/SEC

T = 1845 P = 507.5 H = 6650

'1
" " W

P=501.4

""I

P= 707.5 H = 2ooo = 7100

I -0 I 0I
3

I I

T = 4050 P = 500 H = 15,500

@I

T ~=2160
P = 500 H = 7750

NEON -HYDROGEN HEAT EXCHANGER

GRAPHITE 2.14 x l o 5 BTU/SEC

PROPELLANT INJECTION TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE 0.812 x

l o 5 BTU/SEC
i

T = 1665 P= T 2 H = 5830

HYDROGEN-HYDROGEN HEAT EXCHANGER T = 300 P = 499.9 T = 90

T = 1055
P = 507

T '715 P = 507.1 H = 2590

@I
@

TUBES

LINER 0.508 x l o 5 B T W S E C

1
1

MODERATOR FLOW DIVIDER

0.189

105 BTWSEC

I "@"PRIMARY CIRCUIT P INLET

T=36 = 1.0 H = 120

T = 570 P = 511.6 H = 2047 T = 300 P = 515 H = 1100

H = 2142 T I E RODS
0.04
X

lo5 BTU/SEC

PRESSUREVESSEL 0.4
X

105 BTUISEC

NUCLEAR LIGHT ENGINE BULB WEIGHT FLOW DURING STARTUP FOR FIXED EXHAUST-NOZZLE AREA
N O Z Z L E T H R O A T AREA, A T = 0.0398 F T 2

FIG. 9

(W/A),

FROMREF. 9

DESIGN WEIGHT FLOW = 42.3 LB/SEC

4
I

I Z

D i

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, Te - DEG R

78

NUCLEAR LIGHT ENGINE BULB POWER DURING STARTUP FOR FIXED EXHAUST NOZZLE AREA
Q =WpHe
Wp FROM FIG. 9 HeFROM REF. 9

FIG. 10

DESIGN POWER = 4.37 x lo6 BTU/SEC

1 o2

lo3

lo4

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, Te

- DEG R

79

a
REQUIRED RADIATING FUEL TEMPERATURE DURING ENGINE STARTUP LIGHT BULB ENGINE FOR FIXED EXHAUST NOZZLE AREA FOR NUCLEAR
DESIGN RADIATING TEMPERATURE = 15,000

(-r
2
K
(3

QT

= 4.37 x 106

GIT FROMFIG.

10

n
I

lo4

*IW

lo3
1O 2 2

10:

2
Te

lo4

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE,

DEG R

1 ?
d
d

FIG. 12

NEON DENSITYEDGE FUEL AT OF

DURING NUCLEAR BULB LIGHT ENGINE STARTUP FOR FIXED EXHAUST NOZZLE AREA

NEON DENSITY, EDGE FUEL DESIGN AT OF AT POINT

p 6

= 0.924 L B / F T 3

P, = (0.924)

(&J(7)

15,000

P AND FROM T FIG.

11

lo3

lo4

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, Te

DEG R

81

ENGINE PRESSURE POWER AND DURING STARTUP FOR VARIABLE EXHAUST NOZZLE FOR AREA NUCLEAR BULB LIGHT
N O Z Z L E AREA SCHEDULE SHOWN IN FIG. 14

FIG. 13

ENGINE

p = 0.924 L B / F T 3
6

lo4

FUEL RADIATING TEMPERATURE, T *

DEG R

82

I-

"-

p = 0.924 LB/FT3 6
t

T ~ / T = 0.8

Te/T*

05 .

"I
I

f-

lo4

FUEL RADlATlNG TEMPERATURE, T*

- DEG R

83

FIG. 15

NUCLEAR LIGHT BULB ENGINE THRUST AND SPECIFIC IMPULSE DURING STARTUP FOR VARIABLE EXHAUST NOZZLE AREA

"I

Te/T T=/T*

= 0.8 = 0.5

"1-

N O Z Z L E A R E A SCHEDULE SHOWN IN FIG.

14

.-

2 2 5 lo4 103 FUEL RADIATING TEMPERATURE, T*

- DEG R

84

LAYOUT DRAWING OF ENGINE DESIGN CONFIGURATION

SEEFIGS. 3, 6, AND 7 OF REF. 1 1

FOR DETAILS OF THIS REGION

VARIATION WITH COOLANT DIAMETER HOLE OF NIOBIUM CARBIDE COATING WEIGHT AND IN GRAPHITE MODERATOR OF OPEN CYCLE ENGINE
ENGINE CONFIGURATION D ( S E E T A B L E X I I ) AVERAGE VOLUMETRIC HEAT DEPOSITION

TOTAL PRESSURE DROP

=

1.092 x l o 4 BTU/SEC- F T 3
NIOBIUM THICKNESS ON SURFACE OF GRAPHITE TO PROTECT GRAPHITE FROM ATTACK = 0.002 IN. COOLANT TO SPIRAL COOLING HOLES GRAPHITE THICKNESS
= 8.7 IN.FRACTION COOLANT VOLUME

WALL TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE

200 R

M A X I M U M TO WALL T E M P E R A T F F E R E N C E DIURE
= 0.02

= 100 R

55

0.20

50
4
I

0.18

m
w

e m
4

45

0.16

f
I

K
W

oi
U

I -

z 2 40

I
0.14
0 W
J

9
0
L

2
Z l L

0
I -

0 w

35

30

"

0.5

1.o

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

n
?
4

TOTAL PRESSURE DROP-ATM

FIG. 18

POSSIBLE PRESSURE

SHELL CONFIGURATIONS

SEE APPENDIX A ALL DIMENSIONS I N F T

6)

SIX NOZZLES AT 60

4 "f
1.0

I
O 7

ON E

LCONTOUR SAME AS IN CONFIG. C

FIBERGLASPRESSUREVESSEL
SEE APPENDIX A

CONFIGURATION

ALL DIMENSIONS IN IN.

BOLT HOLE 1.13 DIA ) (47 BOLTSIROW) NUT RECESS (2.2 DIA)

3.16 TYP
THICK)

,, ,-

5.6 TYP

2.1

34.4 R

I "
FIG. 20

EFFECT OF IDEALIZED GLASS STRESS

ON WEIGHT AND COST OF PRESSURE VESSEL

SEE APPENDIX A

40
rn
0 0

30

E
I l -

3 W

20

z
W
v)

10

0 200

300 400
500

600

IDEALIZED GLASS STRESS L E V E L

- l o 3 PSI

400

300
0

z
W

200

U
v)

100

0 200

300

400

500

600

IDEALIZED GLASS STRESS LEVEL

103 PSI

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE

ON STRENGTH GLASS OF FILAMENT

SEE APPENDIX
A

- EPOXY COMPOSITES RESIN

v)

W I -

K
K
W

n
K
3
I -

3
W

5 I 0
0

I
K
W

I Z

U
W

K n

- 100

1.

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

TEMPERATURE "DEG F

FIG. 22

EXPLANATION OF FILAMENT - WINDING TERMS

= T O T A LW A L LT H I C K N E S S WINDINGS

ta = THICKNESSOFHELICAL
to=

THICKNESS OF HOOP WINDINGS

a = WINDING ANGLE AT LARGEST RADIUS

Ra= RADIUS TO CENTER OF HELICAL

WINDINGS A T T A N G E N T L I N E

R = SMALLESTRADIUSATPOLAROPENING
V

Rc = LARGEST RADIUS O F F I B E R G L A S S U P P O R T A T T I P O F P O L A R F I T T I N G F L A N G E RE = R A D I U S T O C E N T E R O F F I L A M E N T B A N D A T P O L A R O P E N I N G K
Ow

RESIN BULK FACTOR

= W A L L STRESS IN FIBERGLAS COMPOSITE G = STRESS I N G L A S S F I B E R S

t

G = GLASS THICKNESS
SEE APPENDIX A

I, HOOP

TANGENT !NE L

POLAR FITTING

FIG. 23

VARIATION OF ENTHALPY WITH AXIAL DISTANCE ASSUMED IN ANALYSIS OF RADIANT ENERGY EMITTED FROM PROPELLANT STREAM OFlNUCLEAR LIGHT ENGINE BULB
SEE APPENDIX B P = 500 ATM

160,000

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0.6

0.2

0.4
DIMENSIONLESS AXIAL DISTANCE,

0.8

1.o

Z/L

92

FIG. 24

VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE AXIAL WITH DISTANCE EMPLOYED IN ANALYSIS RADIANT OF ENERGY EMITTED PROPELLANT FROM STREAM OF NUCLEAR BULB LIGHT ENGINE

P=500 ATM TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION DETERMINED FROM ENTHALPY DISTRIBUTION OF FIG.23 USING TABLES OF REF. SEE APPENDlX B

20,000

16,000

c3 u

12,000

w -

2
u
E

8000

f I -

4000

0.2

04 .

0.6

0.8

1.o

DIMENSIONLESS AXIAL DISTANCE, Z/L

93

FIG. 25

VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE INTEGRAL PARAMETER WITH AXIAL DISTANCE EMITTED FROM DETERMINED FROM ANALYSIS OF ENERGY OF NUCLEAR BULB LIGHT ENGINE PROPELLANT STREAM
SEE APPENDIX B
P = 500 ATM DETERMINEDFROMTEMPERATUREDISTRIBUTIONS

IN FIG. 24

0.6

0.4
I
\
-0

KW

IW

I
L K
W

a K a
4

06 .

c3

I-

z
w

3 I-

ai

a 0.4

5 I02 .

0 0
0.2
0.4

06 .

0.8

1.o

DIMENSIONLESS AXIAL DISTANCE, Z/L

94

FIG. 26

EFFE

IRAMETER

6,000

10,000

14,000

18,000

22,000

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, T -DEG R ,

95

FIG. 27

EFFECT OF EXIT TEMPERATURE ON MEDIAN TEMPERATURE DETERMINED ANALYSIS ENERGY FROM OF EMITTED FROM PROPELLANT STREAM NUCLEAR OF LIGHT BULB ENGINE
SEE APPENDIX B MEDIAN TEMPERATURE, T,,DEFINED
AS T E M P E R A T U R E AT LOCATION WHERE Y=Y,

/2

18,O 00

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8000

6000

4000

18,000 14,000 6000

10,000

22,000

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, T -DEG R ,

FIG. 28

EFFECT OF INCIDENT ENERGY SPECTRUM ON AVERAGE REFLECTIVITIES OF TUNGSTEN AND ALUMINUM

CURVES OBTAINED FROM FIG. 29 O F REF. 6

SEE APPENDIX B

1 .o

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

so00

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

BLACK-BODY RADIATING TEMPERATURE OF INCIDENT ENERGY SPECTRUM, T,,

- DEG R

97

FIG. 29

EFFECT OF EXIT TEMPERATURE ON WALL ABSORPTION PARAMETER DETERMINED FROM ANALYSIS OF ENERGY EMITTED PROPELLANT FROM STREAMNUCLEAR OF LIGHT ENGINE BULB

DETERMINED FROM Ye FROM FIG. 26 AND R FROM FIG.

28 USING TmFROM FIG.

27

SEE APPENDIX B

0.

w c

K -

6000

10,000

14,000

18,000

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE, T

- DEG R

22,000

FIG. 30

EFFECT O EXIT TEMPERATURE ON FRACTION OF ENERGY ABSORBED IN WALL F DETERMINED ANALYSIS FROM OF ENERGY EMITTED FROMPROPELLANT STREAM NUCLEAR BULB OF LIGHT

(1

- E) Ye

FROM FIG. 29 A /A W 6
= 2.05

'P = 1.0; 'F = 0.85;

--- TUNGSTEN WALL

ALUMINUM WALL SEE APPENDIX B

LLI a

6000

10,000

14,000

18,000

20,000

PROPELLANT-EXIT TEMPERATURE

DEG R

99

FIG. 31

EFFECT OF WALL

REFLECTIVITY ON FRACTION OF ENERGY ABSORBED IN WALL DETERMINED ANALYSIS FROM OF ENERGY EMITTED FROM PROPELLANT STREAM NUCLEAR BULB OF LIGHT ENGINE
SEE APPENDIX B T*
=

15,000

Ye

'FROMFIG.
EF=

26 FOR P= 500 ATM

0.85; A W /A
6
= 2.05

Ep = 1.0;

CR-1030

..

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