Presented ByColin Brooks

Ares I-X DFI Lessons LearnedColin Brooks EV33/Jacobs

Thermal & Fluids Analysis WorkshopTFAWS 2011August 15-19, 2011NASA Langley Research CenterNewport News, VA

TFAWS Paper Sessionhttps://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110015755 2020-05-30T10:11:40+00:00Z

Outline

• Brief introduction to Ares I-X• Instrumentation types• Lessons learned

– Instrumentation locations– Installation– Data acquisition techniques– Other/general

• Conclusions

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Ares I-X

• Demonstrated control of a long, solid-fueled, single-motor flight vehicle with a low fundamental structural frequency.

• Provided an overall assessment of crucial design and induced environments.

• Partially validated selected Ares I thermal environments math models and processes.

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Ares I-X

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Aerothermal Instrumentation Summary

• 50 Calorimeters with embedded sensor thermocouples• 6 Radiometers• 7 Gas temperature probes (GTP)• 47 Static pressure gauges• 2 Flow direction probes

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Why These Gauges?

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• Main measurement is heating rate

gaseous radiationconvection

Parameter Measured byCalorimeter, ThermocoupleCalculated or Gas temperature probeRadiometerCalculated

• hc determined more accurately than in the past• Flow direction probes characterize plume induced flow

separation region• Static pressures provide local flow conditions and CFD

validation data

( ) radwallrecctotal qTThq +−=

c

rad

rec

walltotal

hqT

Tq

,

( )q

What Makes Data Unique?

• First NASA launch vehicle to fully utilize calorimeters with embedded sensor temperature measurements

• Ascent– Very long vehicle length causes thick boundary layer– First Stage (FS) nozzle instrumented for the first time– Single Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) plume induced radiation,

convection, and gas temperature measured for the first time• Near-field small motor plume impingement heating data

acquired– Roll Control System (RoCS) and Booster Deceleration Motor

(BDM) plume impingement heating• FS re-entry data expands Aerothermal database

– Low altitude tumble is unique– Top plate configuration outside Aerothermal database– Instrumented thermal curtain in flight for the first time

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Calorimeters

• Schmidt-Boelter type with type K thermocouple mounted next to thermopile– Medtherm model 20850

• Performance– Sensor temperature measurements worked well (only lost one late

in re-entry)– Only one high flux gauge failed

• Lessons Learned– When in doubt, specify higher range gauge

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0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Cham

ber P

ress

ure

(PSI

A)

He

at

Flu

x (B

TU

/ft2 ∙

sec)

T ime (Sec)

RoCS Module B (-Roll) Burns #3-6 Calorimeter Response

AAD274R (CA043306)

Module B -Roll Motor Pc

Calorimeters

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RoCS Chamber Pressure

043306 Over Ranged

Calorimeters

• In high heat flux areas:– Gauges were ranged correctly– Most functioned and survived

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0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

2600

2800

3000

0

50

100

150

200

250

122.00 122.50 123.00 123.50 124.00 124.50 125.00 125.50 126.00

BDM

Cha

mpe

r Pre

ssur

e (p

sia)

Cold

wal

l (0F

) Hea

t Flu

x (B

tu/f

t2-s

ec)

Time from 15:30:000.217 (sec)

X58412 FS BDM Impingement

AAD264R (CA058412) - CW (Convection Only) BDM Pc

60424– Cal, TC, P

058412 Cal, TC, P 058411 Cal, TC, P

058401 Cal, TC, P

Radiometers

• Calorimeter with a sapphire window– Medtherm model 20850

• Performance– Mortality rate higher than desirable

• Lessons Learned– GN2 purge required to mitigate contamination (Al2O3 or other) and

allow acquisition of mid-to-late flight data

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• All radiometers appear to fail eventually

Radiometers

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Heat

ing

Rate

(BTU

/ft^

2-se

c)

Time (s)

AAD276R (RA079101)

AAD279R (RA079501)

Launch Stand Effect

Probable contamination begins

Gauge fails

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Gas Temperature Probes

• Base Gas Temperature Transducer– Medtherm model 11190

• Performance– All gauges functioned

• Lessons Learned– Must account for radiation losses

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Pressure Gauges

• Thin Line IS Pressure Transducer– Kulite LL-080 Series

• Performance– Gauge type and installation were not tolerant to significant heating

• Lessons Learned– 0-20 psi gauges provided the necessary level of fidelity

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• The gauge was completely burned out by the BDM firing.

Pressure Gauges

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Flow Direction Probes

• Flow direction probes– Medtherm model 50532

• Performance– Newly designed, functioned well

• Lessons Learned– May interfere with other gauges: shock heating to nearby

calorimeter

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17

Flow Direction Probes

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Pres

sure

(psi

a)

Time from 15:30:000.217 (sec)

X57194 - Aft Segment Attach Ring StubAAD119P (DP057194) AAD122P (DP057032)

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Lessons Learned - Instrument Locations

• Ensure there are a few true clean skin calorimeters– Measured heating amplifications due to proximity of cork runs

near gauges– Below, separation occurs over the protuberance due to cork run /

antenna

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V∞

Lessons Learned - Instrument Locations

• Avoid instrument interference/installation effects (e.g. instrument island in the proximity of the flow direction probe)

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Lessons Learned - Instrument Locations

• Add internal aft skirt camera for thermal curtain breakup nature and timing

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,400

190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235

Inte

rnal

Aft

Skirt

Pre

ssur

e (ps

ia)

Tem

pera

ture

(Deg

R)

Time from 15:30:000.217 (sec)

Thermal Curtain, Internal Gas Temperatures and Internal Aft Skirt Pressure

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Lessons Learned - Instrument Locations

• Coordinate with other disciplines to avoid redundancy of measurements

• Co-locate external nozzle calorimeters and GTP’s

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Lessons Learned - Installation

• Clearly specify installation procedures– Foam trimming, etc.– Need to have person on-site for some critical installation steps

such as last minute foam application

– One of the groups of gauges similar to this set was completely foamed over during close out operations.

• No data was acquired from those gauges.

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• Pre-flight channelization and calibration constants a must

• 2Hz filter was not good - must specify a higher range next time

• Gauge acquisition ranges– Want cooling measured– Utilize dual range on high flux if possible

• GTP junction temperatures must be measured

Lessons Learned - Data Acquisition

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Lessons Learned- Other/General

• Measure one or two chamber pressures from all small motors if possible– BDM’s, USM’s, BTM’s, ReCS, RoCS

• Have plan in place to specify T=0.0 ASAP after flight

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Conclusions

• The flight test was successful• Useful data were obtained• The gauges used were appropriately selected and

performed well• Most problems are understood

– Failures were few and far between.– Relatively simple procedural fixes have already been

documented and put into action.

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