On April 28, the 130-ton pump swing liquid oxygen kerosene engine independently developed by the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation completed the four-engine parallel ignition test, with a total engine thrust of more than 500 tons, which is the largest thrust in the history of the development of continental liquid power and the most complex engine ignition test, and is the first high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine four-engine parallel ignition test, and carried out a "comprehensive physical examination" for the four-engine parallel program, laying a solid power foundation for the first flight of the new rocket this year.
The pump swing engine is an engine that puts the swing device in the rear, which can effectively reduce the working space of the engine, reduce the weight of the engine structure, and reduce the servo swing torque of the rocket. The R&D team of the Sixth Academy has made breakthroughs in key technologies such as high-temperature, high-pressure, high-flow, oxygen-rich gas swing device, and further optimized the engine system scheme to solve the problems of vibration control of high-power rotating machinery. Compared with the 120-ton liquid oxygen kerosene engine in service, the engine has greater thrust, higher performance, more compact structure, and more engines can be arranged within the same rocket diameter, effectively improving the carrying capacity of the rocket.
The parallel connection of four engines is to "combine" four mature engine systems together, rather than simply "bundling" them together, which can not only provide greater thrust for the rocket, but also reduce the complexity of the system to a certain extent. The collaborative work of multiple engines has put forward many new requirements and brought many new challenges to the development work. Through in-depth mechanism analysis and a large number of digital simulations, the R&D team of the Sixth Academy has overcome a number of technical problems such as starting synchronization, complex force-thermal coupling environment, fault identification and disposal, vertical assembly and overall delivery, test and measurement and control, etc., to ensure the stability and reliability of the parallel connection scheme of the engine and the four engines.
Li Bin, vice president in charge of the Sixth Academy and chief engineer of the liquid oxygen kerosene engine, said that the successful parallel test of the four engines verified the coordination of the multi-engine work of the pump swing engine and the reliability of the work in the maximum force and heat environment, and proved that the engine is fully equipped with the conditions for flight application.
After the test, the engine is tested and processed before being delivered for flight application.
Source: People's Daily client, reporter: Liu Shiyao