Lyndon B.

Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058

Technical Support Package

Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Low-Cost, High-Performance Liquid Rocket Combustion Chambers
NASA Tech Briefs MSC-24495-1

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Technical Support Package

for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Low-Cost, High-Performance Liquid Rocket Combustion Chambers MSC-24495-1 NASA Tech Briefs
The information in this Technical Support Package comprises the documentation referenced in MSC24495-1 of NASA Tech Briefs. It is provided under the Commercial Technology Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to make available the results of aerospace-related developments considered having wider technological, scientific, or commercial applications. Further assistance is available from sources listed in NASA Tech Briefs on the page entitled NASA Commercial Technology Team. Additional information regarding research and technology in this general area, contact: NASA Johnson Space Center Technology Transfer Office Mail Code AT 2101 NASA Parkway Houston, TX 77058 Telephone: (281) 483-3809 E-mail: jsc-techtran@mail.nasa.gov
NOTICE: This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the information contained in this document or warrants that such use will be free from privately owned rights. If trade names or manufacturers names are used in this report, it is for identification only. This usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Low-Cost, High-Performance Liquid Rocket Combustion Chambers
Brief Abstract This innovation comprises two areas of new technology: (1) low-cost manufacturing of C103 niobium alloy combustion chambers, and (2) use of a high temperature oxidation-resistant coating that is superior to the standard silicide coating. Section I Description of the Problem Silicided niobium alloy C103 combustion chambers have been used extensively in both NASA and DoD liquid rocket propulsion systems. Niobium alloys offer a good combination of temperature capability, density, and cost, while the silicide coating has been successful in providing moderate oxidation resistance and use temperature. However, for many current applications the silicide coating is now proving to be the limiting factor in achieving the required chamber performance and/or lifetime, and the chamber manufacturing cost is excessive. N ASA is seeking advanced bipropellant propulsion systems for Earth science spacecraft and space exploration vehicles, while DoD is seeking economical and high-performance bipropellant thrusters for liquid divert and attitude control systems in kinetic energy kill vehicles for ballistic missile defense (a high-volume application). These goals cannot be achieved using standard silicided C103 chambers. Section II Technical Description Ultramet successfully demonstrated both improved chamber manufacturing and a more robust and higherperformance oxidation-resistant coating as a replacement for the silicide. This was accomplished through a unique manufacturing process involving low temperature spray deposition of 103 on removable plastic mandrels produced by rapid prototyping. Thin vapor-deposited platinum-iridium coatings were shown to substantially improve oxidation resistance relative to the standard silicide coating. The project concluded with the fabrication of combustion chamber prototypes for later hot-fire testing at the NASA White Sands Test Facility. Section III Unique or Novel Features of the Innovation Development of different low-cost plastic thrust chamber mandrel materials and prototyping processes (selective laser sintering and stereolithographv) yielded mandrels with good dimensional accuracy (within a couple of mils) for this stage of development. Continued optimization of the prototyping processes will likely further improve surface finish and dimensional accuracy. The addition of an electroplated copper coating over the plastic mandrel proved to be successful in dissipating heat generated during the coldspray process, which prevented localized overheating of the mandrels. It was also shown that the copper layer could be machined to improve the dimensional tolerance of the mandrel and achieve a good surface finish.
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The feasibility of using the kinetic metallization cold-spray process for fabrication of free-standing C103 thrusters on removable plastic mandrels was also demonstrated. The ambient and elevated temperature mechanical properties of the material were shown to be reasonably good relative to conventionally processed 103, but the greatest potential benefit is that cold-sprayed chambers require minimal postprocess machining, resulting in substantially lower machining and material costs. The platinum-iridium coating was shown to provide greatly increased oxidation resistance over the silicide when evaluated through oxy acetylene torch testing to as high as 3000 F. The iridium component minimizes reaction with the niobium alloy chamber at high temperature (other than a microns-thick diffusion zone that promotes bonding) and provides the high temperature oxidation resistance needed at the throat. The platinum component of the coating provides added protection for the iridium from reaction with cold propellants exiting the injector. The potential for fabricating niobium chambers by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), also coated with platinum-iridium, was also demonstrated using the same general processing utilized for fabrication of flight-qualified iridium-lined rhenium chambers. The thermomechanical integrity of the sprayed and vapor-deposited chamber materials and the high temperature oxidation resistance of the platinum-iridium coating were demonstrated with flat and tubular development specimens. Hot-fire testing of the full-scale combustion chambers that were fabricated will be performed by NASA after the conclusion of the project. Section IV Potential Commercial Applications After discussions with the NASA technical monitor, all chambers were constructed to the NASA design for testing at NASA WSTF, and the original scope of the project was expanded to include CVD niobium in addition to the cold-sprayed C103. This approach will provide the most near-term hot-fire test data that can then used by Ultramet to approach NAS A and DoD contractors for commercialization of the technology.

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