• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

This study was performed to evaluate the turbine performance of a turbopump in the third stage engine of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II. The turbine is a supersonic impulse type with a single rotor. One nozzle is for starting and four remaining nozzles are for steady operation. A similarity test was carried out in the high air test facilities at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Test results showed that turbine efficiency changed much more from rotational speed variations than by pressure ratio variations. These results showed characteristics similar to other supersonic impulse turbines.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.120-130
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• 2013

A study was conducted for the performance characteristics of methane taking recently the limelight in the world as a next-generation propellant, with the survey for state of the art in the development of methane/oxygen rocket engine being accompanied. Liquid methane as a rocket fuel has the favorable characteristics such as non-toxic, low cost, regenerative cooling capability, and potential for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen also provides the excellent performance including high specific impulse and low system mass. For these reasons, many researches have been actively carried out on the methane/oxygen engine, nevertheless, its technology readiness level is not that high enough just yet. Therefore, it is judged that it is the time to mitigate the technical gap with the space technology of advanced countries through a swift onset of the development of methane rocket engine.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.844-854
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• 2017

The Expansion-Deflection(E-D) nozzle is a nozzle that has a performance gain through the altitude compensation effect by changing the effective area within the nozzle according to the altitude. An E-D nozzle has been known to reduce the length of the nozzle and achieve the payload gain of the launch vehicle. Due to the potential advantages of an E-D nozzle, related research has been carried out in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Europe etc. In the UK, the flow characteristics of the E-D nozzle and the performance comparison with the dual-bell nozzle which is altitude compensation nozzle were studied. In order to understand the transition characteristics of the E-D nozzle in DLR, the transition characteristics according to the nozzle pressure ratio change were analyzed. In Europe, numerical study using the E-D nozzle concept on upper stage of the launch vehicle Ariane 5 ESC-B was carried out to confirm the possibility of payload gain according to the nozzle length reduction. In this paper, research trends of an E-D nozzle performed outside the country are classified and analyzed according to their characteristics and utilized as basic data of E-D nozzle research in the future.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2024

Adopting an engine igniter with high efficiency and ignition performance is essential for reliable operation of liquid rocket engines. In this study, we developed a spark torch igniter for a 450 N-scale methane-oxygen liquid rocket engine by conducting numerical analyses, igniter manufacturing and validation. Specifically, we conducted a parametric study for maximizing the enthalpy at the igniter exit, specifically by adjusting the mass flow rate, nozzle area ratio, fuel-oxidizer mixture ratio, and the igniter length-to-diameter. The heat transferred via the igniter nozzle exit was computed using 3-dimensional numerical simulations. We also manufactured and tested the igniter based on a deduced design to confirm ignition performance of the designed spark torch igniter. The igniter developed through this study could contribute to the development of practical propulsion systems such as upper-stage engines of small launch vehicles.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2014

Performance evaluation was carried out for the 70 N-class hydrazine thruster whose design performance had been already verified. The pulse-mode firing test was conducted for the development model thrusters with various thrust chamber diameters. Evaluation was made by the performance parameters such as specific impulse, impulse bit, and characteristic velocity, etc: specific impulse and characteristic velocity were deteriorated as the thrust chamber diameter deviates from a standard model. Consequently, it is revealed that the performance characteristics of standard model is most superior among the test models.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.15-18
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• 2009

Technology demonstration for the development of a 75-tonf liquid rocket engine(LRE) thrust chamber for a space launch vehicle has been started on the basis of the previously acquired 30-tonf LRE technologies. For this purpose, a technology demonstration plan was established upon considering the currently available firing test facility in Korea and performance evaluation firing tests were performed on technology demonstration model thrust chambers under a restricted test condition. This paper describes the plan and current status of technology demonstration for a 75-tonf LRE thrust chamber.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.56-64
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• 2004

In this research, design results of computer hardware which control solid motor movable nozzle thrust vector control(TVC) actuator for Korea Space Launch Vehicle I(KSLV-I) are described. TVC computer hardware is the equipment which has jobs for receiving control commands from Navigation Guidance Unit(NGU) and then actuating TVC actuator. Also, it has ability to communicate with other on board or ground equipments. Computer hardware has a digital signal processor as the main processor which is capable of high speed calculating ability of control algorithm, so it can have more stability, reliability and flexibility than the previous analog controller of KSR-III. Target board was designed for on board program development and then first prototype hardware was developed. Top level system design criteria, hardware configurations and ground support equipment of TVC computer system are described.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.83-88
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• 2003

An analytical study was carried out to evaluate the regenerative cooling characteristics in the liquid rocket engine of a 10tf-thrust level using kerosene as a fuel. As a supplementary cooling method, a radiative cooling was applied to the nozzle extension. It was found out from this work that the cooling system with the regenerative and radiation cooling only is not adaptable as a cooling method for the liquid rocket engine of a 10tf-thrust level using kerosene as a fuel for the 2nd stage of the space launch vehicle. So, additional cooling method, curtain cooling was introduced and analyzed. Curtain cooling was very effective to reduce the thermal and thermo-structural instability.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.93-98
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• 2005

STSAT-2 will be launched on December 2007 by the first Korean launch vehicle KSLV-1, and its one of the main instruments is DREAM (Dual Channel Radio Frequency and Environment Atmosphere Monitoring) which detects a signal for atmosphere from the Earth by using micro-wave signal. The STSAT-2 has many units for technology demonstration such as FDSS (Fine Digital Sun Sensor) and DHST (Dual Head Star Tracker) including PPT (Pulsed Plasma Thruster) for attitude control and momentum dumping in the space. In this paper, the power budget analysis for STSAT-2 will be studied and provided for supporting the whole mission life time during the mission of its spacecraft.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.141-151
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• 2018

A trajectory analysis program was developed to predict KSLV-II (Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II) performance with the reducing weight. The program estimates the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) / SSO (Sun-Synchronous Orbit) injection performance, which is determined as payload weight for the orbits, with decreasing the structural ratio or increasing rocket engine power. It is expected that the KSLV-II can transport up to 4.5 tons, 3 tons of space payloads at LEO, SSO with a reduced structural ratio by 60% of the original. It also shows that the KSLV-II can transport up to 3.65 tons at SSO by applying advanced engines of 90 tonf, 10 tonf class with the reduced structure.