Thermal–Mechanical FEM Analyses of a Liquid Rocket Engines Thrust Chamber

The Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) funded the HYPROB Program to develop regeneratively cooled liquid rocket engines. In this type of engine, liquid propellant oxygen–methane is used, allowing us to reach very good performances in terms of high vacuum specific impulse and high thrust-to-weight ratio. The present study focused on the HYPROB final ground demonstrator, which will be able to produce a 30 kN thrust in flight conditions. In order to achieve such a thrust level, very high chamber pressures (up to 50 bar) and consequently high thermal fluxes and gradients are expected inside the thrust chamber. Very complex and high-fidelity numerical FEM models were adopted here to accurately simulate the thermal–mechanical behavior of the thrust chamber cooling channels, accounting for plasticity, creep, and low-cycle fatigue (LCF) phenomena. The aim of the current work was to investigate the main failure phenomena that could occur during the thrust chamber’s service life. Results demonstrated that LCF is the main cause of failure. The corresponding number of loading cycles to failure were calculated accordingly.