[AR] Re: SpaceX F9 Launch/Update -- Live Link
- From: David Weinshenker <daze39@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:16:25 -0800
On 12/27/2015 08:01 PM, Henry Spencer wrote:
On Sat, 26 Dec 2015, I wrote:
However however, there is clearly no great problem in building big
liquid engines for tens of flights, if you try. The F-1 was specified
(and thoroughly tested to verify that it met the spec) for 20 cycles
and 2250s of operation, just to support development adequately.
Addenda: Flight F-1s were fired an average of 12 times before flight.
At the time, folks thought that on a reusable vehicle, an operational
life of 20 flights ought to be straightforward, with a mid-life overhaul
after the first 10.
What's the primary life limit on such engines - creep and distortion
due to repeated heat-cycling of the chamber, I suppose? That sounds
like something that could -probably- be addressed at the design level
if one were determined to do so. (You'd have to make sure you didn't
hit a ductile yield condition under any thermal gradient of startup
or shutdown as well as in steady-state running, I guess!)
-dave w
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