NASA STTR 2004 Solicitation

FORM B - PROPOSAL SUMMARY


PROPOSAL NUMBER: 04 T2.02-9951
RESEARCH SUBTOPIC TITLE: Advanced Concepts for Flight Research
PROPOSAL TITLE: Optimal Thrust Vectoring for an Annular Aerospike Nozzle
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC) RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI)
NAME:Rolling Hills Research Corporation NAME:California Polytechnic State University Foundation
ADDRESS:420 N. Nash Street ADDRESS:1 Grand Avenue
CITY:El Segundo CITY:San Luis Obispo
STATE/ZIP:CA90245-2822 STATE/ZIP:CA93410-0001
PHONE:(310)640-8781 PHONE:(805)756-1123

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Thomas W Carpenter
tcarpent@calpoly.edu



TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Recent success of an annular aerospike flight test by NASA Dryden has prompted keen interest in providing thrust vector capability to the annular aerospike nozzle (AAN). The AAN with a moveable spike could provide a solid-fueled rocket with thrust vectoring and unique throttling capability.

Cal Poly, which has a thrust vector research facility, has teamed with Rolling Hills Research Corporation, with CFD capability, to experimentally and analytically determine the optimal approach to thrust vectoring and throttling the AAN.

In Phase I a scale model AAN will be fabricated to include a movable spike that can be displaced and/or gimballed. One set of studies with this model will examine thrust changes as a function of spike position. Other studies will examine the thrust vectoring effectiveness of vanes at two positions: side of the spike and outer edge of the annular throat. Nozzle exhaust flows will be photographed using color Schlieren techniques in order to validate CFD analysis.

The most promising of the nozzle configurations for thrust vectoring and throttling will be selected from Phase I results. In Phase II, the selected configuration will undergo extensive laboratory testing and computational analysis for optimization. The objective of Phase III will be flight test.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
In the near term, aerospike nozzles with optimal thrust vector control would provide added safety and improved capability to the NASA Dryden Aerospike Rocket Test project, as well as economic benefit through the reuse of nozzles. Thrust vectoring and throttling capabilities would provide control of flight regimes (speed, angle of incidence, transients, and other flight conditions). In addition, flights with thrust vector control would have less dispersion and therefore could be confined to a smaller test area, which would improve range safety.

An aerospike nozzle with thrust vector control would be appropriate for future NASA single-stage-to-orbit programs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
Now, in the early 21st century, we stand at the threshold of commercial access to space. In the future, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) reusable launch vehicles (RLV) will provide relatively inexpensive and widespread commercial access to space. Due to their inherent altitude compensation, aerospike rocket nozzles are ideal for SSTO vehicles. A self-contained aerospike nozzle with thrust vectoring and throttling capability would provide a practical, cost-effective means of controlling the rocket flight path for such vehicles.

Commercial applications for relatively inexpensive SSTO RLVs are virtually unlimited, but certainly include the economically significant small satellite launch business.