Y

AIAA-91-2511
Liquid Propulsion Engines On Ariane V
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P. Pempie
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales
EVRY, France

AIAAISAE, h +SEE /'

I 27th Joint Propulsion Conference

J u n e 24-26, 1991 / Sacramento, CA
For permission to copy or republish, contact the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
370 L'Enfant Promenade,S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024
 AIM-91-251 I
LIQUID PROPULSION ENGINES O N ARIANEV
P. Pcmplc
Centre National d'Eluder Spntlales
91023 EVRY Ctdex

v ABSTRACT The lower composite consits of:

The next generation of European ARIANE Launch Vehicle : a main cryogenic Stage (H 155) powered by a HM/60
ARIANE V uses for the propulsion two solid strap-on booster, VULCAIN engine of LOOT thrust (230.000 IbO.
one cryogenic fust stage engine oC 1000 k N (225000 ibo thrust
and one storable (MMH-N204) engine of 27.5 kN (6140 IbO This stage holds 155 T (25 T of LH2 in the lower part and
thrust for the second stage. Hydrazine thrusters of 400 N 130TofLOXintheupperpart).
(90 IbO located in the VEB are used for altitude control.
For safety reason i.e to be able to control the good engine
For all these engines during the last year. many tests at start-up before lift off it is ignitcd on the ground. The bum
subcomponent level and firing engine tests were performed. time is about 615 s .
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This present paper describes these three liquid propulsion The reliability figure dedicated to the cryogenic stage is
engines in terms of design principles to meet the flight-manned 0.9919.
safety and commercial low production cost requirements. The
dcscription is completed by technical main characteristics. Two large solid-propellant boosters P 230 each containing
development and test logic, and presents the main test results. 230T of grain and delivering a thrust of about 750 T at
liftoffforaburningtimcofaboui 120s 171.

1. ARIANE 5 M I S S I O N S It will be noted that due to its manned mission the

reliabilitytarget of .99 Cor this lower composite.
Thc future european launcher Ariane 5 which the first flight is
foreseen in april 1995 from Guyana is a multipurpose launch
vchiclc.

- The first mission is a commercial one and consist io launch

payloads of 6,9 Tons, o n ageostationary transfer orbit.

The second mission is dedicated to inject HERMES space

plane and its ressource module (total mass 22 tons) on a
100/463 km transfer orbit with an inciinaison oC2R.5'.

The third mission is to launch the components of the european

space station COLOMBUS. So ARIANE 5 must be
compctitivc to launch commercial space payloads and to bc
saCc Cor manned fligth.

T h e reliability target is .98 for the launcher's total mission.

lam-
This is an order of magnitude higher than the predicted
reliability Cor Ariane 3/4 of .90. The intrinsec saiety target for
the ARIANE YHERMES configuration is set at

For cost the target is to be at least IO % lower than ARIANE 4 -: A5 Conliguration

for a dual G.T.O. launch. On the basis of this target and
compared to the mass payload capacity Ariane 5 should
provide a reduction of about 45 % in the cost per orbital For automatic missions the upper composit consists o f :
kilogram compared to Ariane 4. See reference [I]. [21. [31. [41,
151. 161. a storable-propellants stage (L7) (see figure 2) holding 1,l
T of MMH and 3 , 5 T of N 2 0 4 in four spherical tanks
2 . CONFIGURATION pressurized by Helium. This tank pressurized Ceced stage is
powered by a engine of 27,5 kN (6182 IbT) thrust and its
Thc ARIANE 5 is made up o c a lower composite dedicated to bum time in about 800s. The engine target rclabilityfigurc
HERMES mission and for automatic missions it is added a is .997for this stage.
upper composite (see figure I ) .

"Copyright C American Institute of Aeronautics and

Astronautics. Inc. 1991. AU rights reserved. I
 So we will note that ARIANE 5 uses liquid propulsion
engines ofthree dflerent kinds. a large cryogenic cngine. a
hi-storable-propellants engine and hydrazine thrusters

HMI60 L7 Thmsters

LoxlLH2 MMHIN204 NZH4

Thrust 1025 kN 27.5 kN 400 N

(vaccum) 230000 Ibf 6i821bC 90 Ibf

Pression 100 bar 10 bar 22 bar

Chamber i450psi 145 psi 319psi
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ISP 430 s 316s 235 s

(vaccum)

: L7 stage Reliabilty 0.9946 0,997 0.999

Prime SEP MBB MBB-ERN0

a Vehicle Equipment bay in which are the On-Board- contractor
Computer, transmitter, antenna etc and Altitude Control
System (see figure 3).

This Altitude Control System in made u p of 2 x 3 hydrazine 3. GUIDE-LINES FOR LIQUID ENGINE
thrusters oC 400 N thrust Ced by one (or two according to DEVELOPMENT
the mission) pressurized nitrogen tank.
To meet the high level ocreliabilityand safetyrequircd needs a
vcryscrupulous approach concerning the design. the tcsls, and
the development plan.

Two documents issucd by the CNES are the keys OF this

approach.

First the RAMS Management Specscation is dedicated to the

manner to manage the risks. The basic documents 10 support
this is the FMECA, the preliminary hazard analysis and
critical item list. These analysis must be the input data for the
development and the test plan.

An important analysis concerns the '"lessons learned" :

ARlANE 5 must be free of the failures occured in the past on
the dinerent lauchers.

Second the '"General rules Cor design and verzcation of

propulsion systems" concerns the N k S Cor design.
development, construction, manufacturing. tests oC a liquid
propulsion system.

The reference [SI details the Reliability and Safety Approach

CorVULCAlN ENGINE.

2
 3.1. DesirnNles Some of these limits cannot be identirtcd at engine test level
and require tests at component level.
For design the basic work is the funtional design of the engine.
it shows how the basic functions are realized and what For example the development of the HM/GO engine has been
hardware is used. the source of many test-rigs in Europe :
W

It must be emphasized that this functional design is also the Two Engine test Facilities one at SEP in French and one at
basic work for cost and value analysis. DLR in Germany.

3.2. Ranges and marains Two Turbopumps test bench one for LH2 TP at SEP in French
and one at MEB in Germany.
A high level of reliability and safety requires also the
knowledge ofthe margins. A chamber test facility at DLR in Germany.

Thc dirrercnt ranges consider the following causes of errors Agas generator test facilityat M B B in Gcrmnny
and dispersions betwecn requirements, reality, hardware and
software models. Two Seal and Bearing test rigs one for LOX and the other for
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LH2.
dispersions o n functional conditions
Water hydraulic and hot gas loops to validate the design of
approximations in the physical models used for the design pumps and turbine.

manufacturing tolerances, scatter in material properties T h e knowledge of certain kinds of limits requires special tests
like Tribological tests in lox and liquid hydrogen, or materials
uncertain data from measurements during control and test testsin hydrogenenvironment ...

We distinguish the following ranges. 3.6. Derraded oroNddesign tests

nominal range o r flight Range : The targets of these important tests arc to give conridence in
the engine ; to demonstrate that component failures shall nor
. limit Range : it is the extcnsion of the nominal range propagate sequentially and to check whether the Fail
i, caused by the dXTerent sources ofscatter operationnal o r Fail safe requirements arc meet.

dcsign range : it is the limit range multiplied by factors of For example such following tests will be perfoormcd.
safcty
oNdesign ignition and shut off sequence.
3.3. Limitations
turbopumps test with degraded dynamic - seals. with OK-
A high lcvel of s a k t y requires to know the ultimate limitations design '"unbalance" on rotor to simulate a blade loss, with
of thc engines and to define thc measurcment plan to diagnosis crackedTurhinc disk.
it.
loss of Helium o n Lox turbopumps buffered Seal.
3.4. Tests
test engine with very low NPSP available.
The main problem for liquid propulsion engine is the limit
number of item for test and thc high figure of reliability and It is clear that these ultimate tests are risked and to be
safcty required. performed successfullyits needs a fine numerical modelisation
to simulate the hehaviour of the hardware under these cxtrcm
So to solvc this apparent contradiction, a optimised test logic conditions.
must be elaborated.
4. H M 60NULCAIN ENGINE
3.5. Limit Tests
This cryogenic engine developed by SEP in French has been
In particular tests must be able to identify the limitations such described in several papers [9]. [ I O ] , [ I l l , [IZ]. The figure 4
limits for high frequency stability in combustion chamber. for shows ageneralviewofthe engine.

- critical speeds in Turbopumps. cavitation in valves. maximum

loads on bearing. bursting ofhigh pressure vessels. The technical data are the followings :

- Vaccum thrust = 1025KN

 - Mixture Ratio = 5.1 For safety reasons the following ignition sequence is such that
i t is able t o cheek it step by step and t o be in position to return
Thrust chamber combustion pressure = 100 bar. in safe condition. In particular the thrust chamber is each time
ignited at low pressure.
- E 45
- IsP (vaccum) = ,430s - Pre-chilling ofthe main chamber and turbopumps.
-
-

Hydrogen Turbopump
-
Gas generator combustion pression = 80 bar.
Mass = 1350 Kg Gimbal Joint

Oxygen Main Valve

Opening ofthe main thrust chambervalves.

Ignition by pyrotechnic device and control.

,- - Turbopump
Oxygen
Combustion chamber
Gas Generator Ignition ofthe pyrotechnic starter driving the turbopumps.
Hydrogen Main
Valve Turbine Starter
- Ignition ofthe gas generator also b y a pyrotechnic igniter.
Hot Gas Valve

During this sequence 6controls are foorcseen.

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T h e figure 6 shows thc ranges for the engine

VULCAIN engine
=:

As it can be observed on the flow diagram HM60 is a gar

generator cycle engine (see figure 5 ) .

Thc configuration is the simplcst one and was preferred to the

staggcrcd-cycle for reliabiliiy and cost rcasons.

The thrust chamber is fed by separate turbopumps drived by

turbines fed in parallel.

The thrust and general mixture ratio is calibrated by the two ---_ -
,set@
: Engine Ranges
gas generator injection valves and by the hot gas valve located
at the inlet of LOX turbine. 4.1. Generaltest status
LOI L"2
TWeZ-wP l"RBoA*p
To day all the tests facilities arc full cadence running. The
figure no 7 shows a general test status.

: VULCAIN Test Status

i I
: HM/60 Flow Diagram

4
 - The most signiricant tests are the followings

4.2. Turbopump LH2 tests

;

The LH2 Turbopump has demonstrated 930 5 in hot mn

conditions. All its extrem domain was explorated. The
dlnerent critical speeds were experimentally searched and
good dumping were noted.

Agood behaviourundcr high cavitation was demonstrated

4.3. Gas generator tests

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Also all the limit ranges was explorated. The gas generator has
demonsrratcd its stability combustion without acoustic cavities
and b m e s in all the limit domain.

4.4. Engine tests

Today three engines have been tested. The point at 100 barwas
reached during 200 seconds one year only after the first test.

5.27,5 KN ENGINE

Derailed papers are dedicatcd to thts engine (131. [141.

v
The basic propulsion characteristics are the following. m ;21.5 kN engine
Engine vacuum thrust = 21,5kN

Mixture Ratio 5 2.05

Nozzle Acra Ratio a5

Chamber Presure IO bar

ISP > 320s

Mass = I 1 1 kg

The figure 8 shows the engine

The ranges of this engine are showed in figure 9 .

This engine developed by MBB (germany) is icd irom Helium

pressurized Tanks. The N204 feeds directly the injector. The
fuel before to burn cools the chamber by flowing in the
regenerative circuit,

Heating of the iuel prior to injection was indentiiied as major

improvement ior smooth combustion.
..
IJ 16 I1 1.8 13 Lo LI U U L4 U
OF (4
: 27.5 engine Ranges
5
 The combustion chamber design represents the state of art and The performance characteristics are the following :
a well improved technology by MBB like for HM7 and HM60
engine. I C consists of a stainless steel inner liner (Copper Cor max thrust : 2 400 N at 22 bar
HM7 and HM60) with milled cooling passages and a
galvanised Nickel layer for the outer closure. steady state specific impulse : 2.190 Nsikg at 22 bar
d
The injector is a coaxial type. This kind of injector is well total accumulated impulse : 40.000 Ns
known for cryogenic engines, in particular it is uses for main
thrust chamber and gas generator's HM60 engine but this is a totalcontlnnousimgulse : 15.000 Ns
newness to use it for hypergolic liquid propellents and was
therefore subject of a special technology program described in MIB : 5: 25 Ns at 22 bar
r e i l l 51.
thruster mass : 3 kg
The combustion stability is met by using 3 or 4 rows ofacoustic
cavities. 6.1. Catalyst

5.I. Test status The two main design drivcrs : low cost and European Supplier
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lead to foresee. first a double bed catalyst and to use instead of

Two test facilities are dedicated to the development ofthis 27.5 the well known american shell 4G5 ABSG catalyst the KClR
kN engines. l2GAfrom Kalic Chemic.

They are located in DLR (Germany) one is used specially to The double bed is made up of the Kalie Chcmic Iridium
the engine. the second to the stage. catalyst for the upstream bed and the second is B Ruthcnium
based catalyst.
Today the engine has been tcrted during 1200 s cumulated.
The KC catalyst is described in references [IG]. 1171

6 . SCATHRUSTER 6.2. Test results

The Attitude Control System (SCA) is powered by 2 x 3 The test are performed at TRAUEN in Germany, the figurc
hydrazine thrustcrs (400 N thrust). n' I I compares the actual results an pre-devclopment uni!
and requirements. W
These thrusters use a well known technology and profit of a
past experience form MBB-ERN0 on hydrazine satellite OCS.

A trade-otT taking into account bi-propellant and hydrazine

was performed. The hydrazine war chooscn due to the
following advantagcr : less complex so cheaper and more
reliable and safe, better scrviceability.

The figurc 10 shows a general view of a thruster.

' SCA test results

m:Exploded View 400 N Thruster

 7. INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION REFERENCES

-
ARIANE V program was approved as an ESA optional projet M. VEDRENNE
in 1985 and 1987 space conferences held in Rome and the Challenge'95 The Ariane 5 development
Hague. The European Space Agency E.S.A. has delegated the programme. Esa bulletin no 52 nov 1987
technical and financial management to the French National
Agency(C.N.E.S.). 121 : R. VIGNELLES
Space course. Aachen 1991
For Europc ARIANE V i s not only a technical challenge but
presents also a challenge in terms ofmanagement. 131 : C. J O H N S O N . JF. LlEBERHERR
Ariane 5. A mature development
The figure n' 12 shows a synthesis of the industria1 organisation Programme IAF 89-201
chart related to the development of the Ariane V liquid
propulsion engines. D.A. HEYDON
ARIANE program plans and outlook for
As it can be observed manyfirms from North to Sud from East commercial launch Services.
to West Europa are involved in the program. Each of these AIAA 90.0890
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES on July 30, 2015 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.1991-2511

firms. such of them are new coming in the ARIANE

dcvclopment, with their language, their laws, their ways to 151 : R. HERGOTT
work has to collaborate together for the succss of Ariane V. ARIANE 5 aims far the future. Aerospace America
Thanks at ALL ! July 1990

I61 : R. HERGOTT
ARIANE 5 Design principles and development

A status.
13 INT. Camm Sattelite Syst. Conli. L. A March
1990

171 : J.P. LEDEY - A . COUTROT

ARIANE 5 solid boosters stage dcvelopment.ESA
SP 293 August 1989

181 : J . BORROMEE- P. PEMPIE - J . P . LEVEQUE.

Reliability and Safety Approach for Vulcain Engine
IAF 88-228

191 H. de BOISHERAUD
Le moteur VULCAIN. ESA bulletin n'61

[IO] : I. BORROMEE - D. LEVIANDIER

VULCAIN ARIANE V main engine development
statusJAF 87

1111 : D. THEVENOT- R. SCIANDRA -

H. DEDERRA
First VULCAIN enginc tests results
IAF 88.227

1121 : S . EURY / I. GASTAL- J . BORROMEE

Development status of the VULCAIN engine
AIAA90.2251

1131 : G . S C H M I D T - H. ZEWEN
Development Status of the ARIANE 5 Engine
AIAA 87. I938
Figure 12 : Organisation chart for ARIANE 5 liquid
Propulsion Engines
 [I41 : H. HOLSTEN - J. KOLLIEN
ARIANE 5 upper stage and the HERMES
propulsion module
AIM8 9 . 2 2 s

1151 : G . SCHMIDT- G . LANGEL- H. ZEWEN

Coaxiol injector development for hypergolic
propellants

1161: W. HARTUNG - G . WEIDENBACH .

P. TIEDTKE
A new catalyst for monopropellant hydrazine
thrusters
ESASP 128

(171: H.D. SCHMITZ- P.TIEDTKE

Qualilication lest results of German " K C R I 12
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GA" catalyst for spontaneous hydrazine

decomposition
AIAA 17.848