Life prediction of cooling passage for reusable liquid rocket engine

The thrust chamber life is mainly limited by the cooling passage failure, which is caused by fatigue, creep rupture and plastic tensile instability. Based on the analysis of coupled heat transfer and stress, the Porowski method was taken to perform life prediction of the reusable liquid rocket engine cooling passage. The life of nozzle throat liner was mainly determined by the plastic tensile instability, whereas the effect of creep damage can not be ignored in the life prediction procedure. Reducing the temperature difference between the ligament and closeout and increasing the width ratio of each passage or the passage number were all in favor of prolonging the life of cooling passage. The method used for predicting the cooling passage life can provide reliable criterion for the design of reusable rocket engine.