2019 Volume 18 Pages 19-28
Many space vehicles are powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Such fuel are cryogenic fluids, so they are easy to boil and become gas-liquid two phase flow. The LE-5B-3 engine has the capability of the idle mode firing same as the LE-5B-2 engine. Assessment of flow condition at the inlet of fuel turbo pump is important to operate the engine, because the fuel may flow in saturated condition under the idle mode in principle. In a two-phase flow state, void fraction is one of the most important parameters to assess the flow. Although many types of void fraction sensors were proposed, the capacitive technique has advantages to mount on the engine from the viewpoint of size, weight, toughness. In this study, plural circular electrodes capacitive void fraction sensor is developed for LE-5B-3 engines' ground firing test. The sensor was designed based on electric field analysis, and the specification was assessed prior to the ground test. The sensor was used in qualification test, and it was succeeded in achieving stable measurement and it helped to understand the fluid state during the engine operation. The sensor design technique, the assessment results and the ground test results are discussed in this paper.
