TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION FEATURES OF LIQUID-PROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINE POWER ELEMENTS MANUFACTURED BY ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Today, rocket and space technologies are reaching a new level. The development of additive technologies and the use of new materials for 3D printing have a positive impact on the industry as a whole. Competition is growing rapidly in today's space rocket market, so the vast majority of space companies (public and private), such as RocketLab, SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace, FlightControl Propulsion, BlueOrigin and others, are increasingly using 3D printed products and parts. 3D printing significantly speeds up the production time of certain products, which is extremely necessary for large series production. Also, with the development of additive technologies, greater opportunities have opened up for the creation of atypical geometric shapes of certain parts. Additive technologies have several manufacturing methods (one such method is SLM (Selective Laser Melting), which was used to make an optimized bracket). The paper presents the principle of topological optimization, on the example of one bracket. The scheme of the algorithm when performing topological optimization is given. The process of topological optimization is described, i.e., the full cycle is shown. The main principle of the SIMP method is given. Based on the obtained intermediate result, the strength analysis (using the finite element method (FEM)) of the bracket before and after topological optimization for different design cases (axial compressive load, quasi-static overload load) was performed, where the final design variant was determined. This design has passed a number of static tests (in real operation) and has proven itself in the work on the product, where the intended purpose.