Thrust Control Method and Technology of Variable-Thrust Liquid Engine for Reusable Launch Rocket

Abstract

A high-precision variable-thrust control method based on real-time measurement of pintle displacement and closed-loop feedback control is proposed to solve the technical problems of deep throttling variable-thrust regulation and control of pintle liquid rocket engines (LRE). By optimizing the system structure and control parameters, the closed-loop control of displacement with high precision and a fast response under a wide range of variable thrust can be realized, and thus the large-range, fast-response, and high-precision control of the chamber pressure, equivalent to thrust, can be indirectly realized. The chamber pressure response time is not more than 0.3 s, the overshoot is not more than ±3%, and the pulsation amplitude is not more than ±5%, which can meet the technical requirements of the large-range thrust adjustment and control of variable-thrust LRE of reusable launch rockets. The proposed variable-thrust LRE thrust control system is simple, reliable, and easy to use and maintain, which solves the problem of the large range, high precision, and fast response of thrust adjustment and control. The proposed system can provide important technical support for carrier rocket recycling and launch cost reduction. This is the first time a closed-loop control method of displacement of an integrated gas generator/flow regulator to achieve a 5:1 large-range continuous-variable-thrust control for the LRE of a reusable launch rocket has been proposed.

Keywords

• reusable launch rocket
• variable-thrust liquid rocket engine
• integrated flow regulator/gas generator
• thrust control
• displacement closed-loop control