Rocket Engines and
Thrust Chambers

LV Propulsion
Aestus
Vulcain
Vulcain 2
HM 7B
Vinci
RS 72
300 N cryo. Engine

Vinci Rocket Engine - Thrust Chamber

A cryogenic propellant rocket engine for the ESC-B upper stage of Ariane 5.

Snecma's Vinci engine will be used on the ESC-B upper stage of Ariane 5 increasing the payload performance to 12 tonnes. It will also be possible to re-ignite the Vinci engine up to five times. Once flight validated, the Vinci engine will replace the HM-7B cryogenic upper stage engine of ESC-A.

The Ottobrunn facility of EADS Astrium is responsible for the development and manufacture of the Vinci thrust chamber comprising:

Regeneratively cooled combustion chamber.
Coaxial propellant mixing injectors.

The LOX and LH2 propellant valves for the Ariane 5 main stage are also manufactured and produced at the Ottobrunn Production Centre.

The Vinci engine is characterised by four sophisticated features:

Expander Cycle
Vinci uses the propellant combination LOX/LH2 and is the very first European expander cycle engine. Unlike traditional turbopump cryogenic engines, the Vinci expander cycle engine does not need a gas generator to drive the LOX and LH2 turbo-pumps.

Liquid hydrogen is also used as an engine coolant. After flowing through a cooling jacket the hydrogen is fed to turbines that drive the propellant pumps. Downstream of the turbines the hydrogen is injected into the combustion chamber. Compared to other engine cycles, Vinci will offer substantial advantages, including

	High specific impulse.
	Engine simplicity compared with gas generator cycle engines consequently lowering production costs while achieving a higher thrust level.

Vinci Thrust Chamber Assembly

The main challenge for injector and combustion chamber designers is to provide high combustion efficiencies while achieving maximum heat transfer from the hot gases to the coolant fluid, since the coolant has to collect sufficient heat to drive the turbines. This will be achieve by:

	Coaxial element injector.
	Integral chamber design comprising a copper alloy liner with a galvanic nickel jacket.
	Counter flow coolant routing.
	High aspect ratio rectangular cooling channels.

Extendable Nozzle
After separation of the upper stage from the main core stage, the extendable nozzle is deployed into its operational position. This allows the use of a large nozzle extension for maximum engine efficiency with minimum stage length, interstage skirt length and associated mass saving.

Composite Nozzle Material
Both the fixed and extendable nozzle sections are made from a C/SiC material recently developed by EADS Astrium.

Ignition System
Vinci incorporates a reignition system that enables multiple engine ignitions during the stage's flight. The reference configuration is an independent high pressure ignition system that operates on gaseous hydrogen and oxygen.

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Brochure
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