Ariane 5 launcher - buckling phenomena of stiffened structures in the dimensioning and qualification of engines nozzle

Paper number

IAC-06-C4.1.03

Author

Mrs. Laura Appolloni, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France

Year

2006

Abstract

In the worlds-wide scenario the European heavy lift Launcher ARIANE 5 has been one of the major and successful satellites carrier of the last decade. Thanks to the ARIANE 5 Plus Program, initiated by the European Ministerial Council in 1998, large steps forward have ever since steadily been done toward a performances increase, which allows today facing the demands of a dynamic and changing market, offering flexible launch possibilities at competitive prices for a large range of payloads’ mass and volume. 
Despite the difficult and challenging situation followed the unsuccessful flight of ARIANE 5 launcher’s first improved version at the end of 2002, carrying a VULCAIN 2 engine and an ESC-A cryogenic upper stage, CNES, the French national space agency, responsible for the ARIANE development  under an ESA contract, and the industrial prime contractors for the propulsion system and the cryogenic upper stages, SNECMA and EADS ST respectively, have devoted a large human and economic effort in developing and consolidating methodologies and technologies at the highest level of knowledge, which allowed the successful return to flight of the ECA version on February 2005. 
As main part of the activities carried out in the return to flight program, a serious commitment was devoted to establish a new and robust logic for the dimensioning and qualification of engines’ nozzle to the buckling phenomena.
This paper is based on the Liquid Propulsion Design Specifications A5-SG-0-51-CNES, on the Structures Design, Sizing and Test Specification A5-SG-1-X-10-ASAI, and on the experience acquired on the sizing against buckling of structures in the frame of the ARIANE 5 program. It will deal with global and local buckling phenomena for stiffened structures, which could occur both due to static load conditions (nozzles buckling under thrust or quasi-static actuators loads), or to dynamic ones (nozzles buckling during random response to buffeting loads). A set of potentially critical parameters will be identified, and their influence on the final results of the calculations will be discussed. 

Abstract document

IAC-06-C4.1.03.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-C4.1.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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