Engine Cycle Analysis - The First Step of the New Rocket Engine, LE-X

The LE-X engine, which is a successor of the LE-7A engine for the H-2A rocket, is a next generation booster rocket engine. The goal of the LE-X development is to meet the requirements for higher reliability and lower production cost with equivalent performance as the LE-7A. The LE-X engine development is done by the Space Transportation Mission Directorate , and the JAXA's Engineering Digital Innovation Center (JEDI) develops and researches many kinds of computer simulation technology for the new engine development. The first step of the new rocket engine development is an engine cycle analysis. This page will introduce what kind of analysis is done in the cycle analysis.

A rocket engine is a monster of the huge number of pipes, however, in order to develop high performance rocket engine, it is important to calculate pressure, temperature and flow-rate precisely at each engine component. The "Engine Cycle Analysis" calculates pressure, temperature and other physical values of the whole rocket engine to investigate each component structural strength or hydraulic performance. Therefore, the engine cycle analysis is the most fundamental but important simulation.

Each engine component is designed based on the performance calculated from the engine cycle analysis. One of the important missions of the JEDI is to provide cutting edge numerical simulations by using the JSS, JAXA Supercomuter System, and contributes to the new engine development.