Diagnostics and prognostics for stage separation failure

Luchinsky, Dmitry G. and Hafiychu, Vasyl and Smelyanskiy, Vadim and Hanson, John M. and Hill, Ashley D. and Werkheiser, Mary (2011) Diagnostics and prognostics for stage separation failure. In: 2011 Aerospace Conference, AERO 2011 :. IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings . IEEE, USA. ISBN 9781424473502

Abstract

An engineering assessment of the stage separation fault is reported for two-stage, vertically stacked space vehicle. The analysis combines explicit modeling of the fault evolution failure with analytical estimations based on simplifie physics-of-failure models. The following sequence of events is analyzed: (i) structural dynamics of the nozzle extension during the impact; (ii) yielding and burning through the damaged nozzle under the plume loading during engine start up; and (iii) reduction of the actual thrust and side load in the quasi-steady burning regime. The analysis reveals characteristic time-signatures of the impact-induced torque and lay down foundation for the development of a diagnosis and prognosis system for the stage separation fault.