Experimental study of the transient filling of the liquid oxygen dome of the VINCI rocket engine
type: Dataset
description: Under the supervision of SNECMA, a new cryotechnic engine is being developed for Ariane 5. This engine, named VINCI, uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellant. It must be re-ignitable in flight. The filling transitory phase of an intermediate tank where the liquid oxygen passes through before entering the combustion chamber, has proved to be a very important stage that must be handled. This tank, called LOX dome, is directly linked to the combustion chamber through the oxygen injectors. Numerical tools are currently under development. They will allow to simulate the filling of this tank in the space. In order to validate those numerical tools, an experimental program has been launched. It involves SNECMA, the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales : National Centre for Spatial Studies) and the LEGI (Laboratoire des Ecoulements Géophysiques et Industriels : Laboratory of Geophysical and Industrial Flows). Simple and repeatable experiments must be run. They will allow to gather experimental data that will further be used as test cases for the simulations. A test bench has been brought into service step by step at the LEGI, as well as scientific instruments. Water is used in place of liquid oxygen. A similarity of flows based on the Weber number has been chosen between the real case and the experiment. The Weber number measures the relative importance of the fluid inertia compared to its surface tension. Two experimental campaigns have been realized, that have focused on the dynamic aspects of the filling transitory phase : variations of the total flow and of the pressures measured during an experiment, evaluation of the void fraction in the tank, flow visualization in the tank and at the outlet of the injectors. The scientific instrumentation used is made of a Coriolis flow-meter, pressure probes, an optical probe, and high speed cameras with a laser for the flow visualization. The first experimental campaign has studied the tank filling with water only. …
identifier: NNT: 2012GRENI089
issued: 2026-05-09T06:16:07.728319
language: fr
modified: 2026-05-09T06:16:07.728325
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD
keyword: banc-dessais
keyword: ecoulement-diphasique
keyword: ecoulement-transitoire
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsdoctoralthesis
keyword: moteur-fusee-vinci
keyword: multiphase-flow
keyword: nombre-de-weber
keyword: spiotherengineering-sciences-physicsother
keyword: theses
keyword: transitory-flow
keyword: vinci-rocket-engine
keyword: weber-number
landing page: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00876770

Experimental study of the transient filling of the liquid oxygen dome of the VINCI rocket engine
type: Distribution
format: HTML
issued: 2026-05-09T06:16:07.750503
modified: 2026-05-09T06:16:07.714318
access URL: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00876770

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent