SELF POWERED TECHROLL@ TVC SYSTEM
R. J. Hall and L. L. Schoen
Chemical S y s t e m D i v i s i o n
Sunnyvale, C a l i f o r n i a
L
Abstract
The self-powered TECHROLL@ TVC s y s t e m u s e s a
p o r t i o n o f t h e p r e s s u r i z e d f l u i d from t h e TECHROLL
j o i n t t o a c t u a t e t h e movable n o z z l e c o n t a i n i n g t h e
j o i n t . The r e s u l t a n t TVC s y s t e m is s e l f - c o n t a i n e d
w i t h i n t h e n o z z l e and r e q u i r e s o n l y e x t e r n a l guid-
ance commands. E l i m i n a t i o n o f a s e p a r a t e power
supply h a s b o t h c o s t and r e l i a b i l i t y advantages.
P r e l i m i n a r y d e s i g n and e n v e l o p e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r
t h e concept have been modeled and are p r e s e n t e d i n
t h i s paper. A p o i n t d e s i g n is used t o i l l u s t r a t e
t h e concept.
I. Basic Concept
The TECHROLL@ s e a l ( F i g . 1) is a c a n s t a n t -
volume, f a b r i c - r e i n f o r c e d e l a s t o m e r i c s e a l con-
f i g u r e d w i t h two rolling c o n v o l u t e s t h a t p e r m i t
o m n i a x i a l d e f l e c t i o n of a movable n o z z l e system.
The s e a l is f i l l e d w i t h an i n c o m p r e s s i b l e f l u i d and
serves t h e d u a l f u n c t i o n o f movable n o z z l e b e a r i n g
and h o t gas seal in a r o c k e t motor i n s t a l l a t i o n .
During n o z z l e v e c t o r i n g , t h e f l u i d f l o w s around t h e
seal m a i n t a i n i n g the constant-volume geometry.
U n p r e s s u r i z e d d u r i n g s t o r a g e , t h e TECHROLL s e a l is
p r e s s u r i z e d by n o z z l e e j e c t i o n l o a d s produced d u r i n g
f i r i n g . The f a b r i c - r e i n f o r c e d seal is s u p p o r t e d
- s t r u c t u r a l l y i n a l l areas e x c e p t a t t h e r o l l i n g
c o n v o l u t e , and t h e small w i d t h o f t h e c o n v o l u t e
allows law tensile f o r c e s t o occur in t h e e l a s t o m e r -
c o a t e d r e i n f o r c e m e n t c l o t h . These f o r c e s c h a r a c t e r -
s t i c a l l y a r e l e s s than 500 l b l l i n e a r in. F a b r i c s
woven from n y l o n or K e v l a r f i b e r s can w i t h s t a n d
t h e s e l o a d s i n t h e sizes of i n t e r e s t .
TtCHROLL
TICHROLL
RUID
ECHROLL JOINT. NULL POSITION
TtCHROLL I O l l l T . ' D ~ l l t C f t DP O I i T l O N
I
Fig. 1 TECHROLL J o i n t , N u l l
and D e f l e c t e d P o s i t i o n s
Copyright American lnstitulc of Aeronnulio ilntl
Astronautics. Inr.. 197S..All righlr reservcd.
The e l a s t o m e r i c c o a t i n g is used as a filler t o
p r e v e n t l e a k a g e through t h e weave in t h e r e i n f o r c -
ing cloth.
Because t h e o n l y c o n n e c t i o n between t h e moving
and nonmoving p a r t s of t h e j o i n t is h y d r o s t a t i c , a
key f e a t u r e o f t h e TECHROLL j o i n t is t h a t i t
r e q u i r e s i n h e r e n t l y low t o r q u e t o e f f e c t motion in
t h e d e s i r e d 2 d e g r e e s of freedom. On t h e o t h e r
hand, i t e x h i b i t s a d e s i r a b l y h i g h s t i f f n e s s i n
r e s i s t i n g motion i n t h e r e m a i n i n g 4 d e g r e e s o f
freedom.
The j o i n t r o l l c e n t e r is well behaved, and f o r
c y l i n d r i c a l l y o r s p h e r i c a l l y shaped seals u n d e r any
l o a d and a t any a n g u l a r p o s i t i o n , t h e j o i n t r o l l
h a s been found t o b e on t h e j o i n t c e n t e r l i n e and
w i t h i n 0.1 in. of t h e i n t p e c t i o n of a line drawn
t h r o u g h t h e c o n v o l u t e tangency p o i n t s and t h e j o i n t
centerline.
A p o r t i o n of t h e i n t e r n a l f l u i d of t h e TECHROLI
j o i n t , which is p r e s s u r i z e d as a r e s u l t o f t h e noz-
zle e j e c t i o n l o a d s , can b e a l l o c a t e d as a source o f
power f o r a c t u a t i n g t h e movable n o z z l e s u p p o r t e d by
t h e j o i n t . F l u i d f o r a c t u a t i o n p r i m a r i l y would b e
a l l o c a t e d from an i n t e n t i o n a l g e o m e t r i c oversizing
of t h e j o i n t f a r t h a t purpose. However, t h e a l l o -
c a t i o n is s i m p l i f i e d and t h e o v e r s i z i n g r e d u c e d by
each o f t h e f o l l o w i n g performance c o n d i t i o n s :
A. A dimihishment o f t h e r e q u i r e d maximum TVC
c o m a n d a u t h o r i t y w i t h f l i g h t time
B. A diminishment of motor o p e r a t i n g chamber
p r e s s u r e w i t h f l i g h t time .
C. An i n c r e a s e in TECHROLL seal f l u i d tempera-
t u r e w i t h f l i g h t time.
I t e m (A) r e s u l t s from a d i r e c t interchange
between t h e i n t e r n a l j o i n t geometric c l e a r a n c e s
r e q u i r e d f o r v e c t o r i n g and the clearances required
f o r axial motion. T h i s is d i s c u s s e d i n more d e t a i l
i n s e c t i o n 111.
I t e m (B) r e s u l t s f o r t h e large b u t a c c o u n t a b l e
a x i a l s p r i n g rate o f t h e TECHROLL j o i n t . Each
j o i n t b u i l t has been designed t o account f o r its
a x i a l motion by a d e l i b e r a t e o v e r f i l l r e l a t i v e t o
i t s maximum o p e r a t i n g p r e s s u r e c o n d i t i o n . A t any
lower o p e r a t i n g p r e s s u r e , t h e o v e r f i l l becomes
a v a i l a b l e f o r removal.
I t e m (C) r e s u l t s from t h e r m a l e x p a n s i o n of t h e
TECHROLL f l u i d and h a s h i s t o r i c a l l y been h e l d t o a
minimum s i n c e t h e r e s u l t i n g a x i a l motion was
undesirable. I n t h e self-powered d e s i g n , however,
t h i s f e a t u r e can b e used t o a d v a n t a g e .
11. Design Requirements Unique
t o t h e Self-Powered Concept
R e a l i z a t i o n of t h e s e l f - p a v e r e d TECHROLL con-
c e p t r e q u i r e d t h e meeting of d e s i g n requirements