Single-Piece Rocket Injector with Intersecting Bore Manifolds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rocket engine injection elements face challenges in achieving uniform fuel distribution and miniaturization while maintaining manufacturing quality, as they require multiple components with tight tolerances, leading to increased defects and complexity.
Innovation Solution
An injection element with a first fuel duct and multiple second fuel ducts, where each bore intersects with at least one second fuel duct and another bore, forming a T-shaped intersection, allowing for an integrally formed, single-piece design that reduces the number of components and enhances manufacturing ease and quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple components with tight tolerances are used to achieve uniform fuel distribution, then fuel distribution uniformity is improved, but manufacturing complexity and defect rate increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate components (front plate, injection elements, fuel ducts) into a single integrally formed injection element. This eliminates the need for multiple parts with tight tolerances while maintaining uniform fuel distribution through the precisely engineered bore intersections within the single piece.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection element is segmented into multiple functional bores and fuel ducts that intersect to create separate fuel component pathways. This segmentation allows uniform distribution of different fuel components while maintaining a single-piece structure that simplifies manufacturing.
2Productivity
If the size of injection elements is minimized to reduce mass flow, then thrust control is improved, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses three-dimensional bore intersections within the single-piece injection element to control fuel flow paths and mass flow rates. By utilizing spatial relationships and intersection geometries in multiple dimensions, precise thrust control is achieved without requiring extremely small component sizes that would be difficult to manufacture.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are used to form the injection element, then design flexibility is improved, but assembly complexity and defect likelihood increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (front plate, injection elements, fuel ducts) into a single integrally formed piece, eliminating assembly steps and potential defects from joining operations while maintaining design flexibility through the internal bore and duct geometry.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an injection element 100 for an engine and further relates to a front plate for an injector head having an injection element as well as a method for manufacturing an injection element. The injection element 100 comprises a first fuel duct 110 for a first fuel component and a plurality of second fuel ducts 120 for a second fuel component arranged around the first fuel duct. A plurality of bores 130 is formed in the injection element 100, each intersecting with at least one of the plurality of second fuel ducts 120 and further intersecting with another one of the plurality of bores 130. The plurality of bores 130 forms a manifold configured to guide the second fuel component to the second fuel ducts 120.