During development and operation of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), 27 ground test failures of sufficient severity to be termed 'major incident' have occurred. Resources including NASA Failure Investigation Board reports, contractor failure reports, originally recorded data, along with engineering notes, data bases, and presentations connected with the failures were available for compilation into the engine failure review presented in this paper. Most SSME failures were a result of design deficiencies stemming from inadequate definition of dynamic loads. High cycle fatigue was the most frequent mechanism leading to failure. Eighteen of the 27 failures occurred during constant power level operation. Formal board reports were not available for all failures. Therefore, the failure history presented in this paper is not complete or of uniform quality.


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    Title :

    Characteristics of space shuttle main engine failures


    Additional title:

    Schadenursachen beim Haupttriebwerk der Raumfaehre


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    AIAA-Papers ; Jul ; 1-13


    Publication date :

    1987


    Size :

    13 Seiten, 12 Bilder, 7 Tabellen, 3 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English