Rocket Combustor Validation Data for Advanced Combustion Models, Phase I

The pace and cost of developing an engine system for future explorations is strongly influenced by the inadequacies of design tools and the supporting databases. The inability to predict the internal operating environments of a combustion chamber during the design process necessitates design iterations during the development process. NASA and the Department of Defense are working to increase the fidelity and accuracy of the tools used during the design process to define these internal operating environments. Key to the development of advanced analysis tools is appropriate validation data of adequate fidelity. The goal of this STTR is to develop a comprehensive hot-fire liquid-rocket engine test database that is appropriate for the validation of advanced two and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and the anchoring of lower-fidelity analytical design tools. The initial focus will be to generate high-quality data on wall heat flux, axial energy release and exit-plane species concentration distribution.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.