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Press Releases |
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Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC |
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Elegant Solutions to Complex Problems |
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****PRESS RELEASE**** For Immediate Release Date: September 12, 2007 After more than 40 years of research into combustion instability, widely recognized as the most challenging propulsion issue of our day, Dr. G. A. Flandro has had a major breakthrough and developed an unprecedented capability to predict the actual stability characteristics of combustion devices, including rockets (liquid, solid & hybrid), turbojet combustors and augmentors and even scramjets. The Universal Combustion Device Stability (UCDS™) model is a self-consistent analytic model and computational algorithm, which uses only known or measurable parameters. Providing far more than a simple yes/no answer, UCDS can quantify the risk of combustion instability, characterize the wave dynamics, and predict the impact of instability on hardware. With this detailed physical understanding, it is now possible to eliminate or mitigate combustion instability risks early in a program, without having to resort to expensive cut-and-try test programs. In partnership with Dr. Flandro, Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC www.gloyer-taylor.com is now commercially offering combustion stability prediction services using the UCDS process. In addition to quantifying their risk of instability, developers can use the Gloyer-Taylor UCDS services to examine the effect of design modifications in order to eliminate or mitigate stability issues. With the support of Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, developers can reduce the cost and risk of developing new combustion devices or modifying existing devices. Background: Combustion instability represents the single greatest technical risk facing any combustion device development program, and since there has been no effective means to address combustion instability (until UCDS), even a hint that a new combustion device has a combustion stability issue can place a program on the fast track to cancellation. Modern political and financial constraints prohibit the use of costly cut-and-try techniques that have been historically needed to mitigate a stability issue. This paradigm is especially troubling to propulsion developers, since demands for high performance almost guarantee that stability issues will arise. However, UCDS now provides an effective means to predict the stability characteristics of a combustion device early in the development process. It is now possible to provide solid answers to dreaded questions of; ‘how do you know there won’t be a stability issue?’ & ‘how can you guarantee that you can eliminate stability issues?’ With this capability, developers can bypass costly cut-and-try test programs and avoid the program cancellation axe. About UCDS: The UCDS Model achieves this unprecedented predictive capability by carefully building on the knowledge base established by many decades of effort by a multitude of investigators. The mathematical approach applied is a major extension of the energy-balance formulation, with careful attention is devoted to accommodating all verifiable energy gain and loss mechanisms. Unlike previous ad hoc attempts, the UCDS model uses calculations that are based entirely on known or measurable parameters. With UCDS it is now possible to predict the actual wave geometry, time history of the wave amplitude, limit amplitude reached by the wave system, and accompanying changes in the combustion chamber state properties. Design of corrective procedures can now be accomplished with full physical understanding of the action of damping mechanisms. The validation of the UCDS predictive capabilities has been accomplished by analyzing of several engines, including the Rocketdyne F-1 Saturn V main engine and the recent FASTRAC engine. In each of these cases, UCDS accurately predicted the wave amplitudes observed in each of these engines, as well as the waveforms characterized in the test data. About Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC: Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC is focused on the development and commercialization of promising technologies in areas including aerospace, propulsion, structures, biomedical and commercial products. The company is organized into specialized Labs, which are focused on specific opportunities. Key aerospace Labs include: Flandro Stability Lab is focused on the application of the breakthrough UCDS capability to eliminate the high cost and risk of combustion instability which has plagued the propulsion industry. PacAstro Lab is focused on developing rocket propulsion technologies and associated products. Past efforts include the PA-X Suborbital Rocket, and the PA-E15k and PA-E30k rocket engines. Current efforts include NORSE rocket system, the GTV high performance monopropellant, and the QpV hybrid rocket. Aspect Engineering Lab is focused on developing innovative composite structure technologies and approaches for use in aerospace systems. Past efforts include the Common Bulkhead Integral Structure developed for Orbital Sciences Corporation for use on the AFRL Upper Stage Flight Experiment (USFE) rocket system. Current efforts include the development of a high pressure composite liquid oxygen tank. About Dr. G.A. Flandro: Dr. Gary Flandro is one of the leading experts in combustion instability and has been researching this challenging problem for over 40 years. Early in his career, Dr. Flandro gained notoriety with his discovery of the Grand Tour opportunity leading to the successful first and second Voyager explorations, and was the recipient of the 1998 NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for this discovery. In 2007, Dr. Flandro joined Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC as Chief Engineer and partner. Dr. Flandro also holds the Boling Chair of Excellence in Propulsion and is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. For More Information Contact: Mr. Paul Gloyer President Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC 2212 Harton Blvd Tullahoma, TN 37388 (931) 581-6134 or (931) 393-5108 info@gloyertaylor.com *** |