US 11,746,729 B1
Liquid rocket engine cooling channels
Anatoli Alimpievich Borissov, Sugar Land, TX (US); and Thomas Edward Markusic, Georgetown, TX (US)
Assigned to Firefly Aerospace Inc., Cedar Park, TX (US)
Filed by FireFly Aerospace Inc., Cedar Park, TX (US)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/829,986.
Application 17/829,986 is a division of application No. 16/256,210, filed on Jan. 24, 2019, granted, now 11,391,247.
Int. Cl. B23P 15/00 (2006.01); F02K 9/97 (2006.01); F02K 9/64 (2006.01); F02K 9/52 (2006.01); F02K 9/62 (2006.01)
CPC F02K 9/972 (2013.01) [B23P 15/008 (2013.01); F02K 9/52 (2013.01); F02K 9/62 (2013.01); F02K 9/64 (2013.01)] 3 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for manufacture of a liquid rocket engine thruster body, the method comprising:
forming the thruster body to define a combustion chamber, a throat and a nozzle having a thrust axis, the thruster body having an interior surface and an exterior surface;
milling plural cooling channels in an outer surface of the thruster body exterior surface along the thrust axis, the plural cooling channels each having a depth from the outer surface defining a variable depth along the thrust axis in a circumferential orientation and in a predetermined pattern, at least some of the plural cooling channels having convergent bifurcation and divergent bifurcation to pass through a reduced circumference of the nozzle; and
covering the outer surface of the thruster body exterior surface to enclose the plural cooling channels,
wherein the predetermined pattern comprises a continuous sine wave form having an amplitude and wavelength proportional relative to an average of the variable depth.