Abstract: An electro-hydraulic actuator for the thrust vector control (TVC) of a throttlable kerolox rocket engine is introduced in this paper. The creative feature is an integrated hydraulic power drive unit, where a constant speed kerosene motor is used to draw high pressure kerosene from the engine and to drive a constant pressure variable displacement piston pump, acting as the power supply for the actuator. Its operational mechanism, to accommodate the varying pressure from the turbo-pump of a throttling engine, lies in a pressure-reducing flow regulator inserted at the motor inlet. Another key point is that the displacement of the motor is reasonably bigger than the pump so that a sufficiently wide range of pressures can be adapted. Modeling analysis and flight test results were well matched, which show the outstanding performance of this novel type actuator.

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