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Solid-Fuel Rocket Motor Efficiency Improvement Scheme

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Novel Combustion Concepts for Sustainable Energy Development

Abstract

Aluminum-based propellants are commonly used in solid rocket motors (SRM) due to their high energy densities. However, the alumina (Al2O3) particles produced during aluminum propellant combustion present performance issues. These particles flow along the combustion chamber to the nozzle in liquid form causing chemical and mechanical erosive damage. This erosive behavior should be avoided in an SRM because it decreases the ballistic performance. Since particle size and trajectory are believed to influence the impingement and accumulation of alumina droplets, which then affects erosive behavior, it is necessary to accurately predict both the particle size and trajectory. For design purposes, accurate prediction must allow for numerical simulation of particle size and trajectory for economic purposes. Recent work in particle size and trajectory using real time radiography (RTR) and numerical simulation demonstrated predictive capabilities for low solid-to-gas. Another study presented image processing methods to effectively process RTR images for larger particle sizes. Since the cost of experimental testing in is very high, due to high temperature and pressure, research in SRM field is more focused on numerical simulation. However, before simulation result could be used in SRM research CFD model validation is necessary. To provide validation for CFD modelling, a water-air two phase strait channel flow with controlled low temperature and pressure is used. In this chapter, two major parts will be covered, which include the comparison between water-air strait channel experiment and CFD results, and a quantification method for both experimental and CFD results is presented.

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Abbreviations

A c,a,w :

Area; channel, air, water

a :

Face area vector

B:

Breakup ratio

C ε1 :

Turbulence production coefficient

C ε2 :

Dissipate coefficient

C ε3 :

Buoyancy coefficient

D h :

Hydraulic diameter ≡ 4Ac/Y

D ω :

SST k-ω cross-derivative term

F 1 :

Blending function

\( f_{\beta } \) :

Vortex-stretching modification coefficient

\( f_{{\beta^{*} }} \) :

Dissipate vortex-stretching modification coefficient

\( f_{c} \) :

Curvature correction factor

G k :

Turbulence production

G nl :

Nonlinear turbulent production

G b :

Turbulent production due to buoyancy

G ω :

Production of specific dissipation rate

g :

Gravity

h :

Height of liquid body

K:

Temperature in Kelvin

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy

k 0 :

Ambient turbulent kinetic energy

m :

Mass

P :

Pressure

Q :

Volumetric flow rate

p′:

Turbulent pressure fluctuation

Re:

Reynolds number \( \equiv \) ρvD h /μ

S :

Strain rate parameter

S :

Strain rate tensor

T :

Temperature

t :

Time

u :

Time-averaged mean velocity

\( u^{\prime} \) :

Turbulent fluctuating velocity component in Reynolds Stress Model

v, V:

General velocity expression

ν:

Kinematic viscosity

V :

Volume integral vector

v g :

Grid velocity

We:

Weber number \( \equiv \) ρv 2l/σ

x :

Mass flow-rate fraction

Y :

Channel width

β :

Thermal expansion coefficient

β*:

SST k-ω thermal expansion coefficient

δ ij :

Kronecker delta \( \equiv \left\{ {\begin{array}{*{20}c} 0 & {{\text{if}}\;i \ne j} \\ 1 & {{\text{if}}\;i = j} \\ \end{array} } \right. \)

ε :

Turbulent dissipation rate

ε 0 :

Ambient turbulent dissipation rate

\( \varvec{\gamma}_{\text{eff}} \) :

Effective intermittency

γ M :

Dilation dissipation

γ y :

γap correction term

γ′:

Conditional statement of effective intermittency

σ:

Surface tension

σ k , σε, σω :

Turbulent Schmidt number

θ :

Temperature in Reynolds stress model

μ :

Dynamic viscosity

\( \mu_{t} \) :

Turbulent viscosity

ρ :

Density of fluid

ω :

Turbulence specific dissipation

ω 0 :

Ambient turbulence specific dissipation

a:

Air

b:

Two-phase breakup water outlet flow

e:

Exit

i:

Inlet

i, j, k :

Coordinate direction/tenser index

m:

Mean parameter

w:

Water

T:

Transpose

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53211, USA

    Ryoichi S. Amano, Yi-Hsin Yen & Michael L. Hamman

Authors
  1. Ryoichi S. Amano
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  2. Yi-Hsin Yen
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  3. Michael L. Hamman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryoichi S. Amano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Avinash K Agarwal

  2. Centre for Biofuels and Biotechnology Division, NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    Ashok Pandey

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Ashwani K. Gupta

  4. Flow and Combustion Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Suresh K. Aggarwal

  5. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Abhijit Kushari

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Amano, R.S., Yen, YH., Hamman, M.L. (2014). Solid-Fuel Rocket Motor Efficiency Improvement Scheme. In: Agarwal, A., Pandey, A., Gupta, A., Aggarwal, S., Kushari, A. (eds) Novel Combustion Concepts for Sustainable Energy Development. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2211-8_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2211-8_23

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2210-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2211-8

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