Investigation of the Flame-Acoustic Wave Interaction during Axial Solid Rocket Instabilities.

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is the determination of the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the driving of axial instabilities by solid propellant flames. During the report period, the behavior of a premixed flame stabilized on the side wall of a duct in the presence of an axial acoustic field was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The developed model solutions show that driving occurs due to the combustion process heat addition while outside the reaction zone the waves are damped by viscous processes. This damping increases as the thickness of the acoustic boundary layer increases. Experimental facilities for studying oscillating duct flow sin the presence and absence of flames were developed. Cold flow studies verified the presence of an excess velocity region within the acoustic boundary layer (i.e., the Richardson Effect) and the dependence of the boundary layer thickness upon the frequency and wall injection velocity. Reactive flow studies showed that the behavior of the flame depends upon its location relative to the standing acoustic wave. When the flame was positioned next to a velocity antinode, unexpected instabilities appeared on its surface eventually resulting in severe flame distortion. Also, the measured C-C and C-H radiation signals were periodic and they oscillated with the same frequency as the acoustic wave. Keywords: Flame-Acoustic interactions; and Flame driving.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1985
Accession Number
ADA158559

Entities

People

  • B. R. Daniel
  • B. T. Zinn

Organizations

  • Georgia Tech

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Fields
  • Acoustic Velocity
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Boundary Layer
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Combustion
  • Creep
  • Engineering
  • Frequency
  • Heat Transfer
  • Layers
  • Propellants
  • Rocket Engines
  • Security
  • Solid Propellants

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Rocket Propulsion.