Modelling of Composite-Propellant Flames
Abstract
We examined small deviations from axial symmetry in a solid-propellant rocket motor, and describe a 'bath-tub-vortex' effect, in which substantial axial vorticity is generated in a neighborhood of the chamber centerline. The unperturbed flow field is essentially inviscid at modest Reynolds numbers, even at the chamber walls, as has long been known, but the inviscid perturbed flow is singular at the centerline, and viscous terms are required to regularize it. We examine perturbations sufficiently small that a linear analysis is valid everywhere and larger perturbations in which a nonlinear patch is created near the centerline of radius. Our results provide and explanation of swirl experimentally observed by others, and a cautionary note for those concerned with numerical simulations of these flows, whether laminar or turbulent.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA399738
Entities
People
- J. Buckmaster
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign