Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Injector Dynamics and Combustion Processes at Supercritical Conditions

Abstract

The present AFOSR project focuses on the theoretical modeling and numerical simulation of liquid-propellant rocket engine injector flow and combustion dynamics. Emphasis is placed on cryogenic propellants in both shear and swirl co-axial injectors at supercritical conditions. The formulation is based on the full conservation equations in three dimensions, and accommodates variable properties and finite-rate chemical kinetics. Full account is taken of various high-pressure phenomena such as thermodynamic non- idealities and transport anomalies commonly observed in the transcritical regime. Furthermore, an efficient numerical framework utilizing state-of-the-art computer software and hardware technologies is implemented, such that sweeping calculations can be conducted within a realistic time frame. Various fundamental physiochemical mechanisms associated with cryogenic propellant injection, mixing, and combustion are studied systematically. Results have not only enhanced basic understanding of the subject problem, but also established a quantitative basis to identify and prioritize the key design parameters and flow variables that exert strong influences on the injector behavior in different environments.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA428947

Entities

People

  • Vigor Yang

Organizations

  • Pennsylvania State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Buoyancy
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Combustion
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computers
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Laser Induced Fluorescence
  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Mechanics
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)
  • Rocket Propulsion.