Transient Modeling of High Altitude Rocket Stage Separation (Preprint)

Abstract

The direct simulation Monte Carlo method is used to model a transient stage separation of a generic sounding rocket at 100 km. Lower stage movement is included, and the flow and surface properties are simulated over the first second after thruster ignition. Both liquid and solid propellant thrusters are examined with a thrust of 25 kN and 34 kN, respectively. Four different simulation scenarios are considered that allow analysis of the impact of the stage motion, explicitly including unsteady flow effects. Unsteady flow effects are small enough that quasi-steady state modeling appears to be adequate for this general staging scenario. The influence of DSMC statistical fluctuations on the stage trajectory is insignificant compared to the total contribution of the plume force. We also examine the radiation environment, including the plume-atmosphere shock and plume-lower stage impingement.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 31, 2007
Accession Number
ADA480814

Entities

People

  • Allen Eramya
  • Jason Cline
  • Matthew Braunstein
  • Sergey F. Gimelshein

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Flow
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Gas Flow
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Radiation
  • Solid Propellants
  • Steady State
  • Surface Properties
  • Trajectories
  • Two Dimensional
  • Unsteady Flow

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster