Engine-Level Simulation of Liquid Rocket Combustion Instabilities

Abstract

A numerical investigation into combustion instability in liquid rocket engines is undertaken using large eddy simulations (LES). HPCMP resources have been applied to demonstrate the ability to simulate combustion instability in liquid rocket engines and to gain further understanding of these complex phenomena. Specifically, simulations have been used to uncover the unsteady instability mechanism in a single‐element injector. Results show that it is a combination of three events that lead to the instability and the timing of the events are critical. A second investigation has begun to apply LES to multi‐element injectors, which require significant resources. Finally, an investigation into the use of approximate boundary conditions, relevant to multi‐element injectors, showed that caution must be used when applying approximate boundary conditions. The results show that approximate boundary conditions led to different heat release locations and mixing downstream of the boundary.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA596950

Entities

People

  • Douglas G. Talley
  • Suresh Menon

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Boundaries
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Combustors
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engines
  • Injectors
  • Instability
  • Large Eddy Simulation
  • Military Research
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Simulations
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Technology.
  • Systems Analysis and Design