Diagnostic Investigation of Liftoff Time of Solid Propellant Rockets
In this paper parametric analytical studies have been carried out to examine the intrinsic flow physics pertaining to the liftoff time of solid propellant rockets. Idealized inert simulators of solid rockets are selected for numerical studies to examining the preignition chamber dynamics. Detailed diagnostic investigations have been carried out using an unsteady two-dimensional k-omega turbulence model. We conjectured from the numerical results that the altered variations of the igniter jet impingement angle, turbulence level, time and location of the first ignition, flame spread characteristics, the overall chamber dynamics including the boundary layer growth history are having bearing on the time for nozzle flow chocking for establishing the required thrust for the rocket liftoff. We concluded that the altered flow choking time of strap-on motors with the pre-determined identical ignition time at the lift off phase will lead to the malfunctioning of the rocket. We also concluded that, in the light of the space debris, an error in predicting the liftoff time can lead to an unfavorable launch window amounts the satellite injection errors and/or the mission failures.
[1] V.R. Sanal Kumar and B. N. Raghunandan, Ignition Transient of Dual-
Thrust Solid Propellant Rocket Motors - A Review, 48th
AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit,
Atlanta, USA, 30 July1-Aug.-12, Paper No. AIAA 2012-4043.
[2] V. R. Sanal Kumar, B. N. Raghunandan, T. Kawakami, H. D. Kim, T.
Setoguchi, and S. Raghunathan, "Studies on Boundary Layer Blockage
and Internal Flow Choking in Dual-thrust Motors," AIAA Journal of
Propulsion and Power, Vol.24, No.2, March-April 2008.
[3] V. R .Sanal Kumar, B. N. Raghunandan, H. D. Kim, A. Sameen, T.
Setoguchi, and S. Raghunathan, "Studies on Internal Flow Choking in
Dual-thrust Motors," AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol.43,
No.5, Sep-Oct 2006, pp.1139-1143.
[4] D. Rex, P. Eichler, U. Soppa, J. Zuschlag, A. Bade, Space debris ÔÇö
Origin, evolution and collision mechanics, Acta Astronautica, Vol. 20,
1989, pp. 209-216.
[5] R. Walker, R. Crowther, G.G. Swinerd, The long-term implications of
operating satellite constellations in the low earth orbit debris
environment, Advances in Space Research, Vol.19, Issue 2, 1997, pp.
355-358.
[6] R. Janovsky, I. Kalninsch, A. Stichtemath, The meteoroid and debris
protection system for the ATV-spacecraft, Acta Astronautica, Vol. 47,
Issues 2-9, July-November 2000, pp. 281-287.
[7] M. Arunkumar. M., and V. R. Sanal Kumar, "Studies on space debris
tracking and elimination" 46th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint
Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, USA, July 2010, Paper No. AIAA
2010-7008.
[8] N. Naveen., Studies on Space Debris Tracking and Elimination, National
Conference on Aerospace Sciences and Technology, Karunya
University, Coimbatore, India, 14 September 2012.
[9] Kang, Jin S, Orbital debris mitigation using high density plasma, United
States Patent, Pub. No.: US 2013/ 0001365 A, Jan. 3, 2013.
[10] E. L. Crosson, J. B. Romine, D. Willner, S. J. Kusiak, Boost-phase
acceleration estimation, Radar Conference, 2000. The Record of the
IEEE 2000 International 2000, pp. 210 - 214.
[11] N. J. Danis, Space-based tactical ballistic missile launch parameter
estimation, Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on
Aerospace and Electronics Systems, vol. 29, issue 2, 1993, pp. 412 -
424.
[12] M. Bussiere, and B. Mora, Ariane 5 booster nozzle: components
description and dimensioning, Acta Astronautica, vol.34, pp.83-89,
1994.
[13] P. A. Park, Y. M. Choi, H. M. Choi, T. S. Cha, and B. H. Yoon, The
evaluation of critical pressure ratios of sonic nozzles at low Reynolds
numbers, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, vol.12, pp.37-41,
2001
[14] Gany Alon, Mor Marat, and Goldman Claudio, Analysis and
characteristics of choked swirling nozzle flows, AIAA journal,
vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 2177-2181, 2005.
[15] I. G. Assovskii, and S. A. Rashkovskii, Low-frequency instability of
solid rocket motors: influence of the Mach effect and charge geometry,
Combustion, Explosion and Shock Waves, vol.37, 2001, pp.321-330.
[16] A. Alper OZALP, A computational study to predict the combined effect
of surface roughness and heat flux conditions on converging nozzle
flows, Transactions of the CSME/de la SCGM, Vol. 29, No.1, 2005.
[17] Ahmed Abdelhafez, Effect of swirl on the choking criteria, shock
structure, and mixing in underexpanded supersonic nozzle airflows,
Ph.D dissertation, Department of Mechanical Engineering University of
Maryland, USA, 2009.
[18] M. Karuppasamy Pandian, K. Krishna Raj. K. Sabarinath, G. Sandeep,
V. R. Sanal Kumar, "Influence of Port Geometry on Thrust Transient of
Solid Propellant Rockets at Liftoff" International Conference on
Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering
(ICAMAME 2012), Venice, Italy, November 14-16, 2012, World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, vol.71, 2012.
[19] D. C. Wilcox, Turbulence Modeling for CFD, DCW Industries, Inc., La
Canada, CA, 1998.
[1] V.R. Sanal Kumar and B. N. Raghunandan, Ignition Transient of Dual-
Thrust Solid Propellant Rocket Motors - A Review, 48th
AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit,
Atlanta, USA, 30 July1-Aug.-12, Paper No. AIAA 2012-4043.
[2] V. R. Sanal Kumar, B. N. Raghunandan, T. Kawakami, H. D. Kim, T.
Setoguchi, and S. Raghunathan, "Studies on Boundary Layer Blockage
and Internal Flow Choking in Dual-thrust Motors," AIAA Journal of
Propulsion and Power, Vol.24, No.2, March-April 2008.
[3] V. R .Sanal Kumar, B. N. Raghunandan, H. D. Kim, A. Sameen, T.
Setoguchi, and S. Raghunathan, "Studies on Internal Flow Choking in
Dual-thrust Motors," AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol.43,
No.5, Sep-Oct 2006, pp.1139-1143.
[4] D. Rex, P. Eichler, U. Soppa, J. Zuschlag, A. Bade, Space debris ÔÇö
Origin, evolution and collision mechanics, Acta Astronautica, Vol. 20,
1989, pp. 209-216.
[5] R. Walker, R. Crowther, G.G. Swinerd, The long-term implications of
operating satellite constellations in the low earth orbit debris
environment, Advances in Space Research, Vol.19, Issue 2, 1997, pp.
355-358.
[6] R. Janovsky, I. Kalninsch, A. Stichtemath, The meteoroid and debris
protection system for the ATV-spacecraft, Acta Astronautica, Vol. 47,
Issues 2-9, July-November 2000, pp. 281-287.
[7] M. Arunkumar. M., and V. R. Sanal Kumar, "Studies on space debris
tracking and elimination" 46th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint
Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, USA, July 2010, Paper No. AIAA
2010-7008.
[8] N. Naveen., Studies on Space Debris Tracking and Elimination, National
Conference on Aerospace Sciences and Technology, Karunya
University, Coimbatore, India, 14 September 2012.
[9] Kang, Jin S, Orbital debris mitigation using high density plasma, United
States Patent, Pub. No.: US 2013/ 0001365 A, Jan. 3, 2013.
[10] E. L. Crosson, J. B. Romine, D. Willner, S. J. Kusiak, Boost-phase
acceleration estimation, Radar Conference, 2000. The Record of the
IEEE 2000 International 2000, pp. 210 - 214.
[11] N. J. Danis, Space-based tactical ballistic missile launch parameter
estimation, Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on
Aerospace and Electronics Systems, vol. 29, issue 2, 1993, pp. 412 -
424.
[12] M. Bussiere, and B. Mora, Ariane 5 booster nozzle: components
description and dimensioning, Acta Astronautica, vol.34, pp.83-89,
1994.
[13] P. A. Park, Y. M. Choi, H. M. Choi, T. S. Cha, and B. H. Yoon, The
evaluation of critical pressure ratios of sonic nozzles at low Reynolds
numbers, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, vol.12, pp.37-41,
2001
[14] Gany Alon, Mor Marat, and Goldman Claudio, Analysis and
characteristics of choked swirling nozzle flows, AIAA journal,
vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 2177-2181, 2005.
[15] I. G. Assovskii, and S. A. Rashkovskii, Low-frequency instability of
solid rocket motors: influence of the Mach effect and charge geometry,
Combustion, Explosion and Shock Waves, vol.37, 2001, pp.321-330.
[16] A. Alper OZALP, A computational study to predict the combined effect
of surface roughness and heat flux conditions on converging nozzle
flows, Transactions of the CSME/de la SCGM, Vol. 29, No.1, 2005.
[17] Ahmed Abdelhafez, Effect of swirl on the choking criteria, shock
structure, and mixing in underexpanded supersonic nozzle airflows,
Ph.D dissertation, Department of Mechanical Engineering University of
Maryland, USA, 2009.
[18] M. Karuppasamy Pandian, K. Krishna Raj. K. Sabarinath, G. Sandeep,
V. R. Sanal Kumar, "Influence of Port Geometry on Thrust Transient of
Solid Propellant Rockets at Liftoff" International Conference on
Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering
(ICAMAME 2012), Venice, Italy, November 14-16, 2012, World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, vol.71, 2012.
[19] D. C. Wilcox, Turbulence Modeling for CFD, DCW Industries, Inc., La
Canada, CA, 1998.
@article{"International Journal of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Sciences:51339", author = "Vignesh Rangaraj and Jerin John and N. Naveen and M. Karuppasamy Pandian and P. Sathyan and V. R. Sanal Kumar", title = "Diagnostic Investigation of Liftoff Time of Solid Propellant Rockets", abstract = "In this paper parametric analytical studies have been carried out to examine the intrinsic flow physics pertaining to the liftoff time of solid propellant rockets. Idealized inert simulators of solid rockets are selected for numerical studies to examining the preignition chamber dynamics. Detailed diagnostic investigations have been carried out using an unsteady two-dimensional k-omega turbulence model. We conjectured from the numerical results that the altered variations of the igniter jet impingement angle, turbulence level, time and location of the first ignition, flame spread characteristics, the overall chamber dynamics including the boundary layer growth history are having bearing on the time for nozzle flow chocking for establishing the required thrust for the rocket liftoff. We concluded that the altered flow choking time of strap-on motors with the pre-determined identical ignition time at the lift off phase will lead to the malfunctioning of the rocket. We also concluded that, in the light of the space debris, an error in predicting the liftoff time can lead to an unfavorable launch window amounts the satellite injection errors and/or the mission failures.
", keywords = "Liftoff, Nozzle Choking, Solid Rocket, Takeoff.", volume = "7", number = "6", pages = "1011-6", }
