Compressible flow in slab rocket motors

by 1977- Maicke, Brian A.

In this thesis, the compressible flow inside a rectangular, porous channel is considered. A Rayleigh-Janzen perturbation is applied to the inviscid, steady, two-dimensional, isentropic flow equations. Closed form expressions are derived for the main properties of interest. The results of the study are verified via numerical simulation, with laminar and turbulent models, and with available experimental data. The critical point where the flow field reaches sonic conditions is determined analytically. Our analysis captures the steepening of the velocity profiles that has been reported in several studies using either computational or experimental methods. Explicit design criteria are presented to quantify the effects of compressibility in rockets and other two-dimensional injection-driven chambers. Compressibility effects on motor performance are quantified through the use of ballistics calculations to determine the performance of a motor. iv