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Thermal-Flow Code for Modeling Gas Dynamics and Heat Transfer in Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor JointsA new, thermal-flow simulation code, called SFLOW. has been developed to model the gas dynamics, heat transfer, as well as O-ring and flow path erosion inside the space shuttle solid rocket motor joints by combining SINDA/Glo, a commercial thermal analyzer. and SHARPO, a general-purpose CFD code developed at Thiokol Propulsion. SHARP was modified so that friction, heat transfer, mass addition, as well as minor losses in one-dimensional flow can be taken into account. The pressure, temperature and velocity of the combustion gas in the leak paths are calculated in SHARP by solving the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations while the heat conduction in the solid is modeled by SINDA/G. The two codes are coupled by the heat flux at the solid-gas interface. A few test cases are presented and the results from SFLOW agree very well with the exact solutions or experimental data. These cases include Fanno flow where friction is important, Rayleigh flow where heat transfer between gas and solid is important, flow with mass addition due to the erosion of the solid wall, a transient volume venting process, as well as some transient one-dimensional flows with analytical solutions. In addition, SFLOW is applied to model the RSRM nozzle joint 4 subscale hot-flow tests and the predicted pressures, temperatures (both gas and solid), and O-ring erosions agree well with the experimental data. It was also found that the heat transfer between gas and solid has a major effect on the pressures and temperatures of the fill bottles in the RSRM nozzle joint 4 configuration No. 8 test.
Document ID
20000065640
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Wang, Qunzhen
(Thiokol Propulsion Brigham City, UT United States)
Mathias, Edward C.
(Thiokol Propulsion Brigham City, UT United States)
Heman, Joe R.
(Thiokol Propulsion Brigham City, UT United States)
Smith, Cory W.
(Thiokol Propulsion Brigham City, UT United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Meeting Information
Meeting: Joint Propulsion
Location: Huntsville, AL
Country: United States
Start Date: July 16, 2000
End Date: July 19, 2000
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS8-38100
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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