Liftoff thrust augmentation of sounding rockets using externally facilitated pintle induced expansion waves

Baskaran, RV and Harisrinivasan, U and Sanal Kumar, VR (2018) Liftoff thrust augmentation of sounding rockets using externally facilitated pintle induced expansion waves. In: 54th AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, 2018, 9 - 11 July 2018, Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Abstract

The frequency of launching sounding rockets is increasing worldwide and the need of liftoff thrust augmentation without altering the basic design is highly inevitable for such rockets for meeting its various flexible mission requirements lucratively. In this paper, we have carried out detailed numerical studies on liftoff thrust augmentation of sounding rockets using expansion waves generated by the externally fixed and optimized convex-shaped pintle at the Launchpad. The numerical simulations have been carried out using a validated 2D density based implicit k-ω SST turbulence model. As a part of the code validation and calibration, the numerically predicted boundary-layer blockage at the Sanal flow choking condition for the channel flow is verified using the closed-form analytical model of Sanal Kumar V. R. et al. (AIP Advances, 8, 025315, 2018) and found excellent agreement with the exact solution. The parametric studies have been carried out with the optimized pintle nozzle of Roshan Vignesh Baskaran et al. [2] with three different positions of secondary deflection for generating desirable expansion waves without altering the nozzle area-ratio and further we compared the results with an identical rocket nozzle without any pintle. We observed that the location of the convex-shaped pintle dictating the shape of the divergent flow region of the rocket nozzle is having a significant bearing on the strength of the expansion wave. The novelty of the integrated shape is that, the aerodynamically optimized and externally facilitated convex-shaped pintle ensures a shock-less flow at the nozzle exit during the liftoff. We conjectured that the prudent aerodynamic shape optimization of the pintle, with Launchpad connecting slender strut, can possibly create desirable expansion waves for an augmented liftoff thrust without altering the basic design of the rockets. This study is a pointer towards for the design optimization of a portable Launchpad integrated with a convex-shaped pintle for improving the payload capability and/or the liftoff thrust of sounding rockets for various industrial applications for humankind.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Publication:	2018 Joint Propulsion Conference
Publisher:	American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA.
Keywords:	Aerodynamics; Boundary layers; Expansion; Propulsion; Shape optimization; Sounding rockets; Turbulence models, Aerodynamic shape optimization; Code validation; Design optimization; Mission requirements; Parametric study; Payload capabilities; SST turbulence models; Thrust augmentation, Rocket nozzles
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Aerospace Engineering(Formerly Aeronautical Engineering)
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2022 06:17
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2022 06:17
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/75751

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