Controllable Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Stability: Deep and Rapid Variable Thrust Operations
When flow and combustion processes couple with the acoustic modes of the combustion chamber, the solid rocket motors experience unsteady gas motion and associated thrust oscillation and motor vibration. The operations of the variable nozzle introduce relevant dynamic changes in the chamber flow and combustion. This article proposes a non-linear approach for the analysis of the effects of severe nozzle manoeuvres on the controllable solid rocket motor stability and provides the evidence that the acoustic wave amplitude evolution is influenced by the nozzle manoeuvre severity, shape and direction. The additional complexity in the problem of the combustion stability analysis introduced by the …
Adaptive Control of a Gas Turbine Engine for Axial Compressor Faults
An adaptive control system for a gas turbine engine which diagnoses conditions of axial compressor faults is proposed and analyzed. Nonlinear models of the gas turbine, neural networks and genetic algorithms are used in this research. The adaptive control system minimizes the reduction in gas turbine performance deriving from non-destructive faults. In the absence of faults, the system automatically performs the optimization of the engine between overhauls. Improvements concern the definition of adaptive control with faults in progress, and the real-time optimization of the engine during its operative life between overhauls. Simulation results of the suggested control system are also discus…
WAVES PROPAGATION AND LIQUID ALUMINUM PARTICLE INJECTION IN SOLID ROCKET MOTORS
A method to determine the injection of aluminium particles from the solid propellant burning surface to the core of the chamber in the presence of an acoustic wave field is developed and aluminum-droplet effects on propagation of acoustic waves in the flow of a solid rocket motor are analysed. Changes of the multiphase flow compressibility are calculated by taking into account both the translational and the pulsational motions of the aluminum droplets in consequence of the acoustic waves.
X-Ray crystallographic and computational study on uranyl-salophen complexes bearing nitro groups.
In the solid state, salophen–UO2 complexes bearing one, two, or three NO2 groups lack the pronounced ligand curvature that represents a structural hallmark for this class of compounds. A detailed structural study based on single-crystal X-ray crystallography and computational methods, comprising molecular dynamics, gas-phase Hartree Fock, and DFT calculations, was carried out to investigate the coordination properties of the uranyl cation.
Some considerations in support of solid propulsion for space debris disposal.
Some considerations on the use of solid rocket motors for space debris disposal are presented. From the synthesis of a de-orbit sample mission and a tradeoff study on costs and benefits, a solid propellant unit for end-of-life missions and debris in-space disposal missions is evaluated. The enhanced operation flexibility, the propellant development and an advanced ignition concept granting multiple and independent firing capability of a new solid propulsion concept are discussed.
Controllable Solid Rocket Motor Nozzle Operations in Conditions of Limited-Amplitude Fluctuations
A nonlinear multi scale analysis of a controllable solid rocket motor operating in conditions ranging from high-amplitude fluctuations in combustion chamber to conditions lying in limit cycle is presented and the motor behavior subsequent to some relevant nozzle operations is investigated. Effects of acoustic-vorticity-entropy wave coupling, wave steepening, rotational/viscous flow losses, steep-fronted wave losses are taken into account and oscillatory energy losses in pintle-nozzle, unsteady combustion and chamber geometry changes resulting from grain regression are included. The analysis provides evidence that the unsteady energy balance and the motor wave amplitude evolution are influen…
Liquid aluminum particle effects on propagation of waves in solid rocket motor internal flow
Aluminum-droplet effects on propagation of acoustic waves in the internal flow of a solid propellant rocket motor are analysed. Changes of the multiphase flow compressibility are calculated by taking into account both the translational and the pulsational motions of the aluminum droplets in consequence of the acoustic waves. Chemical reactions are not included in the analysis to avoid the complications arising from the non-isothermal and non-chemical-uniform combustion of aluminum in the chamber. Some corrections in current metalized propellant rocket instability calculations accounting for the results of the analysis are proposed.
Solid Rocket Motor Combustion Instabilities: Analysis of the Transition to the First Limit Cycle
A nonlinear multi time-scale analysis of the solid propellant rocket motor transition to the first limit cycle is presented and the motor behavior subsequent to some relevant transition scenarios is investigated. Important physical parameters characterizing the transition to limit cycle are then put in evidence and their cross-effects are studied. The analysis takes into account the effects of acoustic-vorticity-entropy wave coupling, waves steepening, rotational and viscous flow losses due to the steep-fronted waves, energy losses in the steepened state, nonlinear energy pathways and includes the study of the oscillatory energy losses in the nozzle, the unsteady combustion and the combusti…
Propellant non-steady burning effects on controllable solid rocket motor internal ballistics
An analysis of the unsteady non-linear behavior of the controllable solid propellant rocket motor (CSRM) consequent to rapid and relevant nozzle operation is presented. The study includes a development of a non-linear unsteady combustion model able to handle relevant and rapid chamber pressure changes typical of CSRMs. The CSRM nonlinear unsteady model is implemented according to a main solver - sub models architecture and uses different time scales. The formulation of the combustion gas mass flow rate is developed considering the propellant density, the unsteady combustion, the regression of the combustion surface and the outflow through the variable nozzle. The grain surface involved in t…
A NUMERICAL APPROACH FOR THE PREDICTION OF SOUND GENERATED BY A MISTUNED ROTOR CASCADE
A numerical investigation on the effects of blade frequency mistuning on the acoustic emission of a rotor cascade in subsonic flow is shown. A numerical method has been developed and implementd to obtain the mistuned rotor aeroelastic response and the associated acoustic waves. Both the aeroelastic and acoustic models are based on a linear unsteady small perturbations theory. The dynamic aeroelastic coupling between bending and torsional responses of each blade and the aerodynamic coupling among the blades are included in the formulation.