CSAR Noon Seminar
K.C. Tang,
UIUC/CSAR
DATE: Wednesday, January 19, 2005
TIME: 12:00 Noon
PLACE: 2240 DCL
1304 W. Springfield Ave., Urbana, IL
TITLE: Modeling of Thermal Radiation in Solid Rocket Motors
ABSTRACT
Thermal radiation plays a significant role in solid rocket motor
operations. Radiation is an important mode of heat transfer in the
internal flow-field of a solid rocket motor. The primary source of
thermal radiation is the field of submicron, liquid phase
Al2O3 smoke particles formed by aluminum droplet
combustion. At the elevated pressures in rockets, the
pressure-broadened line radiation from molecular gases such as
H2O, CO2, and HCl is also important. The primary
sink for thermal radiation is the solid propellant. Absorption of
thermal radiation depends on the optical properties of the propellant
and affects the ignition and combustion of the propellant, which in
turn affects solid rocket performance. Both radiative heat feedback
from the flow-filed to the propellant and absorption of thermal
radiation within the propellant must be modeled in order to investigate
the effects of thermal radiation on solid rocket performance.
We will discuss the characteristics of thermal radiation in solid
rocket motor flow-fields and our efforts in simulating the radiant
ignition of composite solid propellant. We will show results from a
3-D Monte-Carlo simulation of thermal radiation in composite solid
propellant. We will also discuss future plans to couple the radiation
model with Rocfire to simulate the ignition of composite
propellant, and to integrate the model with the Rocstar solid
rocket simulation code.