Thermo-Structural Response Caused by Structure Gap and Gap Design for Solid Rocket Motor Nozzles

The thermo-structural response of solid rocket motor nozzles is widely investigated in the design of modern rockets, and many factors related to the material properties have been considered. However, little work has been done to evaluate the effects of structure gaps on the generation of flame leaks. In this paper, a numerical simulation was performed by the finite element method to study the thermo-structural response of a typical nozzle with consideration of the structure gap. Initial boundary conditions for thermo-structural simulation were defined by a quasi-1D model, and then coupled simulations of different gap size matching modes were conducted. It was found that frictional interface treatment could efficiently reduce the stress level. Based on the defined flame leak criteria, gap size optimization was carried out, and the best gap matching mode was determined for designing the nozzle. Testing experiment indicated that the simulation results from the proposed method agreed well with the experimental results. It is believed that the simulation method is effective for investigating thermo-structural responses, as well as designing proper gaps for solid rocket motor nozzles.