Three-Dimensional Simulation of Pressure Fluctuation in a Granular Solid Propellant Chamber within an Ignition Stage

The effects of the conditions of the ignition system in the propellant chamber of a gun system using a granular solid propellant are numerically investigated with respect to ignition performance criteria such as the differential pressure generation between the breech and the projectile base. Simulations, in which the length of the primer and the igniter mass are varied, are performed using a solid/gas two-phase fluid dynamics code for three-dimensional calculation of gas flow and discrete solid propellant particles. This code simulates the igniter combustion in the primer, the movement of burning solid propellant grains, and the formation of pressure gradients inside the chamber in the ignition process. The differential pressures between the breech and the projectile base measured in experiments are well predicted by the simulations for various igniter conditions. In the process of igniting the solid propellant, the propellant grains are accelerated toward the projectile base by the igniter gas flows from the primer vents. Fixed-particle simulation is also carried out in order to examine the effects of the movement of the solid propellant grains on the chamber pressure profile. The simulated results reveal that the movement of solid propellant grains causes differential pressure fluctuations, which depend on the discharge from the primer vents and the locations of these vents.