Combustion Coupled Flow Dynamics in Solid Rocket Motors

Abstract : The literature on pulse detonation engine (PDE) and pulse detonation rocket engine (PDRE) modeling and experiments has been reviewed with the goal of determining characteristic operational time and length scales, key parameter ranges and approaches used for evaluating device efficiency. The roles of igniter power level, duration and location on the initiation of a detonation has been assessed for gaseous mixture systems and those based on multiphase sprays. A secondary phase of the project is focused on the completion of technical papers describing the nonlinear dynamics of unstable solid rocket motors. Results from nonlinear asymptotic analysis and computation predict the initiation of the acoustic disturbances, the role they play in the generation of vorticity and thermal gradients, as well as the further evolution of these disturbances. Results are valid for pressure disturbances as large as 10% of the base value, relative to those from linear stability theories, where disturbances must be a factor of 100 smaller.