COMBUSTION INSTABILITY
Hybrid propulsion is well suited to applications or CONFIGURATION
There seem to be two types of combustion instability: a
set of acoustic resonance of pressure oscillations,
which can occur with any rocket motor, and vortes
shedding phenomenon, which occurs only with
particular types of grains
Acoustic Instabilities
When a solid propellant rocket motor experiences
unstable combustion, the pressure in the interior
gaseous cavities (made up by the volume of the port or
perforations, fins, slots, conical or radial groves)
oscillates by at least 5% and often by more than 30% of
the chamber pressure. When instability occurs, the heat
transfer to the burning surfaces, the nozzle, and the
insulated case walls is greatly increased, the burning
rate, chamber pressure, and thrust usually increase, but
the burning duration is thereby decreased. The change
in the thrust-time profile causes significant changes in
the flight path, and at times this can lead to failure of
the mission. If prolonged and if the vibration energy
level is high, the instability can cause damage to the
hardware, such as over- heating the case and causing
a nozzle or case failure. Instability is a that should be
avoided and must be carefully investigated and
remedied if it occurs during a motor development
program. Final designs of motors must be free of such
instability.
There are fundamental differences with liquid propellant
combustion beha vior. In liquid propellants there is a
fixed chamber geometry with a rigid wall; liquids in feed
systems and in injectors that are not part of the
oscillating gas in the combustion chamber can interact
strongly with the pressure fluctuations. In solid
propellant motors the geometry of the oscillating cavity
increases in size as burning proceeds and there are
stronger damping factors, such as solid particles and
energy absorbing viscoelastic materials In general,
combustion instability problems do not occur frequently
or in every motor development. and, when they do
occur, it is rarely the cause for a drastic sudden motor
failure or disintegration. Nevertheless, drastic failures
have occurred.
Vortex-Shedding Instability
This instability is associated with burning on the inner
surfaces of slots in the grain. Large segmented rocket
motors have slots between segments, and some grain
configurations have slots that intersect the centerline of
the grain. Figure 13-8 shows that hot gases from the
burning slot surfaces enter the main flow in the
perforation or central cavity of the grain. The hot gas
from the slot is turned into a direction toward the
nozzle. The flow from the side stream restricts the flow
emanating from the upstream side of the perforation
and in effect, reduces the port area. This restriction
causes the upstream port pres sure to rise; sometimes
there is a substantial pressure rise. The interaction of
the two subsonic gas flows causes turbulence. Vortices
form and are periodi- cally shed or allowed to flow
downstream, thereby causing an unstable flow pattern.
The vortex shedding patterns can interact with the
acoustic instabil ities. Reference 13-21 gives a
description and Ref. 13-22 a method for analyz ing
these vortex-shedding phenomena. The remedy usually
is to apply inhibitors to some burning surfaces or to
change the grain geometry; for example, by increasing
the width of the slot, the local velocities are reduced
and the vortices become less pronounced
APPLICATIONS AND PROPELLANTS
missions requiring throt tling, command shutdown
and restart, long-duration missions requiring stor-
able nontoxic propellants, or infrastructure
operations (manufacturing and launch) that would
benefit from a non self-deflagrating propulsion
system Soch applications would include primary
boost propulsion for space launch vehicles, upper
stages, and satellite maneuvering systems. Many
early hybrid rocket motor developments were
aimed at target and low cost tactical missile
applications development Other development
efforts focused on high energy upper-stage motors.
In recent years develop- ment efforts have
concentrated on booster prototypes for space
launch appli cations. Design requirements for one
target missile, which entered production in the early
1970s, included a nominal thrust of 2200 N with an
8:1 throttling range, storable liquid oxidizer, and
engine shutdown on command. Selected
propellants included a nitrogen tetroxide/nitrous
oxide oxidizer and a hydro- carbon fuel grain
composed of polymethylmethacrylate (plexiglass)
and magnesium
Values of vacuum-delivered specific impulse for
such storable propellant systems range between
230 and 280 sec. In another pro- gram (Ref. 15-3),
a hybrid motor was developed for
high-performance upper- stage applications with
design requirements that included a nominal thrust
Jevel of 22,240 N and an 8:1 throttling range.
Oxygen difluoride was selected As the oxidizer for
use with a lithium hydride/polybutadiene fuel grain.
Analytical and experimental investigations have
been made using other high- performance
propellants. High-energy oxidizers include
fluorine/liquid oxygen mixtures (FLOX) and
chlorine/fluorine compounds such as CIF, and CIF,
Complementary high-energy fuels are typically
hydrides of light metals, such as beryllium, lithium,
and aluminum, mixed with a suitable polymeric
binder (Ref. 15-4). Delivered vacuum-specific
impulse levels for these high-energy hybrid
propellants are in the 350 to 380 sec range,
depending on nozzle expan- sion ratio. Combustion
efficiencies of 95% of theoretical values have been
achieved in tests with these propellants; however,
none of these exotic formula- tion systems have
seen use on flight vehicles.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND GRAIN
A characteristic operating feature of hybrids is that
the fuel regression rate is typically less than
one-third that of composite solid rocket propellants.
It is very difficult to obtain fuel regression rates
comparable to propellant burn rates in solid rocket
motors. Consequently, practical high-thrust hybrid
motor designs must have multiple perforations
(combustion ports) in the fuel grain to produce the
required fuel surface area. The performance of a
hybrid motor (defined in terms of delivered specific
impulse) depends critically on the degree of flow
mixing attained in the combustion chamber. High
performance stems from high combustion efficiency
that is a direct function of the thoroughness with
which unburned oxidizer exhausting from the
combustion port is mixed with unburned fuel from
within sublayers of the boundary layer. Multiple
combustion ports serve to promote high com-
bustion efficiency as a result of the turbulent mixing
environment for unreacted fuel and oxidizer in the
mixing chamber region downstream of the fuel
grain.The number of combustion ports required is a
motor optimization prob lem that must account for
the desired thrust level, acceptable shifts in mixture
ratio during burn, motor length and diameter
constraints, and desired oxidizer mass velocity.
Hybrid rocket motor design typically begins by
specifying a desired thrust level and a propellant
system. Subsequently, selection of the desired
operating oxidizer-to-fuel mixture ratio (O/F ratio)
determines the propellant characteristic velocity.
Once the characteristic velocity and mixture ratio
are specified, the total propellant flow rate and the
subsequent split between oxidizer and fuel flow
rates necessary to produce the required thrust level
can be computed. The necessary fuel flow rate in a
hybrid is determined by the total fuel surface area
(perimeter and length of the combustion ports) and
the fuel regression rate. As will be shown in
subsequent sections, the fuel regression rate is
primarily determined by the oxidizer mass velocity,
also called oxidizer flux. The oxidizer flux is equal to
the mass flow rate of oxidizer in a combustion port
divided by the port cross-sectional area. Thus the
fuel flow rate is intrinsically linked to the oxidizer
flow rate and cannot be independently specified, as
in a liquid rocket engine.
.PROPELLANT CHARACTERISTICS
The propellant selection is critical to rocket motor
design. The desirable pro- pellant characteristics are
listed below and are discussed again in other parts of
this book. The requirements for any particular motor will
influence the prio- rities of these characteristics:
1. High performance or high specific impulse; really this
means high gas temperature and/or low molecular
mass.
2. Predictable, reproducible, and initially adjustable
burning rate to fit the
need of the grain design and the thrust-time
requirement. 3. For minimum variation in thrust or
chamber pressure, the pressure or burning rate
exponent and the temperature coefficient should be
small 4. Adequate physical properties (including bond
strength) over intended operating temperature range.
the
5. High density (allows a small-volume motor). 6.
Predictable, reproducible ignition qualities (such as
reasonable ignition
verpressure)
7. Good aging characteristics and long life. Aging and
life predictions depend on the propellant's chemical and
physical properties, the cumu- lative damage criteria
with load cycling and thermal cycling (see page 461),
and actual tests on propellant samples and test data
from failed
motors. 8. Low absorption of moisture, which often
causes chemical deterioration 9. Simple, reproducible,
safe, low-cost, controllable, and low-hazard man-
ufacturing.
10. Guaranteed availability of all raw materials and
purchased components over the production and
operating life of the propellant, and good control over
undesirable impurities.
11. Low technical risk, such as a favorable history of
prior applications. 12. Relative insensitivity to certain
energy stimuli described in the next sec- tion.
13. Non-toxic exhaust gases. 14. Not prone to
combustion instability (see next chapter).
Some of these desirable characteristics will apply also
to all materials and components used in solid motors,
such as the igniter, insulator, case, or safe and arm
device. Several of these characteristics are sometimes
in conflict with each other. For example, increasing the
physical strength (more binder and or more crosslinker)
will reduce the performance and density. So a mod-
ification of the propellant for one of these characteristics
can often cause changes in several of the others.
Several illustrations will now be given on how the
characteristics of a propellant change when the
concentration of one of its major ingredients is
changed. For composition propellants using a polymer
binder [hydroxyl-ter- minated polybutadiene (HTPB)]
and various crystalline oxidizers, Fig. 12-3 shows the
calculated variation in combustion or flame
temperature, average product gas molecular weight,
and specific impulse as a function of oxidizer
concentration; this is calculated data taken from Ref.
12-2, based on a thermochemical as explained in 5.
The maximum values of I, and T, occur at
approximately the same concentration of oxidizer. In
practice the optimum percentage for AP (about 90 to
93%) and AN (about 93%) cannot be achieved,
because concentrations greater than about 90% total
solids (including the aluminum and solid catalysts)
cannot be processed in a mixer. A castable slurry that
will flow into a mold requires 10 to 15% liquid content.
The propellant feed system has two principal
functions: to raise the pressure of the propellants
and to feed them to one or more thrust chambers.
The energy for these functions comes either from a
high-pressure gas, centrifugal pumps. or a
combination of the two.GAS PRESSURE FEED
SYSTEMS
One of the simplest and most common means of
pressurizing the propellants is to force them out of
their respective tanks by displacing them with
high-pres- sure gas. This gas is fed into the
propellant tanks at a controlled pressure, thereby
giving a controlled propellant discharge. Because
of their relative sim- plicity, the rocket engines with
pressurized feed systems can be very reliable.
Reference 6-3 includes a design guide for
pressurized gas systems.
A simple pressurized feed system is shown
schematically in Fig. 1-3. It consists of a
high-pressure gas tank, a gas starting valve, a
pressure regulator, propellant tanks, propellant
valves, and feed lines. Additional components,
such as filling and draining provisions, check
valves, filters, flexible elastic bladders for
separating the liquid from the pressurizing gas, and
pressure sensors or gauges, are also often
incorporated. After all tanks are filled, the
high-pressure gas valve in Fig. 1-3 is remotely
actuated and admits gas through
The TURBOPUMP FEED SYSTEMS AND
ENGINE CYCLES
principal components of a rocket engine with one
type of turbopump system are shown in the
simplified diagram of Fig. 1-4. Here the propellants
are pressurized by means of pumps, which in turn
are driven by turbines. These turbines derive their
power from the expansion of hot gases Engines
with turbopumps are preferred for booster and
sustainer stages of space launch vehicles,
long-range missiles, and in the past also for aircraft
performance augmentation. They are usually
lighter than other types for these high thrust, long
duration applications. The inert hardware mass of
the rocket engine (without tanks) is essentially
independent of duration. Examples can be seen In
Figs 6-1 and 69 and also in Refs. 6-1, 6-2, and 6-6.
For aircraft perfor mance augmentation the rocket
pump can be driven by the jet engine. as in Ref.
6-12. From the turbopump feed system options
depicted in Fig. 6-2. the designer can select the
most suitable concept for a particular application.
An engine crele for turbopump-fed engines
describes the specific propellant flow paths through
the major engine components, the method of
providing the hot gas to one or more turbines, and
the method of handling the turbine exhaust gases.
There are open cycles and closed cycles. Open
denotes that the working fluid exhausting from the
turbine is discharged overboard, after hav- ing
been expanded in a nozzle of its own, or
discharged into the nozzle of the thrust chamber at
a point in the expanding section far downstream of
the nozle throat. In closed cycles or topping cycles
all the working fluid from the turbine is injected into
the engine combustion chamber to make the most
efficient use of its remaining energy. In closed cycles the
turbine exhaust gas is expanded through the full pressure
ratio of the main thrust chamber nozzle, thus giving a little
more performance than the open cycles, where these
exhaust gases expand only through a relatively small
pressure ratio. The overall engine performance difference is
typically between 1 and 8% of specific impulse and this is
reflected in even larger differences in vehicle performance
COMBUSTION CHAMBER AND NOZZLE
The combustion chamber is that part of a thrust
chamber where the combus tion or burning of the
propellant takes place. The combustion
temperature is much higher than the melting points
of most chamber wall materials. Therefore it is
necessary either to cool these walls (as in a later
section of this chapter) or to stop rocket operation
before the critical wall areas become too hot. If the
heat transfer is too high and thus the wall
temperatures become locally too high, the thrust
chamber will fail. Heat transfer to thrust chambers
will be described later in this chapter. Section 8.6
gives a sample analysis of a thrust chamber and
Ref. 8-2 describes the design and development of
one..
Volume and Shape
Spherical chambers give the least internal surface
area and mass per unit chamber volume; they are
expensive to build and several have been tried
Today we prefer a cylindrical chamber (or slightly
tapered cone frustum) with a flat injector and a
converging-diverging nozzle. The chamber volume
is as the volume up to the nozzle throat section and
it includes the cylindrical chamber and the
converging cone frustum of the nozzle. Neglecting
the effect of the corner radii, the chamber volume V,
is
V₁ = A₁L₁ +A1LC(1+ROOTAt\A1+At\A1)
Here L is the cylinder length, A,/4, is the chamber
contraction ratio, and L, is the length of the conical
frustum. The approximate surfaces exposed to heat
transfer from hot gas comprise the injector face, the
inner surface of the cylin- der chamber, and the
inner surface of the converging cone frustrum.
Heat Transfer Distribution
Heat is transmitted to all internal hardware surfaces
exposed to hot gases. namely the injector face, the
chamber and nozzle walls. The heat transfer rate of
heat transfer intensity, that is, local wall
temperatures and heat transfer per unit wall area,
varies within the rocket A typical heat transfer rate
dis tribution is shown in Fig. 8-8. Only to 5% of the
total energy generated in the gas is transferred as
heat to the chamber walls. For a typical rocket of
44,820 N or 10,000 lbf thrust the heat rejection rate
to the wall may be between 0.75
3.5 MW, depending on the exact conditions and
design. See Section 8.3. The amount of heat
transferred by conduction from the chamber gas to
the walls in a rocket thrust chamber is negligible. By
far the largest part of the heat is transferred by
means of convection. A part (usually 5 to 35%) of
the trans- ferred heat is attributable to radiation.
Cooling of Thrust Chambers
The objective of cooling is to prevent the chamber
and nozzle walls from becoming too hot, so they will
no longer be able to withstand the imposed loads or
stresses, thus causing the chamber or nozzle to fail.
Most wall materi als lose strength and become
weaker as temperature is increased. These loads
and stresses are discussed in the next section. With
further heating, the walls ultimately fail or even melt.
Cooling thus reduces the wall temperatures
to an acceptable value. Basically, there are two
cooling methods in common use today. The first is
the steady state method. The heat transfer rate and
the temperatures of the chambers reach thermal
equilibrium. This includes regenerative cooling and
radiation cooling. The duration is limited only by the
available supply of pro- pellant.
.