Department of Aerospace Engineering @ METU

AEE305 Numerical Methods

Fall 2023
HW#1

Consider a rocket of 0.85-m diameter is fired upward from sea level with an initial total mass of
12500 kg, 9000 kg of which is the propellant (oxidizer and fuel). The time-dependent motion of the
rocket is governed by
dU
M = T − D − W cos θ,
dt
where M is the instantaneous mass, U is the velocity with respect to ground, T is the thrust, D is
the aerodynamic drag, W is the instantaneous weight of the rocket, and θ is the angle of the flight
path from vertical direction.
The thrust is given by
T = ṁUeq ,
where ṁ is the burned propellant flow rate through the nozzle, and Ueq is the equivalent nozzle
exit velocity.
The aerodynamic drag is given by
1 2
D = CD ρ∞ U∞ Af ,
2
where CD is the aerodynamic drag coefficient, ρ∞ is the air density, U∞ is the air velocity, which
may be taken as equal to the rocket velocity U , and Af is the cross-sectional area of the rocket.
Note that the mass of the entire rocket decreases at the mass flow rate of the burned propellant
through the nozzle. Note also that the air properties (temperature, density, etc. ) as well as the
gravity changes with altitude. For changing air properties standard atmospheric relations may be
used, which are provided on the second page. The gravity is given by
 2
Re
g = g0 ,
Re + h
where g0 is the gravitational acceleration at sea level, i.e. g0 = 9.81 m/s2 , Re = 6371 km is the
radius of Earth, and h is the altitude from sea level.
Flight Mach number is highly influencial on the the drag coefficient, and assume it is approxi-
mated for this rocket simply as

0.37,
 if M∞ < 0.82,
CD = 0.37 + 1.25(M∞ − 0.82), if 0.82 ≤ M∞ < 1.22,
0.87

, if 1.22 ≤ M∞

(M∞ −0.22)0.41

where M∞ is the Mach number given by U∞ /c∞ ; c∞ being the speed of sound at the altitude √ of
the flight. Sound speed is a function of temperature T∞ in Kelvin and given by c∞ = γRT∞ ,
with R = 287 J/kgK, and γ = 1.4 for air.
If the engines of the rocket maintain a constant nozzle mass flow rate and a constant equivalent
exit velocity of 2900 m/s, and the total burn time for the rocket is 140 seconds, calculate the
altitude this rocket can achieve with a full upward motion (θ = 0o ).
Specifically carry out the following:
1) Solve the problem with the Euler method employing different time steps sizes.
 • Plot the acceleration of the rocket versus time.
• Plot the velocity and Mach number of the rocket.
• Plot the dynamic pressure, q∞ = 21 ρ∞ U∞ 2 versus time, and identify the maximum dynamic

pressure that is critical in terms of structural loads (design based on).

• Plot the drag coefficient versus time.
• Plot the variation of air properties with altitude.
• Plot the rocket altitude versus time. Note, once the velocities are calculated at discrete times,
the altitude may be obtained by numerical integration, such as the trapezoidal rule.
2) Repeat the steps of (1) using the improved Euler method, and compare the Euler and
improved Euler method results.

Atmospheric Properties (ISA - International Standard Atmosphere, 1976)

According to ISA 1976, the temperature in Kelvin changes with altitude h in kilometers ac-
cording to :


288.15 − 6.5 × h, h ≤ 11 km,

T11 km , 11 km ≤ h ≤ 20 km,





T20 km + 1 × (h − h11 km ), 20 km ≤ h ≤ 32 km,



T (h) = T32 km + 2.8 × (h − h20 km ), 32 km ≤ h ≤ 47 km,

T47 km , 47 km ≤ h ≤ 51 km,





T51 km − 2.8 × (h − h47 km ), 51 km ≤ h ≤ 71 km,





T71 km − 2 × (h − h51 km ), 71 km ≤ h ≤ 84.8 km


Notice changes are at most linear in the altitude range. Hence, if for an altitude range say, from
h1 to h2 the temperature is written as
T (h) = T1 + a12 (h − h1 ), h1 ≤ h ≤ h2 ,
the slope is identified easily as a12 in K/km. Then, the pressure may be obtained by integrating
the equation governing static pressure, dp/dh = −ρg with p = ρRT , R being the gas constant for
air, 287 J/kgK. Hence, for air property variations with altitude assuming gravity is fixed to that
at sea level, g0 ,
g0 (h−h1 )
−
p(h) = p1 e RT1 , if a12 = 0, and h1 ≤ h ≤ h2 .
 − g 0
T (h) a12 R
p(h) = p1 , if a12 ̸= 0, and h1 ≤ h ≤ h2 .
T1
where p1 is the pressure in Pascal, and T1 is the temperature in Kelvin at h1 , respectively; and a12
must be taken in Kelvin/m. The air density is then given by
p(h)
ρ(h) = .
RT (h)
(Bear in mind in reality there are some temperature effects as well as the air molecular com-
position is not uniform which affects the gas thermodynamic properties γ and R with increasing
altitude.)
For ISA definition, visit for example:
https://wiki.ivao.aero/en/home/training/documentation/International standard atmosphere ISA

2
Using R = 287 J/kgK the following results are obtained for the air properties: