Missile Technology

UNIT-I ROCKETS SYSTEM

Ignition System in rockets – types of Igniters – Igniter
Design Considerations
Design Consideration of liquid Rocket Combustion
Chamber, Injector Propellant Feed Lines, Valves, Propellant
Tanks Outlet
Helium Pressurized and Turbine feed Systems – Propellant
Slash and Propellant Hammer
Elimination of Geysering Effect in Missiles – Combustion
System of Solid Rockets.
Contd..
TYPES OF IGNITER:
The types of igniters which are commonly used are,
 Gaseous Igniter
 Liquid igniter
 Solid igniter
GASEOUS IGNITER:
In this type of igniter the reactive gaseous mixtures are held in a
very thin tube with high pressure. It is hazardous in nature and
reliable. Directional control can be done by using burst dampers
Contd..
LIQUID IGNITER:
Liquid igniter is of two types:
 Liquid- Liquid type , which is known as hypergolic igniter
 Liquid – Solid type, which is known as hybrid igniter

CHARACTERISTICS OF HYPERGOLIC LIQUIDS:

 Hypergolic liquids have a very high bulk density.
 Ignition delay for these types of liquids should be less than 50 milliseconds.
 These liquids are chemically instable.
 They must be work well together with some of selected polymers and resins.
 Their viscosity should be less than 10 centistokes.
 They should have a very low vapour pressure.
 They should have a very good heat transfer characteristics.
Contd..
Some combinations of hypergolic liquids:
FUEL OXIDIZER
Kerosene RFNA
Hydrazine Chlorofluorine
Ammonia Oxygen
Hydrogen Cl3OF
Contd..
SOLID IGNITER:
 Contd..
TOTALLY CONFINED IGNITERS: BAG IGNITER

It is the old and primitive type of igniter.

 We don’t have enough control over ignition in this type
of igniter
 After the ignition of fully charged bag igniter, the heat
and pressure generation occurs.
 The rate of heat and pressure release is very high and
there is a possibility of bursting.

ADVANTAGES:
 It is very easy to fabricate
 The cost of production is very low.

DISADVANTAGE:
This particular system is very far from meeting the
requirements of modern high performance
rocket motors.
 Contd..
POWDER CAN IGNITER
In this type of igniter pallets are used .Pallets are made
up of black powder or metal oxidants and aluminium
powder. Here directional control is done but not
sufficient. It is only suitable for small rocket motors and
not suitable for large rocket motors because of its erratic
transient ignition characteristics and it is rapturous.

ADVANTAGES:
 Ease of fabrication and production cost is low.

DISADVANTAGES:
 As the igniter is made of steel casing the weight is
much heavier.
 Only suitable for short range
 Contd..
JELLY ROLL IGNITER
It consists of a film coated pyrotechnic and a binder. Then the film is
rolled over a rod with a squib support at the front and back. Addition
to that a rubber support is given externally. Ignition is generally
started at the squib. In jelly roll the ignition transfers layer by layer.
Productive cover is used to tight the main charge.

ADVANTAGES:
 These igniters are nozzle insertables.
 They make efficient use of motor fuel volume.
 The hardware weight is low.

DISADVANTAGES:
 They are very fragile and not suitable for large rocket motor
 They are difficult to manufacture and the principle of operation is
complex.
 They produce high shocks.
 Contd..
UNCONFINED IGNITERS:
Actually they are confined. They are unconfined
only relative to others.
FILM IGNITER:
The film igniter is produced by painting an
ignitable fuel oxidizer binder mixture directly
onto the propellant surface. The film normally
contains,
• Fine metal powder – aluminium powder
• Per chlorate oxidizer - ammoniumper
chlorate Polymeric binder.
The film can be activated by the conventional
pyrotechnic igniter. It permits the use of low
conventional ignition system and has often be
used an aid to ignite the systems which handle
materials difficult to ignite.
 Contd..
CONDUCTING FILM IGNITER:
It contains the strips of pyrotechnic material applied directly to the propellant, which can overlay of circuit
leads. It consists of the application of thin strips within the perpendicular overlay of actuation circuitry. A
typical pyrotechnic mixture consists of metal powder, per chlorate oxidizer, silver conductor and the polymeric
binder. Aluminium foils are used as protective layer of conducting film igniter.

ADVANTAGES:
 These igniters produce low pressure peaks
 They make efficient use of space
 They are intensive to electromagnetic radiation

DISADVANTAGES:
 They are very difficult to apply
 Quality control is difficult
 They cannot be removed from the motor easily
 They are very sensitive to friction and resistance
 Contd..
NOZZLE IGNITERS (or) BASICALLY CONTROLLED IGNITERS: BASKET IGNITER:

This type of igniter contains pallet charges. Basket igniter are fabricated from heavy wire mesh ,
perforated sheet metal or perforated glass fibre reinforced resins. The perforated container retain the
high surface area palette charge when it burns. The exhaust products ejected in a pattern determined
by the geometry of the design contains reactive products as well as reactive materials. This system
makes available in the wide choice of configuration allowing for some flame pattern control.

ADVANTAGES:
 This igniter is made efficiently strong to withstand environmental conditions.
 Proper control of length and port area can furnish a controlled flame pattern and give medium
to fast ignition with low ignition charge.

DISADVANTAGES:
 The hardware weight is high.
 Forward attachment is often difficult
 The burning area of the pallets can’t be readily determined
 Internal igniter pressure and mass delivery rate are difficult to determine.
 Contd..
PYROGEN:
A pyrogen igniter consists of small nozzle pressure chamber
containing high energy fast burning rocket propellant usually having
a complex geometry.
Essentially it is a rocket motor within a rocket motor. The design is
especially used in very large motor.

ADVANTAGES:
 The igniters have little or no shocks.
 They eliminate the handling of large amounts of relatively
hazardous metal oxide charges.
 They are adoptable to either head end or launcher mount
applications.

DISADVANTAGES:
 The pyrogen must itself have an igniter and it’s therefore depends
upon the principle used to ignite.
Contd..
ALCOJET:

There are two tubes in this igniter .In the annular space between the two tubes, we
have main charge. Booster charge present inside the tube. The booster charge is first
ignited. The ignition passes through the perforations in the inner wall to the main
charge. There are perforations in the outer tube through which flame comes out. Since
there is a control, it is a ballistically controlled igniter.
Injectors
INJECTORS :
An injector or ejector is a system of admitting the fuel into the combustion engine. Its
function is similar to a carburettor.

PRIMARY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CARBURETTOR AND AN INJECTOR:

In an injector the fuel injection atomizes the fuel by forcibly pumping it through a small
nozzle under high pressure while a carburettor relies on suction created by intake air
rushing through a venturi to draw the fuel into the airstream.

FUNCTION OF AN INJECTOR:
liquids fuel to small droplets: atomization. It also helps to distribute and mix the
propellant in a correctly proportionate mixture of fuel and oxidizer, which results in
uniform mass flow
 Contd..
INJECTION HOLE PATTERNS:
on the face of the injector is closely related to the internal
manifolds. These hole patterns provides the distribution of fuel
from the injector inlet to all the injection holes
large complex manifold volume allows low passage velocities
and good distribution of flow over the chamber. A small
manifold volume allows for a light weight injector and
reduces the amount of “dribble” after the main walls are shut.
Contd..
Contd..
IMPINGING STREAM PATTERN :

The types of impinging stream pattern are ,

 Doublet impinging stream pattern
 Triplet impinging stream pattern
 Self impinging stream pattern

The propellants are injected through a number of separate holes in impingement

forms; thin liquid fans that aids the atomization of liquids into droplets.
Impinging hole injectors are also used like a cell impinging patterns.
The two liquid stream forms like a fan which breaks into droplets. For uneven
volume flow the triplet pattern seems to be more effective.
Contd..
Contd..
NON- IMPINGING (or) SHOWER
HEAD TYPE:

Usually emerge in normal to the face of the

injector.

It releases the fuel and oxidizer on

turbulence and diffusion to achieve good
mixing.

Not used now, because it requires a large

chamber volume for good combustion.
Contd..
SHEET (or) SPRAY TYPE INJECTORS:

In these the sprays generally intersect and

thereby promote mixing and atomization .

By varying the width of the sheet (through an

axially movable sleeve) it is possible to throttle
the flow over a wide range without excessive
reduction in the pressure drop.
 Contd..
THE COAXIAL HOLLOW POST INJECTOR:
The coaxial hollow post injector has been used for
liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen injectors.
It works well when the liquid hydrogen has absorbed
heat from cooling jackets and has been gasified. This
gasified hydrogen flows at a high speed of 330m/s.

The liquid oxygen flows far slowly at a speed of

33m/s ,and the differential velocity cause a shear
action which helps to break up the oxygen stream
into small droplets .
The injector has a multiplicity of these coaxial posts
on its face .
DESIGN CONSIDERATION OF A LIQUID ROCKET COMBUSTION
CHAMBER
The combustion temperature is much higher than the melting points of most chamber wall
materials. Therefore it is necessary to cool these walls or to stop rocket operation before the
critical wall areas become too hot. If the heat transfer is too high the wall temperatures become
locally too high, then the thrust chamber will fail.

VOLUME AND SHAPE CONSIDERATIONS:

Spherical volume gives the least internal surface area and mass per unit chamber volume. It is
very expensive to build the spherical chambers.
Today most of all prefer cylindrical or slightly tapered cone frustum with a flat injector and a
converging diverging nozzle. Neglecting the effect of the corner radii, the chamber volume is
given by,

Here L is the length of the cylinder A L/At is the chamber contraction ratio, and L c is the length of
the conical frustum.
Contd..
CHAMBER VOLUME - DEFINITION:
The volume up to the nozzle throat section and it includes the cylindrical chamber and converging
cone frustum of the nozzle. The volume and shape of a combustion chamber are selected after
evaluating various parameters.
1. The volume for adequate mixing, evaporation and complete combustion of propellants.
2. Chamber volume varies for different propellants with the time delay necessary to vaporize and
activate the propellants and with the speed of the propellant combination.
3. Volume is too small, combustion is incomplete and the performance is poor.
4. With higher chamber pressure or with highly reactive propellants and with injectors that give
improved mixing, a smaller chamber volume is usually permissible.
5. If the chamber volume and diameter are large, the heat transfer rates to the wall will be reduced, the
area exposed to heat will be large
Contd..
6. The thrust chamber mass is a function of the chamber dimensions, chamber pressure, and nozzle area ratio, and the
method of cooling.
7. Manufacturing consideration favor a cylinder with a double cone bow tie shaped nozzle, low cost materials and simple
fabrication process.
8. The length of the chamber and the nozzle relate directly to the overall length of the vehicle. A large diameter but short
chamber can allow a somewhat shorter vehicle with a lower structural inert vehicle mass.
9. Any pressure reduction at the nozzle inlet reduces the exhaust velocity and the performance of the vehicle. These losses
become appreciable when the chamber volume less than three times the throat area.
10. For the same thrust the combustion volume and the nozzle throat area become smaller as the operating chamber
pressure is increased. This means that the chamber length and the nozzle length also decrease with increasing chamber
pressure, the performance will go up with chamber pressure.
Propellant Hammer
  feed line.
It’s a pressure surging present in the liquid propellant
Basically the feed lines are very thin. On sudden closure of valve, a pressure pulse is generated at the
neighbourhood of the valve. It travels back to the tank at some velocity and keeps the liquid static
pressure increasing.
Equation for wave speed:
As the speed of sound in a fluid is the peak pressure depends on the fluid compressibility if the valve
is closed abruptly.

a = velocity of propagation of pressure pulse, E = Modulus of elasticity of pipeline material

K = Bulk modulus of elasticity of propellant, D =Diameter of propellant feed line
t = wall thickness of feedline, c= dimensionless parameter
Contd..
The propellant hammer situation occurs during the rocket engine start , during the initial bleed of the rocket
engine or rocket engine set down . This
situation fall under two categories.
1. Valve opening
2. Valve closure
In case of valve closure ; tc=valve closure time
a = velocity of propagation of pressure pulse
2L/a ≥ tc ; for fast valve closure
2L/a < tc ; for slow valve closure
Tank outlet design consideration
Three main problems; Cavitation, Dropout & Vortexing
1. CAVITATION:
The phenomenon which occurs when the static pressure
drops below the vapour pressure of the propellant.
It can be also defined as the boiling of liquid at low
pressures and the release of dissolved gas from the liquid.
Small gas bubbles grow in the liquid and then collapse
within a few milliseconds.
Cavitation occurs in the converging duct of the outlet
where the fluid velocity increases.
Contd..
LIQUID DROP OUT:
Liquid dropout is basically a depression in the liquid surface at
centre of the flow lines, which occurs in higher vertical velocity
along the centre line of the outlet than along the wall exit.
Liquid dropout will not occur when the liquid surface remains
stationary. This problem can be avoided by contouring the
outlet so that the axial component of velocity along a stream
line adjacent to the wall of outlet is equal to the average
velocity which is obtained by dividing the flow rate by the cross
sectional area.
Contd..
VORTEXING:
Vortexing is a phenomenon which is similar to
the Coriolis force effects in bath tubs being
emptied and can be augmented if the vehicle
spins or rotates during flight.
Typically a series of internal baffles is often
used to reduce the magnitude of vortexing in
propellant tanks with modest side acceleration.
vortexing can greatly increase residual
propellant , and thus cause a reduction in
vehicle performance.
GEYSERING EFFECT :
The phenomenon which occurs in a column of
liquid in long vertical lines is expelled in form
of bubbles.
If the bubbles will swarm causing the creation
of slow moving mass or a single large bubbles
travels at faster velocity causing more and
more bubble formation and decrease the
column static pressure rapidly. The pressure
surging produced due to geysering can be large
and damage the fluid lines, wall supports and
the line supports.
PROPELLANT SLOSH:
In case when the propellant tank may oscillate back and forth then liquid motion is
generally referred as propellant slosh. Propellants slosh generally occurs in space craft
tanks, rockets (especially in upper stages)
The resulting oscillatory forces and moments must be considered in the dynamic analysis of
the missiles.
When the tank is partly empty, sloshing can uncover the tank outlet and allow gas bubbles
to enter into the propellant discharge line. These bubbles can cause combustion problem in
the thrust chamber. Sloshing can also shifts CG and makes the flight control difficult.
METHOD TO AVIOD PROPELLANT SLOSH:
The propellant is replaced for analytical purposes by a mass mounted
within the tank, a frictional guide which is perpendicular to the tank axis.
The motion of the equivalent mass along the guide is restrained by a
mass less spring.
There are several types of slosh suppression devices has been employed
successfully to increase the damping of liquid sloshing induced by
vehicle motions. The devices include rigid ring baffles (of various
geometries and orientation), cruciform baffles, deflectors, flexible flat
ring baffle, floating can, positive expulsion bags and diaphragms. Gel,
packed fibres, and foams have been employed in non space applications.
Contd..
PROPELLANT FEED SYSTEM:
Liquid propellants are required to be injected at a pressure
slightly above the combustor pressure.
There are two types of feed systems can be employed for this
function. They are,
1. Gas pressure feed system
2. Turbo pump feed system
The pressure feed system is much simpler and widely used for
low thrust and short range operations. The latter is used in large
engines.
GAS PRESSURE FEED SYSTEM:
An inert gas is separately carried at a pressure much higher than the injection pressure; this
is used to exert the required pressure in the propellant tanks.
Nitrogen, Helium and air have been used for pressurization. The propellants under high
pressure are forced to flow into the thrust chamber through valves, feed lines and injectors.
Several regulating and check valves are used for filling draining, starting and checking the
flow of propellants.

In this type of systems there are no moving parts such as turbines and pumps are used.
However, the pressurization of the propellant tanks requires them to be comparatively
much heavier and introduces a weight penalty besides other problems. Therefore this
system is unsuitable for large rocket and long range missions.
GAS PRESSURE FEED SYSTEM:
 TURBO PUMP FEED SYSTEM:
In the turbo pump feed system, the propellants are pumped into the combustor by gas turbine driven by
centrifugal pumps
The turbines derive the power from the expansion of hot gases .The gases are generated separately by the
gas generator. Figure above depicts a general arrangement of a turbo pump system. In order to achieve
flexibility in choosing the design and operating parameters the fuel and oxidizer pumps can be separately
by their turbines.
The turbine operates on a separate gas stream generated from the propellants in an independent gas
generator. A pressurizing gas can be used to increase the pressure of the propellants at the pump suctions
to avoid cavitation and the resulting instability in pump operation.
 Contd..
Generally turbine speeds are high , therefore
propellant pumps can be driven at optimum speeds
through reduction gear with an additional weight
penalty. The working gas for the turbine can also be
generated at optimum temperature and pressure. The
generator also has its own injection and ignition
systems. The flow of propellants to the gas generator
occurs due to the action of pressurizing gases. If the
gas pressurization is not employed to the propellants
can be bled from the delivery lines of the pumps. The
propellant flow required for driving the turbines is of
the order of 1.5 to 5% of the main flow. The turbine
exhaust is also expanded through an exhaust nozzle to
provide an additional thrust.
METHODS OF COOLING THETHRUST CHAMBER:
Contd..
ACTIVE COOLING SYSTEM:
In liquid rocket motor, the nozzle and chamber walls are exposed to hot
combustion products. Usually these walls are provided with ducts.

The four most important active cooling methods are,

1. Regenerative cooling
2. Film cooling
3. Transpiration cooling
4. Dump cooling
 REGENERATIVE COOLING:
Method used in large rocket engines.
The thrust chamber and nozzle wall contains passages through
which one of the propellants, usually the fuel flows. The coolant
passing at high pressures through the ducts then it is injected into the
combustion chamber. If the coolant is at a super critical pressure, it
is possible to use the absorbed energy to drive a turbo pump unit
before the coolant is injected into the combustion chamber. Size of
the coolant ducts and coolant flow rate are determined by the
following considerations:
1. Temperature should not raise to the boiling point.
2. Heat transfer rate should not exceed the maximum nucleate
boiling heat transfer rate.
FILM COOLING:
Film cooling method is suited when it is used with the
combination of other methods such as regenerative
cooling or insulation cooling. Pure film cooling
permits a relatively simple chamber and nozzle design.
The coolant is injected along the gas side wall surface
by means of tangential slots. The coolant forms a cool
boundary layer between the gas side wall surface and
hot gases. As this boundary layer gradually mixes with
the main flow, its temperature rises and downstream of
the slot new coolant has to be injected.
DUMP COOLING:
Dump cooling resembles regenerative cooling, but
after having performed its cooling function, the coolant
is dumped overboard at the nozzle exit. Many o the
restrictions for Regenerative cooling also hold for
dump cooling. The heated, gasified coolant can be
accelerated to supersonic speeds thus providing a small
extra thrust. The method is especially suited for low
pressure engines, using low molecular weight
propellants, but yields a performance loss as compared
to regenerative cooling. On the other hand, the
construction is simpler as compared to regeneratively
cooled engines.
PASSIVE COOLING SYSTEMS:

It includes;
Insulation cooling
Heat sink cooling
Ablative cooling
Radiation cooling
Insulation cooling:
This method is not a real method of cooling by itself; it is
mostly used in combination with other cooling
techniques such as, heat sink, radiation and regenerative
cooling. A very special material is pyrolytic graphite.
This material has high and low conductivity directions.
While the conductivity parallel to the layer planes is in
the order of 2x103 W/m.k, the conductivity perpendicular
to the layer plane is only 5.75W/m.k. this make it is
possible to conduct the heat in preferred directions, and
so to avoid the heating of critical parts.
 Heat sink cooling:
Heat sink cooling is mostly used in solid rockets. The method consists of applying a piece of solid material
with good conductivity and a high specific heat capacity to certain hot spots. The heat sink absorbs the heat
from the hot gases, thereby raising its own temperature but keeping the wall relatively cool. This method is
only suitable for short duration applications, but is sometimes used in combination with insulation cooling
for small liquid rocket engines
 Ablative cooling:
Ablative cooling consists of covering hot gas side of the engine wall with a material that decomposes endo thermally at high temperatures, while forming a insulating char
layer. It is often used in combination with radiation and insulation cooling and chosen for upper stage motors and reaction control engines for the sake of simplicity. It is also an
effective means to keep the temperature of variable thrust motors within an acceptable range. Regenerative cooling often poses a problem for variable thrust motors, because of
the variable chamber pressure and flow rate. Therefore, ablative
cooling offers a simple and efficient way to keep the engine wall relatively cool.
 Radiation cooling:
Radiation cooling is often used in upper stage engines and reaction control engines in combination with insulation and ablative cooling. The hot walls radiate the heat to the surroundings. As the radiative heat flux is
proportional to T4, the material temperature must be high to obtain a large radiative heat flux.
Refractory metals, such as molybdenum, niobium can withstand high temperature without losing their strength. Some refractory metals easily react with the combustion products. As the melting point of their oxides or
compounds often is much lower than that of the metals, coatings have to be applied on many cases. The refractory alloys based on titanium, niobium and molybdenum have found successful applications as nozzle
construction materials. Wolfram (tungsten) alloys have found applications for nozzle inserts.
 COMBUSTION SYSTEM OF SOLID ROCKETS:
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESS:
The combustion in the solid propellant motor involves exceedingly complex reaction taking place in the solid, liquid & gas phase of a heterogeneous mixture.
Visual observations and measurements of flames in simple experiments such as strand burner test give an insight into the combustion processes. For double base propellants, the combustion flame structure appears to
be homogeneous and one-dimensional along the burning direction. When the heat from the combustion melts, decomposes and vaporizes the propellant at the burning surface, the resulting gases seems to be already
premixed.
Burn rate catalysts seem to affect the primary combustion zone rather than the
processes in the condensed phase. They catalyze the reaction at or near the surface, increase or decrease the heat input to the surface, the change the amount of propellant that is burned.
Solid Fuel Geometry:
Contd..