Date of Award
Fall 2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Program/Concentration
Aerospace Engineering
Committee Director
Robert L. Ash
Committee Member
Colin Britcher
Committee Member
Drew Landman
Call Number for Print
Special Collections; LD4331.E535 B53 2009
Abstract
This work focuses on the development of a reusable rocket nozzle unit for near-term Mars surface applications, utilizing Mars atmosphere as a propellant source. Mars atmosphere is more than 95% carbon dioxide, and its low ambient temperatures facilitate the condensation of dry ice out of the atmosphere. Furthermore, the low critical temperature of carbon dioxide enables . the production of a supercritical fluid by heating dry ice at constant volume to temperatures on the order of 400 K. The goal of this research was to develop a supersonic nozzle for reusable high-thrust propulsion. Due to the complex behavior of supercritical carbon dioxide gas, it was not possible to employ a linear method of characteristics using a perfect-gas-based, Prandtl-Meyer function, thus necessitating the development of a real-gas-based method of characteristics for isentropic axisymmetric flow. The resulting streamline contour predictions for the supersonic nozzle section required boundary layer displacement thickness adjustments in order to guide the actual nozzle construction. Boundary layer corrections for a Mach 2 nozzle design have been discussed and were incorporated in the resulting overall nozzle contour specifications.
Supercritical carbon dioxide propulsion performance testing was confined to measuring the thrust and specific impulse produced by a 1 mm diameter sonic nozzle. The tests showed that these systems can produce specific impulse levels that exceed 100 seconds for short durations, and that useful thrust augmentation can be produced by heating the expanding carbon dioxide using heating rates that could be produced using a small solar array during daylight use at Mars.
Rights
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DOI
10.25777/bs47-f169
Recommended Citation
Blass, Erin K..
"Development of A Supersonic Nozzle for A Compressed Carbon Dioxide Propulsion System Intended for Mars Surface Applications"
(2009). Master of Science (MS), Thesis, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/bs47-f169
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/mae_etds/440