Date of Award

Spring 2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Program/Concentration

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Director

Surendra N. Tiwari

Committee Member

John J. Lorte

Committee Member

Arthur C. Taylor

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E56 S44 2001

Abstract

A software system has been developed to optimize rocket nozzle shapes for maximizing their performance. It has been established in the literature that one can use computer-based optimization with the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations to optimize the dimensions of low Reynolds number rocket nozzles-micronozzles. The Nozzle Optimization System described herein uses the full Navier-Stokes equations to optimize any axially symmetric rocket nozzle for which a converged solution can be obtained.

Four nozzles are optimized using this system-conical and contoured micronozzles and conical and contoured Space Transportation System(STS)-class nozzles. The optimum cone angle (Ocone) for the conical micronozzle was 26.016°, producing a specific impulse Isp) of 597.279-s using molecular hydrogen. This value agrees with those obtained by various researchers using computational fluid dynamics analyses. The optimized contoured nozzle was found to have a negative exit angle (Oexit), which converged to its lower limit of -20°, and a nozzle length of 0.007899-m, producing an Isp of 632.339-s. This too agrees with the results in the literature. The optimized STS-class rocket's conical nozzle had a Ocone of 8.116°, producing an Isp of 397.332-s using a single component gas that approximated the exhaust mixture, with a specific heat ratio of 1.2, in that class of rocket. The optimized STS-class contoured nozzle had a Oexit of 3.365° and a nozzle length of 4.500-m, producing an Isp of 401.244-s.

An exhaustive search was also performed for the two conical nozzles for the

purpose of validating the optimization results. The exhaustive search for the conical micronozzle yielded a Ocone of 26° and a specific impulse of 597.264-s, while that for the conical STS-class nozzle yielded a cone angle of 9° and an Isp of 397.940-s. Both results were consistent with the results of their corresponding optimizations to the accuracy of the exhaustive search.

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DOI

10.25777/52z3-fc95

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