Combustion Instabilities in Complex Chamber Geometries of Solid Propellant Rocket Motors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel numerical method for predicting high-frequency combustion instabilities in complex solid rocket motor chambers, aiding in design optimization and stability analysis.

Contribution

It develops an efficient discretisation technique for the Laplacian operator on unstructured meshes, enabling accurate acoustic mode calculations in complex geometries.

Findings

Validated method on complex geometries

Provides analytical procedures for design optimization

Enhances prediction accuracy of combustion instabilities

Abstract

High-frequency combustion instabilities can lead to significant fluctuations in chamber pressure, affecting the structural integrity and performance of solid rocket motors. Since these instabilities manifest as acoustic oscillations during combustion, a mathematical model has been developed to calculate the chamber modes, providing an accurate method for predicting the acoustic behaviour of the combustion chamber. A novel method for discretising the Laplacian operator is introduced, which allows the calculation of the acoustic modes of complex chamber geometries. This approach uses an efficient numerical algorithm designed for unstructured mesh configurations. Several computational examples are presented to demonstrate the application of the model to complex geometries typical of solid rocket motors. In addition, an analytical procedure is developed in these examples to aid the design process, providing engineers with critical data to optimise the stability and performance of propulsion systems. This research provides valuable insights into the analysis of combustion instabilities, with broad implications for the design and optimisation of propulsion systems in aerospace engineering.