A COUPLED JET EMBEDDING AND EULERIAN-LAGRANGIAN APPROACH TO SIMULATE REACTIVE FLUID MECHANICS IN LIQUID ROCKET ENGINES

AN ANALYTICAL MODEL AND A COMPUTER CODE FOR THE DETAILED SIMULATION OF THREE-PHASE FLOWS IN LIQUID ROCKET THRUST CHAMBERS IS PROPOSED. THE MODEL DESCRIBES BEHAVIOR OF THE LIQUID, DISPERSED AND GASEOUS PHASES IN A MOST EFFICIENT FORM. THE CONTINOUS GAS-PHASE FLOW AND COMBUSTION ARE DESCRIBED IN EULERIAN COORDINATES; THE SPRAY FLOW, DROPLET EVAPORATION AND COMBUSTION PROCESSES ARE SIMULATED IN A GRIDFREE LAGRANGIAN FRAME. THE LIQUID-JET FLOW AND ATOMIZATION PROCESS IS DESCRIBED IN AN EMBEDDED ADAPTIVE GRID FOLLOWING THE JET SHAPE. THE EULERIAN-LAGRANGIAN APPROACH IS ALREADY WELL ESTABLISHED AND USED ROUTINELY AT CHAM FOR RESEARCH ANDDESIGN CALCULATION STUDIES. THE JET EMBEDDING APPROACH TO SIMULATE FULLY COUPLED LIQUID JET FLOW AND ATOMIZATION WITH THE EVAPORATING SPRAY FLOW AND WITH THE REACTIVE GAS MOTION HAS BEEN RECENTLY DEVELOPED AT CHAM BY THE AUTHORS OF THIS PROPOSAL. INITIAL STUDIES WITH THE PRESENT MODEL SHOW PROMISING APPLICATIONS TO COMPREHENSIVE SIMULATION OF MULTI-INJECTOR FUELLED THRUST CHAMBERS. THE PHASE 1 WORK PLAN INCLUDES MODIFICATION OF THE EXISTING REFLAN2D-SPRAY CODE TO INCORPORATE THE LIQUID JET EMBEDDING TECHNIQUE; MODEL SENSITIVITY AND VERIFICATION STUDIES AND THE MODIFIED SOURCE CODE DELIVERY.