AE 6450 Rocket Propulsion

Fall 2004

Lecture Slides (pdf)

Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Lecture 3 Lecture 4 Lecture 5 Lecture 6 Lecture 7 Lecture 8 Lecture 9 Lecture 10 Lecture 11 Lecture 12 Lecture 13 Lecture 14

Lecture 15

 Lecture 16 Lecture 17 Lecture 18 Lecture 19 Lecture 20 Lecture 21 Lecture 22            

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Catalog Data: Credits: 3. Analysis and design of rocket engines including liquid, solid, hybrid, and advanced propulsion systems. Lecture: 3. Pre-requisites: AE 4451

Instructor: Dr. Narayanan M. Komerath, Professor, Aerospace Engineering narayanan.komerath@ae.gatech.edu

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Textbook: Humble, R.W., Henry, G.N., Larson, W.J. "Space Propulsion Analysis and Design". McGraw-Hill 1995. 0-07-031320-2, softcover

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Things You Should Know By Now or Find Out Right Away - Non-Exhaustive (but pretty tiring) list.

Useful links:

Chemical Kinetics Software - California Institute of Technology, Explosion Dynamics Laboratory:

http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/EDL/public/codes.html

Thermodynamic Data

http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/EDL/public/thermo.html

Kansas State University: Prof. Chapman's course page. Link to downloadable STANJAN code and instructions

http://www.mne.ksu.edu/~chapman/thermo2/download.html

San Diego State University. Prof. Bhattacharjee's course page. Link to downloadable STANJAN code and instructions

http://thermal.sdsu.edu/profs/Bhattacharjee/sooby/classes/me696Comb/

Standard Atmosphere Calculation: Standard Atmospheres U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976. Implementation by Steven S. Pietrobon Small World Communications 6 First Avenue Payneham South SA 5070 Australia . Downloadable DOS .exe file.

http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/atmosphere/

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EADS: Launch Vehicle Propulsion. Ariane Engines

M.I.T. Lecture Notes on Thermoacoustic Instability: Dr. Jean-Pierre Hathout

NASA Glenn RC research on active combustion control (mostly of jet engines) John C. DeLaat and Dr. Clarence T. Chang

 

AE 6450 Syllabus

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Topic

1.

Rocket Engine Basics

  • Introduction - types of propulsion systems
  • Thrust, Equivalent Exhaust Velocity, Specific Impulse and Mass Ratio
  • Single-stage and Multi-stage rockets; nozzle thrust coefficient
  • Mission Analysis/ Orbits Overview
  • Ideal thermodynamics of liquid rocket engines
  • Calculation of rocket thrust via momentum equation
  • Ideal expansion, over/under expansion
  • Typical nozzle designs (cone, bell, spike)

2.

Monopropellant Thrusters

  • Overview of small pressure-fed thrusters
  • Cold gas (N2) thrusters
  • Hydrazine/catalyst thrusters
  • Resisto-jet thrusters
  • Historical examples and state-of-the-art

3.

Introduction to Thermochemistry

  • Thermochemistry basics (enthalpies, heat of formation, Gibbs free energy)
  • Products of combustion and calculation of flame temperature
  • Numerical methods for equilibrium combustion

4

Bipropellant Liquid Rocket Engines

  •  Common propellant combinations (storable, cryogenic, c*s, handling … trades)
  •  Biprop engine cycles (gas generator, staged combustion, expander, etc. .. trades)
  •  Turbomachinery design (pumps, turbines, impellers, etc.)
  •  Other engine components (ignitors, CG, cooling loops, etc.)
  •  Historical examples and state-of-the-art

5.

Solid Rocket Motors

  • SRM/SRB components and configurations
  • Propellant/fuel options (characteristics … trades)
  • Effect of grain cross-section shape (thrust shaping)
  • Propellant burning law (regression rate vs. pressure)
  • Historical examples and state-of-the-art

6.

Hybrid Rocket Propulsion

  • Common propellant combinations and configuration
  • System performance characteristics (advantages – trades)
  • Historical examples and state-of-the-art

7.

Combined-Cycle Propulsion

  • Thermodynamics of high-speed airbreathing propulsion
  • Conventional ramjet and scramjet propulsion
  • Turbine-based combined-cycle propulsion (TBCC, turboramjet)
  • Rocket-based combined-cycle propulsion (RBCC)

8.

Advanced Propulsion

  • Electric/ion propulsion (electric or nuclear)
  • Nuclear thermal rockets (NTR)
  • Pulsed Detonation Engines (PDE)
  • Daedalus bomblets, interstellar ramjets, solar sails, M2P2

 

News Links

Virtual (Apollo Guidance Computer) AGC Home Page Project Overview

From "Lunar Enterprise Daily" Year 4 Number 158 Wednesday / 18 August 2004:

"SMART-1 to continue alternating between long and short thrust arcs until 15 Nov lunar capture; orbital period 4 days, 19 hrs; apogee altitude has increased from 35,880 km to 200,000 km; lunar commissioning, science operations begin in mid-Jan 2005; sci.esa.int

"PLUTO PIZZA" business plan comes closer (Narayanan's News Agency, NNN): Lunar Enterprise Daily cites NASA report: " NASA Calls On Food Scientists To Provide Food Solutions That Will Enable Humans To Travel Far From Earth – To Moon Or Mars – Creating New Opportunities For Exploration And Discovery; “Once On The Lunar Or Planetary Surface, It May Be Possible To Use Bulk Packaging Of Meals Or Snack Items. These Food Products Will Require Specialized Processing Conditions And Packaging Materials,” Says Space Agency In Recent Release" NNN Comment: The numbers to beat are"$45000 for a Large Super Supreme Pizza with Coupon, delivered in GEO, 2 days or its free."