Plume-Ducting System Design of Vertical Launcher Using Computational-Fluid-Dynamics Tools

The article examines the plume-ducting system design of vertical launcher using computational-fluid-dynamics tool. Rocket exhaust and air are considered as two different species with different thermodynamic properties, and their transport equations are solved. A highly under-expanded, supersonic, short-duration jet exhausting from a conical nozzle into a tube with an inside diameter slightly larger than the nozzle exit characterized the flowfield of tube launched rockets. The experimental condition of a static test of a rocket motor with cold gas as well as double base solid rocket propellant inside a launcher tube carried out by Batson and Bertin is taken as the test case for validation. The nozzle configurations for the hot and cold cases are slightly different. The effect of the plume-exit area of the plenum on the jet structure is studied, and the pressure and temperature rise in the plenum are compared with test data.