Internal Flow Simulation of High-Performance Solid Rockets using a k-ω Turbulence Model

For technological reasons many high-performance solid rocket motors are made from segmented propellant grains with non-uniform port geometry. In this paper parametric studies have been carried out to examine the geometric dependence of transient flow features in solid rockets with non-uniform ports. Numerical computations have been carried out in an inert simulator of solid propellant rocket motor with the aid of a standard k-ωturbulence model. It was seen that the damping of the temperature fluctuation is faster in solid rocket with convergent port than with divergent port geometry. We inferred that the damping of the flow fluctuations using the port geometry is a meaningful objective for the suppression and control of the instability and/or pressure/thrust oscillations during the starting transient of solid rockets.