Multi-phase flow effect on SRM nozzle flow field and thermal protection materials

Multi-phase flow effect generated from the combustion of aluminum based com-posite propellant was performed on the thermal protection material of solid rocket motor (SRM) nozzle. Injection of alumina (Al2O3) particles from 5% to 10% was tried on SRM nozzle flow field to see the influence of multiphase flow on heat transfer computations. A coupled, time resolved CFD (computational fluid dynamics) approach was adopted to solve the conjugate problem of multi-phase fluid flow and heat transfer in the solid rocket motor nozzle. The governing equations are discretized by using the finite volume method. Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model was employed. The computation was executed on the dif-ferent models selected for the analysis to validate the temperature variation in the throat in-serts and baking material of SRM nozzle. Comparison for temperatures variations were also carried out at different expansion ratios of nozzle. This paper also characterized the advanced SRM nozzle composites material for their high thermo stability and their high thermo me-chanical capabilities to make it more reliable simpler and lighter.