Engineering topics

Mathias, Edward C.

Publications and source records attributed to Mathias, Edward C..

4 records

NASA NTRS2000

Thermal-Flow Code for Modeling Gas Dynamics and Heat Transfer in Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Joints

A new, thermal-flow simulation code, called SFLOW. has been developed to model the gas dynamics, heat transfer, as well as O-ring and flow path erosion inside the space shuttle solid rocket motor joints by combining SINDA/Glo, a commercial thermal analyzer. and SHARPO, a general-purpose CFD code developed at Thiokol Propulsion. SHARP was modified so that friction, heat transfer, mass addition, as well as minor losses in one-dimensional flow can be taken into account. The pressure, temperature and velocity of the combustion gas in the leak paths are calculated in SHARP by solving the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations while the heat conduction in the solid is modeled by SINDA/G. The two codes are coupled by the heat flux at the solid-gas interface. A few test cases are presented and the results from SFLOW agree very well with the exact solutions or experimental data. These cases include Fanno flow where friction is important, Rayleigh flow where heat transfer between gas and solid is important, flow with mass addition due to the erosion of the solid wall, a transient volume venting process, as well as some transient one-dimensional flows with analytical solutions. In addition, SFLOW is applied to model the RSRM nozzle joint 4 subscale hot-flow tests and the predicted pressures, temperatures (both gas and solid), and O-ring erosions agree well with the experimental data. It was also found that the heat transfer between gas and solid has a major effect on the pressures and temperatures of the fill bottles in the RSRM nozzle joint 4 configuration No. 8 test.

Wang, Qunzhen↗

NASA NTRS1996

Correlation of Slag Expulsion with Ballistic Anomalies in Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors

During the Shuttle launches, the solid rocket motors (SRM) occasionally experience pressure perturbations (8-13 psi) between 65-75 s into the motor burn time. The magnitudes of these perturbations are very small in comparison with the operating motor chamber pressure, which is over 600 psi during this time frame. These SRM pressure perturbations are believed to he caused primarily by the expulsion of slag (aluminum oxide). Two SRM static tests, TEM-11 and FSM-4, were instrumented extensively for the study of the phenomena associated with pressure perturbations. The test instrumentation used included nonintrusive optical and infrared diagnostics of the plume, such as high-speed photography, radiometers, and thermal image cameras. Results from all of these nonintrusive observations provide substantial circumstantial evidence to support the scenario that the pressure perturbation event in the Shuttle SRM is caused primarily by the expulsion of molten slag. In the static motor tests, the slag was also expelled preferentially near the bottom of the nozzle because of slag accumulation at the bottom of the aft end of the horizontally oriented motor.

Sambamurthi, Jay K.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Plume Diagnostics of the RSRM Static Firings for the Pressure Perturbation Studies

During the STS-54 launch (RSRM-29), the right hand solid rocket motor experienced a 13.9 psi chamber pressure perturbation at 67 seconds into the motor operation. This pressure augmentation equated to a thrust change of 51 klb. Concerns were raised regarding the adverse effects of this thrust imbalance on the shuttle system and the overall thrust into the external tank structural elements. Pressure perturbations have been observed in solid rocket motors due to expulsion of igniter or insulation materials; the motor thrust during such events drop abruptly before rising. However, the RSRM motors do not exhibit such behavior during the large chamber pressure perturbation events. Several scenarios were investigated to explain these pressure perturbations in the RSRM motors based on a fault tree developed after STS-54. Of these, the expulsion of the slag accumulated in the submerged nozzle region appeared to be the most plausible scenario to explain the observations. Slag is a natural combustion product of aluminized solid rocket motors. The RSRM propellant contains 16% by weight of aluminum. Any ejection of this slag mass during nozzle vectoring or other side loads on the motor will result in the chamber pressure perturbation. Two RSRM static firings were instrumented extensively to further understand the slag expulsion phenomenon in the RSRM and the associated pressure perturbations.

Mathias, Edward C.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Plume diagnostics of SRM static firings for pressure perturbation studies

During the shuttle launches, the solid rocket motors (SRM) occasionally experience pressure perturbations (8-13 psi) between 65 and 75 seconds into the motor burn time. The magnitudes of these perturbations are very small in comparison with the operating motor chamber pressure, which is over 600 psi during this time frame. These SRM pressure perturbations are believed to be caused primarily by the expulsion of slag (aluminum oxide). Two SRM static tests, TEM-11 and FSM-4, were instrumented extensive]y for the study of the phenomenon associated with pressure perturbations. The test instrumentation used included nonintrusive optical and infrared diagnostics of the plume, such as high-speed photography, radiometers, and thermal image cameras. Results from all these nonintrusive observations strongly support the scenario that the pressure perturbation event in the shuttle SRM is caused primarily by the expulsion of molten slag. The slag was also expelled preferentially near the bottom of the nozzle due to slag accumulation at the bottom of the aft end of the horizontally oriented motor.

Sambamurthi, J. K.↗