Investigation of Liquid Breakup Process Solid Rocket Motor Part B: Vertical C-D Nozzle

Aluminized propellants are frequently used in solid rocket motors (SRMs) to increase specific impulse. However, as the propellant combusts, the aluminum is oxidized into aluminum oxide (Al2O3), it agglomerates into molten droplets that attach to the outside wall of the rocket nozzle. This phenomenon negatively impacts ballistics performance because the droplets remain attached to the inner wall of propulsion chambers. This buildup of particles tends to erode the wall, decreasing the performance and sustainability of the rocket. This study presents both experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate the relationship between gas velocity and molten particle size for the vertically arrayed combustion chamber. Also, the Weber number and the Froude number are monitored to explain the breakup phenomenon and the condition of alumina flow in the whole testing channel. This study focused mainly on the vertical arrangement of the propulsion chamber with the cold experimental and simulation investigating the role of the liquid water in addition to a comparison with the horizontal chamber case. Unlike the horizontal setup, a greater number of droplets with smaller average droplet diameter present in the vertical setup; however, Froude number follows the same trend as for the horizontal C-D nozzle setup.

Protective Plasma Sprayed Coating forThermo-Sensitive Substrates

Plasma spray is one of the surface treatment techniques that consist on the deposition of a thin coating onto a targeted substrate. Coating is built up by successive accumulation of layered splats resulting from impact and solidification of molten particles into thin ‘‘splats’’ onto the substrate. The process of droplet impact, spreading and solidification is then a crucial process in coating formation. This technique may be also used for thermo-sensitive materials such as wood by applying a metallic coating for protective or decorative purposes. However, when applying a ceramic coating which provides a high protection against hot temperatures like fire, wood may be damaged because of the high temperature at which the ceramic molten particles arrive at the substrate. In this paper, a numerical simulation based on the Finite Elements Method is carried out in order to simulate the process of the first splat formation onto a wood substrate under traditional plasma spraying conditions. The computations are carried out on a fixed eulerian structured mesh using the level set method to track the interface between the molten particle and surrounding gas. The effects of operating conditions as well as the droplet characteristics that allow applying ceramic coating onto a wood substrate without any damage to this thermo-sensitive material are investigated.

Influence of Air Plasma Spraying Process Parameters on Ceramic Layer in Thermal Barrier Coatings

The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of application in APS process Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) – Metco 6700 ceramic powder normally used in Low Pressure Plasma Spraying (LPPS) method. Powder grain size is around 10 µm. Parameters such as chemical composition of plasma gases and current were changed to obtain the best result. The experiment was divided into two stages. Firstly, temperature, velocity and size of a molten particle of ceramic powder inside plasma plume were measured via DPV eVolution equipment (TECNAR company) during a different set of process parameters. Plasma plume was also scanned to obtain cross-section contour plots of mentioned properties of the molten particle. Secondly, the same processes were repeated to deposit TBC coatings onto sheet metal to examine the structure.The obtained results showed that it is possible to use fine-grain YSZ powder Metco 6700 for APS process. Obtained ceramic coatings had a thickness from 100 to 240 µm. The plasma sprayed coating was characterised by a smooth surface. The measurement of spraying parameters showed the uniform temperature, velocity and particle size of the powder inside plasma plume.

Simulations of Multiphase Particle Deposition on a Gas Turbine Endwall With Impingement and Film Cooling

Replacing natural gas fuels with coal-derived syngas in industrial gas turbines can lead to molten particle deposition on the turbine components. The deposition of the particles, which originate from impurities in the syngas fuels, can increase surface roughness and obstruct film cooling holes. These deposition effects increase heat transfer to the components and degrade the performance of cooling mechanisms, which are critical for maintaining component life. The current experimental study dynamically simulated molten particle deposition on a conducting blade endwall with the injection of molten wax. The key nondimensional parameters for modeling of conjugate heat transfer and deposition were replicated in the experiment. The endwall was cooled with internal impingement jet cooling and film cooling. Increasing blowing ratio mitigated some deposition at the film cooling hole exits and in areas of coolest endwall temperatures. After deposition, the external surface temperatures and internal endwall temperatures were measured and found to be warmer than the endwall temperatures measured before deposition. Although the deposition helps insulate the endwall from the mainstream, the roughness effects of the deposition counteract the insulating effect by decreasing the benefit of film cooling and by increasing external heat transfer coefficients.

Numerical study of the spreading and solidification of a molten particle impacting onto a rigid substrate under plasma spraying conditions

This paper deals with simulation of the spreading and solidification of a fully molten particle impacting onto a preheated substrate under traditional plasma spraying conditions. The multiphase problem governing equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation taking into account heat transfer by conduction, convection and phase change are solved by using a Finite Element approach. The interface between molten particle and surrounding air, is tracked using the Level Set method. The effect of the Reynolds number on the droplet spreading and solidification, using a wide range of impact velocities (40-250m/s), is reported. A new correlation that predicts the final spread factor of splat as a function of Reynolds number is obtained. Thermal contact resistance, viscous dissipation, wettability and surface tension forces effects are taken into account.

Simulations of Multiphase Particle Deposition on a Gas Turbine Endwall With Impingement and Film Cooling

Replacing natural gas fuels with coal derived syngas in industrial gas turbines can lead to molten particle deposition on the turbine components. The deposition of the particles, which originate from impurities in the syngas fuels, can increase surface roughness and obstruct film cooling holes. These deposition effects increase heat transfer to the components and degrade the performance of cooling mechanisms, which are critical for maintaining component life. The current study dynamically simulated molten particle deposition on a conducting blade endwall with the injection of molten wax. The key non-dimensional parameters for modeling of conjugate heat transfer and deposition were replicated in the experiment. The endwall cooling arrangements included film cooling only as well as internal impingement jet cooling plus film cooling. The distribution of deposition was influenced by the film cooling blowing ratio as well as the surface temperature of the endwall. Increasing blowing ratio mitigated some deposition at the film cooling hole exits and in areas of coolest endwall temperatures. After deposition, the external surface temperatures and internal endwall temperatures were measured and found to be warmer than the endwall temperatures measured before deposition. Although the deposition helps insulate the endwall from the mainstream, the roughness effects of the deposition counteract the insulating effect by decreasing the benefit of film cooling and by increasing external heat transfer coefficients.

A chemical model of meteoric ablation

Most of the extraterrestrial dust entering the Earth's atmosphere ablates to produce metal vapours, which have significant effects on the aeronomy of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. A new Chemical Ablation Model (CAMOD) is described which treats the physics and chemistry of ablation, by including the following processes: sputtering by inelastic collisions with air molecules before the meteoroid melts; evaporation of atoms and oxides from the molten particle; diffusion-controlled migration of the volatile constituents (Na and K) through the molten particle; and impact ionization of the ablated fragments by hyperthermal collisions with air molecules. Evaporation is based on thermodynamic equilibrium in the molten meteoroid (treated as a melt of metal oxides), and between the particle and surrounding vapour phase. The loss rate of each element is then determined assuming Langmuir evaporation. CAMOD successfully predicts the meteor head echo appearance heights, observed from incoherent scatter radars, over a wide range of meteoroid velocities. The model also confirms that differential ablation explains common-volume lidar observations of K, Ca and Ca+ in fresh meteor trails. CAMOD is then used to calculate the injection rates into the atmosphere of a variety of elements as a function of altitude, integrated over the meteoroid mass and velocity distributions. The most abundant elements (Fe, Mg and Si) have peak injection rates around 85 km, with Na and K about 8 km higher. The more refractory element Ca ablates around 82 km with a Na:Ca ratio of 4:1, which does therefore not explain the depletion of atomic Ca to Na, by more than 2 orders of magnitude, in the upper mesosphere. Diffusion of the most volatile elements (Na and K) does not appear to be rate-limiting except in the fastest meteoroids. Non-thermal sputtering causes ~35% mass loss from the fastest (~60–70 km s−1) and smallest (10−17–10−13 g) meteoroids, but makes a minor contribution to the overall ablation rate.