EAS3503 Rocket Propulsion

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Take mass stored in a vehicle and throw it backwards (rocket propulsion). Use the reaction force to propel the vehicle. Propellant burn expand through nozzle (chem. energy) (thermal energy) (kinetic energy & momentum) Overall goal: take mo at Vo (flight speed), throw it out at Vo + V Integral Momentum Theorem

V. Rocket Performance A. Thrust and Specific Impulse for Rockets

We used the steady flow energy equation to relate the exhaust velocity of a rocket motor to the conditions in the combustion chamber and the exit pressure

There are four major components to any full scale rocket; the structural system, or frame, the payload system, theguidance system, and the propulsion system

The structural system of a rocket includes all of the parts which make up the frame of the rocket; the cylindrical body, the fairings, and any control fins. The function of the structural system is to transmit the loads from the forces generated during the flight and to provide low aerodynamic drag for flight through the atmosphere.

The payload of a rocket depends on the rocket's mission. During World War II, the payload were several thousand pounds of explosives on the German V2 rocket. Following World War II, many countries developed guided ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads for payloads. The same rockets were modified to launch satellites with a wide range of missions; communication, weather monitoring, spying, planetary exploration, and observation. On the figure we show a picture of the Hubble Space Telescope which has been used to explore deep space from low earth orbit.

The motion of any object in flight is a combination of the translation of the center of gravity and the rotation of the object about its center of gravity. Many different methods have been developed to control rockets in flight. All of the control methods produce a torque about the rocket's center of gravity which causes the rocket to rotate in flight. Through an understanding of the forces acting on the rocket and the resulting motion, the rocket guidance system can be programmed to intercept targets, or to fly into orbit.

The propulsion of a rocket includes all of the parts which make up the rocket engine; the tanks pumps, propellants, power head, and rocket nozzle . The function of the propulsion system is to produce thrust.

Combustion is a chemical process in which a substance reacts rapidly with oxygen and gives off heat. The original substance is called the fuel, and the source of oxygen is called the oxidizer. The fuel and oxidizer can be a solid, liquid, or gas. For rocket propulsion the fuel and oxidizer are usually stored as either a liquid or a solid.

In a rocket engine, stored fuel and stored oxidizer are ignited in a combustion chamber. The combustion produces great amounts of exhaust gas at high temperature and pressure. The hot exhaust is passed through a nozzle which accelerates the flow. Thrust is produced according to Newton's third law of motion.

The amount of thrust produced by the rocket depends on the design of the nozzle. The smallest cross-sectional area of the nozzle is called the throat of the nozzle. The hot exhaust flow is choked at the throat, which means that the Mach numberis equal to 1.0 in the throat and the mass flow rate m dot is determined by the throat area. The area ratio from the throat to the exit Ae sets the exit velocity Ve and the exit pressure Pe

The thrust equation shown above works for both liquid rocket and solid rocket. engines. There is also an efficiency parameter called the specific impulse which works for both types of rockets and greatly simplifies the performance analysis for rockets.

Thrust is the force which moves a rocket through the air, or through space. Thrust is generated by the propulsion system of the rocket.

The total impulse (I) of a rocket is defined as the average thrust times the total time of firing.

The conservation of mass (continuity) states that the mass flow rate mdot through a tube is a constant

Rockets typically use a convergent-divergent, or CD, nozzle. In a CD rocket nozzle, the hot exhaust leaves the combustion chamber and converges down to the minimum area, or throat, of the nozzle. The throat size is chosen to choke the flow and set the mass flow rate through the system. The flow in the throat is sonic which means the Mach =1 in the throat. Downstream of the throat, the geometry diverges and the flow is isentropically expanded to a supersonic Mach number that depends on the area ratio of the exit to the throat. The expansion of a supersonic flow causes the static pressure and temperature to decrease from the throat to the exit, so the amount of the expansion also determines the exit pressure and temperature. The exit temperature determines the exit speed of sound, which determines the exit velocity. The exit velocity, pressure, and mass flow through the nozzle determines the amount of thrust produced by the nozzle.

Rocket Equation
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1. On a rocket, thrust is used in opposition to weight. On many rockets, lift is used to stabilize and

control the direction of flight. 2. For a rocket, the aerodynamic forces are generated by the fins, nose cone, and body tube. The aerodynamic forces act through the center of pressure (the yellow dot with the black center on the figure) while the weight acts through the center of gravity (the yellow dot on the figure). 3. The drag of a rocket is usually much greater than the lift. 4. the magnitude and direction of the forces acting on a rocket change dramatically during a typical flight.

As Newton observed, the gravitational force between two objects depends on the mass of the objects and the inverse of the the square of the distance between the objects. More massive objects create greater forces and the farther apart the objects are the weaker the attraction. Newton was able to express the relationship in a single weight equation.
The gravitational force, F, between two particles equals a universal constant, G, times the product of the mass of the particles, m1 and m2, divided by the square of the distance, d, between the particles. F = G * m1 * m2 / d^2 Earth's gravitational acceleration, ge . ge = G * m Earth / (d Earth)^2 ge = 9.8 m/sec^2 = 32.2 ft/sec^2 The weight W, or gravitational force, is then just the mass of an object times the gravitational acceleration. W = m * ge An object's mass does not change from place to place, but an object's weight does change because the gravitational acceleration ge depends on the square of the distance from the center of the Earth m = Ws / ge = Wo / go Wo = Ws * go / ge where Ws = surface weight , Wo is the orbital weight, and go is the orbital value of the gravitational acceleration. We can calculate the ratio of the orbital gravitational acceleration to the value at the surface of the Earth as the square of Earth radius divided by the square of the orbital radius. go / ge = (d Earth)^2 / (d orbit)^2 go / ge = (4000/4200)^2 = .907

1. The single aerodynamic force is broken into two components: the drag force which is opposed to the direction of motion, and the lift force which acts perpendicular to the direction of motion. The lift and drag act through the center of pressure which is the average location of the aerodynamic forces on an object. 2. On a rocket, thrust is used in opposition to weight. Because the center of pressure is not normally located at the center of gravity of the rocket, aerodynamic forces can cause the rocket to rotate in flight. The lift of a rocket is a side force used to stabilize and control the direction of flight. While most aircraft have a high lift to drag ratio, the dragof a rocket is usually much greater than the lift.

The forces on a rocket change dramatically during a typical flight. This figure shows a derivation of the change in velocity during powered flight while accounting for the changing mass of the rocket. During powered flight the propellants of thepropulsion system are constantly being exhausted from the nozzle. As a result, the weight of the rocket is constantly changing. In this derivation, the effects of aerodynamic lift and drag will be neglected.

To simplify our analysis, we assume a perfectly vertical launch. If the launch is inclined at some angle, we can resolve the initial velocity into a vertical and horizontal component. The horizontal motion is uniform because there is no external force in the horizontal direction.
The horizontal motion is uniform because there is no external force in the horizontal direction. Weight is the only force acting on the object and weight is always vertical. Because the weight of the object is a constant, we can use the simple form of Newton's second law to solve for the vertical motion: -W = F = m a = m dV/dt where W is the weight, m is the mass, V is the velocity, t is the time, a is the acceleration, and F is the net external force. The positive direction is upwards, so the weight is preceded by a negative sign. Solving the equation: dV/dt = - W/m = -g V = Vo - g t where g is the gravitational acceleration which is equal to 32.2 ft/sec^2 or 9.8 m/sec^2 on the surface of the Earth. The value of the gravitational acceleration is different on the Moon and Mars. Vo is the initial velocity leaving the launcher. The location at any time is found by integrating the velocity equation: dy/dt = V = Vo - g t y = Vo t - .5 g t^2 where y is the vertical coordinate. With this general description of the motion of a ballistic object, we can derive some interesting conclusions. At the highest point in the flight, the vertical velocity is zero. From the velocity equation we can determine the time at which this happens: V=0 t = Vo / g The time to maximum altitude varies linearly with the launch velocity. Plugging this time into the altitude equation we obtain: y = Vo (Vo / g) - .5 g (Vo / g)^2 y = .5 * Vo ^2 / g The maximum altitude changes as the square of the launch velocity. Doubling the launch velocity produces four times the maximum altitude.

As the propellants are burned off during powered ascent, a larger proportion of the weight of the vehicle becomes the near-empty tankage and structure that was required when the vehicle was fully loaded. In order to lighten the weight of the vehicle to achieve orbital velocity, most launchers discard a portion of the vehicle in a process called staging. There are two types of rocket staging, serial and parallel. In serial staging, shown above, there is a small, second stage rocket that is placed on top of a larger first stage rocket. The first stage is ignited at launch and burns through the powered ascent until its propellants are exhausted. The first stage engine is then extinguished, the second stage separates from the first stage, and the second stage engine is ignited. The payload is carried atop the second stage into orbit.

In parallel staging, as shown in this figure, several small first stages are strapped onto to a central sustainer rocket. At launch, all of the engines are ignited. When the propellants in the strap-on's are extinguished, the strap-on rockets are discarded. The sustainer engine continues burning and the payload is carried atop the sustainer rocket into orbit. Parallel staging is used on the Space Shuttle. The discarded solid rocket boosters are retrieved from the ocean, re-filled with propellant, and used again on the Shuttle.