Abstract
Micro-propulsion is considered to be the emerging technology for the propulsion of micro and micro aerospace vehicles as it is preferred over mesoscale thruster due to lower overall life-cycle cost and launching costs. Hence this paper investigates the influence of critical parameters like the Nozzle Pressure Ratio (NPR) and Reynolds number (Re) on the operational characteristics of the micronozzle. A conical nozzle with throat diameter 710 µm and exit/throat area ratio ∼2.14 has been designed and is analyzed numerically by using a model based on pressure-based coupled implicit for various NPR, the backpressure with three Res namely, 1000, 1500, and 2000. The performance of this micronozzle has been characterized in terms of thrust, thrust coefficient, and specific impulse for all three Re cases. A subsequent analysis of the subsonic layer reveals that the nozzle is subjected to high viscous losses at low NPRs, which are independent of Re.
-
Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
-
Research funding: None declared.
-
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
References
1. Ketsdever, AD, Micci, MM, editors. Micropropulsion for small spacecraft. USA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; 2000.10.2514/4.866586Search in Google Scholar
2. Louisos, WF, Darren, LH. Numerical studies of supersonic flow in bell-shaped micronozzles. J Spacecraft Rockets 2014;51:491–500. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.a32508.Search in Google Scholar
3. Louisos, WF, Darren, LH. Analysis of transient flow in supersonic micronozzles. J Spacecraft Rockets 2011;48:303–11. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.51027.Search in Google Scholar
4. Ivanov, M, Markelov, G, Ketsdever, A, Wadsworth, D. Numerical study of cold gas micronozzle flows. In: 37th aerospace sciences meeting and exhibit; 1999:166 p.10.2514/6.1999-166Search in Google Scholar
5. Louisos, W, Hitt, D. Heat transfer & viscous effects in 2d & 3d supersonic flows. In: 37th AIAA fluid dynamics conference and exhibit; 1999:3987 p.Search in Google Scholar
6. Louisos, WF, Darren, LH. Viscous effects on performance of two-dimensional supersonic linear micronozzles. J Spacecraft Rockets 2008;45:706–15. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.33434.Search in Google Scholar
7. Alexeenko, AA, Levin, DA, Fedosov, DA, Gimelshein, SF, Collins, RJ. Performance analysis of microthrusters based on coupled thermal-fluid modeling and simulation. J Propul Power 2005;21:95–101. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.5354.Search in Google Scholar
8. Alexeenko, AA, Levin, DA, Gimelshein, SF, Collins, RJ, Markelov, GN. Numerical simulation of high-temperature gas flows in a millimeter-scale thruster. J Thermophys Heat Tran 2002;16:10–6. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.6667.Search in Google Scholar
9. Alexeenko, AA, Deborah, AL, Sergey, FG, Robert, JC, Reed, BD. Numerical modeling of axisymmetric and three-dimensional flows in microelectromechanical systems nozzles. AIAA J 2002;40:897–904. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.1726.Search in Google Scholar
10. Louisos, WF, Alexeenko, AA, Hitt, DL, Zilic, A. Design considerations for supersonic s. Int J Manuf Res 2008;3:80–113. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijmr.2008.016453.Search in Google Scholar
11. Huang, DH, Huzel, DK. Modern engineering for design of liquid-propellant rocket engines. USA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; 1992.10.2514/4.866197Search in Google Scholar
12. Sankarganesh, M. Numerical simulation of high temperature gas flow through conical micronozzle [M.Tech. dissertation]. Kanpur: Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; 2013.Search in Google Scholar
13. Versteeg, HK, Malalasekera, W. “The finite volume method for convection–diffusion problems.” An introduction to computational fluid dynamics. The finite volume method, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2007:115–33 pp.Search in Google Scholar
14. McBride, BJ. Computer program for calculation of complex chemical equilibrium compositions and applications. NASA Lewis Research Center; 1996, vol 2.Search in Google Scholar
15. Fluent, A. 13.0 User’s guide. Ansys Inc; 2010. (2010).Search in Google Scholar
16. Bayt, RL. Analysis, fabrication and testing of a MEMS-based micropropulsionsystem. Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory, Dept of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1999.Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
