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Study on the Influence of Flight Altitude on the Rocket Plume Radiation Enhancement Effect Caused by Afterburning

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the influence of flight altitude on the plume radiation enhancement effect caused by afterburning. The infrared radiation simulation model consisting of the standard \(k - \varepsilon\) two-equation turbulence models, the finite velocity model, and the finite volume method (FVM) was established in this work. Based on the proposed model, the influence of afterburning on the flow field distribution and infrared radiation from sea level to the altitude of 50 km was analyzed. The results showed that the temperature and the contents of main radiant gases such as CO2 and H2O increase due to afterburning. Specifically, the increments were more significant at the altitude of 0–20 km than at the altitude of 30–50 km. Furthermore, the infrared radiation was enhanced as a result of afterburning, and the enhancement ratio decreased with the increase of altitude. When the altitude was below 20 km, the enhancement ratios of radiation intensity in wavebands of 2.5–2.9 μm and 4.1–4.5 μm were greater than 25%; when the altitude was higher than 40 km, the enhancement ratios were less than 10%. In particular, when the height was 50 km, the enhancement ratios of radiation intensity in wavebands of 2.5–2.9 μm and 4.1–4.5 μm were merely 6.09% and 3.99%, respectively. It can be concluded that the infrared radiation enhancement effect caused by afterburning is significant when the altitude is lower than 20 km, and will decrease with the increase of altitude when the altitude is higher than 20 km, which is mainly due to that oxygen concentration in the atmosphere decreases with the altitude.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province “Research on Infrared Radiation and Remote Sensing Characteristics of Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle in Near Space” [Grant No. 1908085QF295] and “Modeling Research on Infrared Radiation Characteristics of Rocket Plume in Full Space” [Grant No. 1908085MF199].

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  1. College of Electronic Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Hefei, 230037, China

    Zunyang Liu, Qing Ye, Feng Ding, Ying Xu & Xu Han

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  1. Zunyang Liu
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  2. Qing Ye
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  3. Feng Ding
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Correspondence to Zunyang Liu or Qing Ye.

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Liu, Z., Ye, Q., Ding, F. et al. Study on the Influence of Flight Altitude on the Rocket Plume Radiation Enhancement Effect Caused by Afterburning. Int. J. Aeronaut. Space Sci. 22, 1019–1030 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-021-00376-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-021-00376-w

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