Two-phase flow numerical simulation and particle impingement heating prediction in SRM nozzle

The aluminum oxide particle laden two-phase flow is an important characteristic of the solid rocket motor (SRM) nozzle flow field. Numerical investigations were conducted to understand the two-phase flow field and the surface heat increment caused by particle impingement in SRM nozzle. The Eulerian Navier-Stokes equations for the gas-phase flow were solved by finite volume method. The particle source in cell (PSIC) two-phase coupling regime based on Lagrangian particle tracking scheme and the particle-wall rebounding model based on experimental data were applied in the computations. The influences of aluminum oxide particle size on the particle trajectories and the surface heat increment distribution were studied and investigated. The results show that in the nozzle expansion section, the particle free zone increases as the particle diameter increases; the peak value of nozzle surface heat increment rises up as the particle diameter increases; the surface heat increment occurs completely in the nozzle convergent section.