“Although only one person was aboard the spacecraft, it took tens of thousands of people for

it to be a success. More than 7,000 scientists, workers and engineers like you are honored for
their contribution to the success of the flight” -Yuri Gagarin

Inka Aerospace

Fundamentals of Solid Propellant Rocket

Professor: Andre Edmundo Sanchez Marquina

In this course, students will acquire the knowledge they need to understand the operation of
solid propellant rocket engines, the flight and design of rockets.

COMPETENCES
1. Design solid propellant engines and rockets.
2. Model the rocket flight equations.
3. Apply the equations of solid propellant rocket engines.
Learning units
1. Rocket combustion chamber
Grain Regression Front Calculation ,Calculation of Parameters (d) and (L),Initial Thickness
of Grain Burn Front ,Calculation of Surface Area of Grain Burning ,Nozzle Gorge Cross
Section Area,Values of (Kn) ,chamber pressure ,Volume of a Propellant Grain ,Total
Propellant Weight .
2.Rocket nozzle
Pressure, temperature, density, match, Cf, Specific impulse, Thrust, Mass flow.
3.Rocket flight
speed, range, time of flight.
4.Rocket recovery
parachute equation
5.Rocket design
design in solidworks.
1. Rocket combustion chamber
We will calculate the parameters of the combustion chamber of a rocket engine using the
equations.
We will use the following data.

Grain Outer Diameter: De = 63mm

Grain Inside Diameter: Di = 25mm
Core Diameter: d0 = 25mm
Grain Length: Lo = 115mm
Number of Grains: N0 = 5
Nozzle Throat Diameter of: dg =19.25mm

Grain Regression Front Calculation (X):

We will use the following equation

We replace the values

Calculation of Parameters (d) and (L):

We will use the following equations

We replace the values

Initial Thickness of Grain Burn Front (t):

We will use the following equation

We replace the values
Calculation of Surface Area of Initial Grain Burning (Ab INICIAL):

We will use the following equation

We replace the values

Calculation of Surface Area of Maximum Grain Burning (AbMAX):

We will use the following equation

We replace the values
Calculation Final Grain Burning Surface Area (AbFINAL):
We will use the following equation
We replace the values

Calculation of Nozzle Gorge Cross Section Area (Ag):

We will use the following equation
We replace the values

Values of (Kn): Initial, Maximum and Final:

calculation of engine chamber pressure

We will use the following equation

We replace the values

Po = motor chamber pressure, Kn = Klemmung

(Ratio of combustion area vs nozzle throat).
a = coefficient of combustion under pressure.
a = conversion factor, MPa to Pa (a = 1,000,000).
p = mass density of propellant.
c * = characteristic output speed of the propellant.
n = exponent of combustion under pressure.
For KN-Dextrose, the values used are a = 0.0665 in / sec (8.26 mm / sec) and n = 0.319.
No = Number of Grains = 5
p = Propellant Density = 1.785 gr / cm3

•Calculation of Volume of a Propellant Grain (V1 GRANo):

We will use the following equation
We replace the values

Calculation of Volume of the five grains of Propellant (V5GRANos):

We will use the following equation
We replace the values

Calculation of Total Propellant Weight (PPROP):

We will use the following equation
We replace the values

Calculation of Total Propellant Weight (PPROP):

We will use the following equation
We replace the values

For a BATES grain, the burning area, Ab, as a function of surface regression, s, is given by:

where N = number of propellant segments, D = segment outside diameter, do = segment

initial core diameter, Lo = segment initial length

with initial dimensions: D = grain outside diameter, d = grain core diameter, L = grain length

with initial dimensions: D = grain outside diameter, d = grain core diameter, L = grain length
For a hollow cylindrical grain with unrestricted burning, the burning area, Ab, as a function of
surface regression, s, is given by:

where Do = grain initial outside diameter, do = grain initial core diameter, Lo = grain initial
length

2.Rocket nozzle
It is possible to express the area ratio, A / A *, in terms of the Mach number of the flow. The
area ratio is simply the cross-sectional area at any point (x) on the nozzle, to the cross-
sectional area where the critical condition exists (M = 1)

When a plot is made of A/A* versus Mach number, using this equation, a very
interesting result is obtained! It clearly shows that a converging-diverging passage
with a section of minimum area is required to accelerate the flow from subsonic to
supersonic speed. The critical point where the flow is at sonic velocity (M=1 at
A/A*=1) is seen to exist at the throat of the nozzle. This shows the importance of
the nozzle having a diverging section -- without it, the flow could never be greater
than sonic velocity!

the relationship between stagnation pressure; density and Mach number may be
expressed as given in the following two equations

The Thrust Coefficient determines the amplification of thrust due to gas expansion in the
nozzle as compared to the thrust that would be exerted if the chamber pressure acted over
the throat area only. Equation 4 is useful, as it allows for the experimental value of Cf to be
obtained from measured values of chamber pressure, throat diameter, and thrust. The ideal
value of Cf is calculated from equations 3 & 4, and shown below as equation 5:
The degree to which the thrust is amplified by the nozzle is quantified by the Thrust
Coefficient, Cf, and is defined in terms of the chamber pressure and throat area:

F = Cf A* Po

The delivered Specific Impulse is related to c-star as follows:

Isp = c* Cf / g

where c* accounts for the influence of the combustion and Cf (thrust coefficient) accounts for
the influence of the nozzle. As such, c* may be considered to be analagous to the specific
impulse with a Cf =1.

Flux mass equation

Propellant Burn Time equation

3.Rocket flight

Forces Acting on a vehicle

We know that thrust can be expressed as a function of the

propellant mass flow rate mºp and effective exhaust velocity of the propellant in the nozzle.
For a fully expanded nozzle, thrust can be expressed mathematically as

In most cases, the propellant mass flow rate remains almost constant and thus can be
expressed in terms of initial mass of propellant in the spacecraft and the burning time of the
propellant tb, neglecting of course the
starting and ending transients, as follows:

The instantaneous mass of the vehicle m can be expressed as a function of the initial mass
of the full vehicle m0 and the propellant mass mp at an instantaneous time t as follows:

Aerodynamic forces

The drag force acts in the direction opposite to the flight of the vehicle due to the resistance
of the vehicle to the flight motion through a fluid (air) medium,
whereas lift is the aerodynamic force acting in the direction normal to the flight of the vehicle.
The lift L and the drag D can be expressed as functions of flight speed V, density of fluid,
and a typical surface area which can be
expressed as follows:

where
CD is the drag coefficient
CL is the lift coefficient
A is the frontal cross-sectional area
 Let us assume the flight trajectory is two-dimensional and is constrained in the x–y plane as
shown in
Figure 5.2. However, we will consider the aerodynamic forces, namely, drag
and lift, that are acting on the vehicle along with gravitational force from

FIGURE 5.2 Free body force diagram in a two-dimensional plane for a flying rocket engine
vehicle.

the earth. Note that we assume that the direction of flight is the same as that of the thrust. In
the direction of the flight path, we know that the product of mass and acceleration is equal to
the sum of all acting forces:

where
m is the instantaneous mass of the vehicle
g is the acceleration due to gravity
D is the drag force acting on the vehicle
θ is the angle between the vehicle path and horizontal direction
We know that the vehicle mass is reduced as the propellant is ejected
through the nozzle of the rocket engine for producing thrust. Hence, the instantaneous mass
of the vehicle can be related to the propellant mass
as follows:

where
t is the instantaneous time
tb is the total burning time
mp is the initial propellant mass
mo is the initial mass of the vehicle
PF=mp/mo is the propellant fraction
By substituting Equation 5.9 for instantaneous mass in Equation 5.8, we obtain

By simplifying Equation 5.10, we obtain

By expressing Equation 5.11 in terms of PF and substituting Equation 5.5, we obtain

Note that the drag term can contribute significantly only if

the vehicle spends a considerable portion of its total time within the atmosphere. Therefore,
we will neglect this term for simplicity for space flight.
Then, on this simplification, Equation 5.13 can be expressed as follows:

By integrating Equation 5.13 between interval t = 0 and t = tb (V = V0 to V = Vb), we obtain

By integrating and simplifying Equation 5.14, we obtain

But we know that the propellant fraction PF can be expressed in terms of mass ratio MR as
follows:

where
mb is the burnout mass of the vehicle after all the propellant is consumed
MR is the mass ratio of the vehicle
We can express Equation 5.15 in terms of Isp and MR as follows:
Burnout Distance
When the rocket is fired vertically, we can neglect both the drag force and gravitational force
acting on the rocket engine. We can determine the distance covered during the burnout
period of the propellant, known as the burnout distance hb, by integrating Equation 5.18 into
time duration tb as follows:

Coasting Height
Once the entire propellant of a rocket engine is burnt out, the rocket will travel further till all
its kinetic energy is consumed by the vehicle. This vertical height achieved by the rocket
engine is commonly known as the coasting height. Note that this height has to be
determined routinely for the sounding rocket engine. By neglecting the drag and gravitational
forces on the vehicle, the coasting height hc can be determined by equating the kinetic
energy possessed by the vehicle at burnout to the increase in potential energy due to the
gain in vertical height as follows

Assuming that acceleration due to the earth’s gravity remains almost constant, we can
integrate Equation to get an expression for the coasting height hc:

The total vertical height ht traveled by the vehicle can be determined as follows:
Rocket rise time
Ttot= ( Vb/g ) + Tb

4.Rocket recovery

5.Rocket design