Welcome to AE6450

Rocket Propulsion
Fall 2004
Georgia Institute of Technology

/
School of Aerospace Engineering

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/rdyne/sightsns
Catalog Data: Credits: 3. Analysis and design of
rocket engines including liquid, solid, hybrid, and
advanced propulsion systems. Lecture: 3.
Pre-requisites: AE 4451 Jet Propulsion

Worried about Prerequisites?

Check out
•Jet Propulsion
http://www.adl.gatech.edu/classes/ae4451/
•High Speed Aerodynamics/Compressible Flow
http://www.adl.gatech.edu/classes/ae3021/
•Introduction to Aerospace Engineering
http://www.adl.gatech.edu/classes/dci/intro/dci01a.html SATURN V

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 Announcements etc.

Lecture presentations (slides in pdf) and the course outline/ syllabus are at
http://www.adl.gatech.edu/classes/ae6450/

Eventually, more detailed notes and other announcements, assignments,

Links to resources etc. will appear at either/both of these sites.

Your instructor is

Dr. Narayanan M. Komerath, Professor, School of Aerospace Engineering.

Narayanan.komerath@ae.gatech.edu

I check e-mail a lot more frequently than I check my office voice-mail, 404-894-3017.

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 Section 1. Rocket Engine Basics

In this section we will cover:

Types of rocket engines

•The rocket equation, and a simple solution process for a launch to orbit.
•Simple orbital mechanics considerations related to mission requirements.
•Calculation of rocket thrust via momentum equation
•Definition of Isp, thrust coefficient, c*,
•Ideal expansion, over/under expansion
•Typical nozzle designs

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 Rocket Engines
A Rocket carries with it all of the propellant mass which is accelerated to produce
thrust. “Jet” engines are generally considered to be those which combine stored
propellant with atmospheric gases. There are some propulsion systems which
combine airbreathing and rocket propulsion.

A rocket engine includes means for heating propellant and accelerating it into an
exhaust.
We consider several types of rockets briefly:
Cold gas thrusters
Chemical thrusters
monopropellant
bipropellant (Liquid)
solid propellant
hybrid
Nuclear
Solar thermal
Electric

At the end we also consider “propellantless” means of

Propulsion, as opposed to rockets.
Test of the crew escape
system used on the Apollo
Launcher. Source: Boeing/Rocketdyne
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 Cold Gas Thrusters

Energy comes from high gas storage pressure expelled via a simple blow-down
system. Typical propellants (pressurized) include He and N2.

Features:

· Low thrust
· Low performance
· Simple and cheap
· No need for a heat addition system
· Non-toxic (e.g.: rendezvous with ISS)
· Used primarily for attitude control.

Courtesy, U. Queensland, HYSHOT Flight Program

http://www.mech.uq.edu.au/hyper/hyshot/hyshot_thruster.jpg
www.mech.uq.edu.au/ hyper/hyshot/
“.. approx. 300N of thrust w/ bottle pressure of 21MPa. .. could also turn
valve on and off reliably in 1 ms.”

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 Chemical Thrusters
Energy from chemical decomposition or reaction generates thermal
energy used to expand the gas

Monopropellant – single working fluid converted to gases in the

presence of a (metallic or thermal ) catalyst. For example,

1
H 2O2 → H 2O + O2
catalyst = Platinum 2

or

3N 2 H 4 → 4 NH 3 + N 2
al _ ceramic _ pellets _ with _ iridium

In the above reaction, the hydrazine decomposes to ammonia and nitrogen. The
ammonia further decomposes in an endothermic reaction to form nitrogen and
hydrogen. This is a simple, but rather low-performance thruster. Hydrazine is
storable for long missions, but is toxic to humans.

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Example: Monopropellant engine assembly for the Cassini Mission.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/Spacecraft/propulsion.shtml

Text: “The monopropellant tank assembly (MTA) mounts externally to the PMS
cylindrical structure and utilizes a propellant management diaphragm to contain gaseous
helium on one side and purified hydrazine on the other side. The hydrazine is expelled, as
required, to feed the four thruster cluster assemblies during the performance of attitude
control maneuvers and functions.”

Courtesy, NASA

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 Bipropellant liquid thrusters
Very common type of rocket with separately stored “oxidizer” and “fuel”.
Examples include: LOX/LH2, LOX/RP, N2O4 / N2H4 .

Bipropellant thrusters can achieve high performance, but are complex and
weight more. They enable throttling and control over a wide range of thrust.

Rocketdyne (Rockwell)

F-1 engine. LOX/RP1

Space Shuttle Main Engine: LOX/LH2

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/courses/meam203/class/ssme.jpg
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/rdyne/sightsns/images/ssmetest.gif

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 Biprope
llant
Engine
Exampl
Bipropellant Apogee Engine (ETS-VI)
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/satcom/c2_s5b.htm
es
http://www.atlanticresearchcorp.com/docs/space_biprop6.shtml

Courtesy wtec LEROS 20H Station Keeping Thruster: Dual mode

attitude control engine. Nominal thrust of 5 lbf (22 N).
Uses a high temperature Platinum/Rhodium alloy in its
chamber and delivers Isp > 308 seconds steady state,
without throughput limitation operating on hydrazine
and nitrogen tetroxide propellants. Courtesy Atlantic
Research Co.

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 Solid-propellant thrusters
Fuel and oxidizer are premixed into a rubbery mixture (example: Aluminum fuel and
ammonium perchlorate oxidizer). The solid propellant generates a mixture of gases
when burned.
Solid thrusters are
•· Storable
•· Simple, low-cost
•· Deliver high energy density (i.e., high values of density*(square of specific impulse)
•· Performance is moderate,
•· Hard to control/ throttle (usually little control once lit)
• Exhaust can be toxic and corrosive (e.g., chlorine)

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 Example: Space Shuttle Solid Booster

http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v1p56.jpg

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 Star-Grained Solid Rocket Motor

http://www.nf.suite.dk/stargrain/ After 1 minute of burn

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 Hybrid Thrusters

Use a solid fuel (a plastic-like hydrocarbon polymer) and a liquid or gaseous oxidizer
(typically LOX or H2O2 ).

Higher performance than solids

•Controllable and can be throttled by varying liquid flow rate.
•Uneven burning
•Significant “Inert mass” (unburned propellant).

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 Nuclear Thrusters

Use nuclear energy source to heat a working fluid to high temperature, and exhaust the
fluid through a nozzle (typically hydrogen).
· High performance
· High reactor/ shielding mass required against radiation emission
· Political/ environmental issues

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http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/teacher/lessons/contributed/thomas/Adv.prop/scntr.gif

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 Solar Thermal

• Like nuclear thrusters, but use solar energy either directly or indirectly to heat a
working fluid (typically hydrogen).
•Not enough power for constant burns (impulsive thrust generation)

Source: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

http://www.msfc.nasa.gov

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 Electric Thrusters

Uses a magnetic fluid or electric field to accelerate ions (typically Argon, Krypton,
Cesium or Cobalt) to very high exhaust velocity

Very high performance (specific impulse above 2000 seconds)

Usable only in low-thrust applications

Note: energy source can be solar (SEP) or nuclear (NEP)

Resistance thrusters?

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 “Propellantless” Space Propulsion
Tethers
– rotating (momentum exchange – “catch and throw”)
– electrodynamic (uses Earth’s magnetic field)
Sails
- Solar sails use the solar wind (high speed charged particles emitted from the Sun)
to provide momentum for outbound trajectories. Magnetic sails use magnetic fields
instead of a physical fabric to “capture” the solar wind.

Solar Sail
Propulsion.
Courtesy NIAC
http://www.niac.usra.edu

M2P2 propulsion: courtesy Dr. Winglee, U. Washington

and NIAC. http://www.niac.usra.edu

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