Application of Combustion Stabilization Devices to Liquid Rocket Engine

액체 로켓엔진에서 연소 안정화기구의 적용에 관한 연구

Application of combustion stabilization devices such as baffle and acoustic cavity to liquid propellant rocket engine is investigated to suppress high-frequency combustion instability, i.e., acoustic instability. First, these damping devices are designed based on linear damping theory. As a principal design parameter, damping factor is considered and calculated numerically in the chambers with various specifications of these devices. Next, the unbaffled chambers with/without acoustic cavities are tested experimentally for several operating conditions. The unbaffled chamber shows the specific stability characteristics depending on the operating condition and has small dynamic stability margin. The most hazardous frequency is clearly identified through Fast Fourier Transform. As a result, the acoustic cavity with the present design has little stabilization effect in this specific chamber. Finally, stability rating tests are conducted with the baffled chamber, where evident combustion stabilization is observed, which indicates sufficient damping effect. Thrust loss caused by baffle installation is about $2{\%}$.