• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.790-796
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• 2008

Typical solid rocket motors have a fixed propellant grain shape and nozzle throat size resulting in a fixed motor thrust. Pintle nozzle has been suggested as a means of providing variable thrust while maintaining the inherent advantage of solid rocket motors. In this study, the pintle shape effect on nozzle performance is investigated using experimental-aided Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD). The pintle shape is modified by a principle of monotony. CFD analysis is performed using Fluent by applying the turbulent model. This analysis indicates that nozzle thrust and pintle load are influenced by change of nozzle shock pattern and flow separation due to pintle shape and there exists a high-performing pintle shape.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.213-217
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• 2011

Unsteady numerical simulations of pintle nozzles were implemented for solid rocket thrust vector control. The variation of pintle location was considered using unsteady numerical techniques, and dynamic characteristics of various pintle models were investigated. In order to consider the variation of the pintle location, a moving mesh method was applied. The effects of shape and location of the pintle nozzle have been analytically investigated. And the results were compared with numerical results. The chamber pressure, mass flow and thrust are analyzed to take account dynamic characteristics of pintle performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.12
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• pp.1071-1078
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• 2015

Numerical computations were performed to investigate the effects of pintle stroke, altitude, and bore on the performance of an external pintle thruster. Results show that under-expansion flow occurs always, independent of pintle stroke. An external pintle thruster shows good performance in that it is capable of good amount of thrust control, while aerodynamic loads are increased due to shock waves on the pintle support. When altitude is increased to 20 km, the nozzle exit velocity, Mach number, thrust as well as aerodynamic loads are increased. Bore increases aerodynamic load 5.9%, and therefore pintle shape without bore is preferred for lower aerodynamic load of a pintle in order to actuate the pintle.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.28-39
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• 2018

In this study, numerical simulations were performed for steady and unsteady state characteristics of length effects on linear pintle nozzles using the overset grid method. Nozzles and pintles are created separately by an auto grid generation program to use the overset grid method. Appropriate turbulent models and numerical methods are selected for the validation of simulations. Pintle shapes are chosen from five types, with differences in the ratio of length and diameter. The longer the pintle length, the greater the thrust and thrust coefficient. The chamber pressure tendency of steady-state and unsteady-state are different for various pintle velocities. The thrust of the nozzle exit responds to changes in the nozzle throat in the unsteady-state, and the speed of pressure propagation wave generated by movement of the pintle is considered to predict the major factor of performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2019

In this study, numerical simulations were performed to investigate the steady-state characteristics of a symmetric pintle nozzle by varying the position of the pintle and the altitude. The pintle nozzle shape was used in a linear pintle nozzle that had been analyzed prior to the study, and the boundary conditions of the chamber were considered to be according to the propellant burn-back characteristics. A software was used to perform a verification analysis of the square nozzle, pintle nozzle, and high-altitude conditions with an appropriate analytical technique. The pintle position had three different nozzle throat area conditions-: fully closed, half open, and fully open, and the altitude was set at 0, 5, and 20 km. The study compared the thrust, pintle drive load, and static stability at each condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.379-382
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• 2017

Flow characteristics of dual bell nozzle with pintle were investigated. Thrust and thrust coefficient were compared with the pintle-bell nozzle of the same condition, and difference according to the pintle stroke was investigated. At stroke 0 mm, the thrust of the dual bell nozzle was about 13.18% higher than the bell nozzle, and when the pintle was backward, it was similar to the bell nozzle. The change in expansion ratio with stroke was considered to be more advantageous for a dual bell nozzle that performs altitude compensation through separation and transition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.392-396
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• 2012

Experimental and computational study for steady-state pintle driven nozzle throat flow are carried out by changing four pintle shape. Results show that thruster performance is influenced by pintle shape greatly. This attributes to the distorted throat area and chamber pressure change as the pintle shape and its penetration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Numerical computations are performed to investigate the effect of pintle stroke on the performance of an internal pintle thruster. Results show that the thrust control ratio was less than 2% and the aerodynamic load ratio was 22% as the pintle stroke increased. The flow past the nozzle throat rapidly expanding because of the shape of the pintle, and a shock wave was generated. Particularly, at the pintle stroke distance of 4 and 5 mm, the shock wave hit the wall of the nozzle, results in peeling bubbles. Depending on the altitude, the thrust increased and the aerodynamic load decreased, but the difference was as small as 1.5%. In the presence of the bore, the reduction of the pintle tip area resulted in a decrease in aerodynamic load.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.237-243
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• 2010

In this study, the effect of the shape of a pintle(obstacle) on thrust-modulation performance and drag in a pintle rocket was investigated by a cold flow test and by computational fluid dynamics. Pintle movement caused a monotonic increase in the chamber pressure. Thrust generated by the pressure distribution on the pintle body was linearly changed to the chamber pressure, and this thrust was greater than that generated by the nozzle-wall pressure distribution. Because the shock pattern in the nozzle changes with the shape of the pintle body and pressure ratio, the thrust generated by the nozzle-wall pressure is not directly affected by chamber pressure. The drag due to the pintle(obstacle) can be minimized for a fully linear pintle shape, regardless of chamber pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Using kerosene and liquid oxygen, 1.5-tonf class liquid-liquid pintle injector with rectangular two-row orifice was designed and manufactured. The combustion test of the pintle injector was carried out to verify the combustion performance and combustion stability under a supercritical condition which is the actual operation condition of the liquid rocket engine. The combustion test result showed that the pintle tip was damaged by the high temperature combustion gas in the high-mixed ratio recirculation zone of the combustion chamber. To solve this problem, the insert nozzle was installed in the pintle injector to increase cooling performance at the pintle tip. As a result of the hot firing test, installation of the insert nozzle, AR and BF had a great effect on pintle tip cooling performance.