• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.189-192
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• 2011

In solid rockets, a pintle thruster is a modulatable thrust device which controlls nozzle throat area. In this study, effect of bore on aerodynamic loads in a SNECMA modulatable thruster was carried out. Existence of bore resulted in reduced aerodynamic load.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.28-34
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• 2019

The thrust control calculation according to the operation of plug nozzle for cold air test and the analysis of the flow characteristics of the pintle shape and operation pressure are performed. The numerical computation was verified by comparing the flow structure and the coefficient of thrust with the experimental data. It was confirmed that the nozzle throat was formed at the design position on each pintle shape, and thrust control up to 1:8 was achieved only by the stroke change. Finally, although the aerospike nozzle is autonomous, it is unfavorable in the under_expansion condition, if it is designed for a very low nozzle pressure ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2015

This paper describes how to apply one-dimensional simulation to predict unsteady state characteristics of the cold-gas pintle thruster. Mass flow rate, chamber pressure, and nozzle exit pressure are key parameters for thrust control. Chamber pressure rose and fell monotonously with the pintle stroke variation, while thrust variation was different from chamber pressure variation. During the forward pintle stroke operation, the thrust value tended to decrease initially and returned to increase when pintle speed and chamber free volume exceed some specified value. Even though one-dimensional simulation has the limitations to predict unsteady state characteristics, it is still useful for initial performance assessment of various thrusters which adopt an altitude compensation nozzle such as a dual-bell nozzle, prior to experiment or numerical analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.59-67
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• 2016

Numerical simulations have been performed to investigate thrust characteristics of a through-type pintle nozzle with or without flow separation at various operating altitudes. The low Reynolds number $k-{\varepsilon}$ with compressibility correction proposed by Sarkar are applied. The detail flow structures are observed and static pressures along nozzle wall are compared with experimental results. The flow separation in the pintle nozzle disappears and jet plume strongly expands as its operating altitude increases. To evaluate the thrust characteristics, the momentum term and pressure term of thrust are analyzed. Thrust and thrust coefficient at altitude 20 km are about 10% more than them at the ground 0km.

• 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.5
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• pp.22-31
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• 2018

In this study, numerical simulations were performed to determine the dynamic characteristics of a pintle nozzle, with changes to the chamber boundary conditions. To apply movement, to the pintle, the nozzle and pintle were created separately by an auto-grid generation program using an overset grid method. The chamber boundary conditions were selected between a constant mass-flow rate condition and a propellant burn-back condition. The pressure and thrust characteristics of the constant mass-flow rate condition were determined by changing the ratio of the mass-flow rate in the inlet. The propellant burn-back condition was considered by formulation of the combustion rate. The burn-back conditions represented nonlinear phenomena, unlike the constant mass flow rate, and a small flow rate resulted in a large change in the chamber pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.19-28
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• 2014

Firing test of solid rocket motor with pintle-technology carried out and the measured pressure-time curve was compared with the values predicted by the internal ballistic and performance analysis. Without baffle, the measured combustion chamber pressure was similar with the predicted pressure at the beginning of combustion, but gradual increase in pressure, which was unexpected with the end-burning grain of which burning area is constant, was observed. A baffle was inserted to make uniform flow over the pintle. Unlike the thruster without baffle, the measured combustion chamber pressure was 1.4 times higher than the predicted value. Through the CFD simulation, 10% of total pressure loss of the flow was observed from combustion chamber to nozzle throat when the baffle was inserted. The measured pressure with baffle was predicted well by considering the total pressure loss in the internal ballistic modelling and performance analysis.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.744-749
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• 2011

In this study, determination method of initial optimal nozzle expansion in pintle rocket was investigated. The initial optimal initial nozzle expansion was decided by maximizing the mass-averaged thrust coefficient that is calculated from thrust coefficient of minimum and maximum chamber pressure. The determination of initial optimal initial nozzle expansion was equivalent to that of the minimum propellant mass which was required for obtaining the desired mission performance. The highest pressure, thrust turndown ratio and total impulse ratio effected on the initial optimal nozzle expansion. Among them, total impulse ratio had great influence on the initial optimal nozzle expansion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.20-28
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• 2015

Performance parameters of solid rocket motor with multi axis pintle nozzles were analyzed theoretically and modeled. For figuring out the governed variable of dynamic characteristics of system, dynamic analysis was done by using established model. To present characteristics of this system, the model should include not only internal ballistics of propulsion unit but also actuating system to move pintle. For solid rocket motor with multi axis pintle nozzles, not only performance of steady state but also dynamic characteristic of transient state is important design parameter to precise thrust control. Therefore, response time of open-loop system was analyzed by using established model and requirement about response time was satisfied by controlling pressure.