• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.78-84
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• 2020

The performance of pintle thruster is analyzed by using the pintle thruster performance analysis model which integrating the element models introduced in Part I. To verify the performance analysis, the results of the developed program are compared with the experimental data of kerosene/hydrogen peroxide liquid pintle thrusters. Based on the results, the characteristics of the pintle thruster are analyzed. The sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of thruster shape and operation parameters on performance characteristics using both OAT and scatter plot methods. The four performance parameters such as droplet diameter, film flow rate, O/F ratio, and nozzle throat diameter are evaluated to investigate their effects on characteristic speed, combustor pressure, and specific thrust.

• 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 for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.304-310
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• 2015

Pintle thrusters use pintle stroke to change nozzle throat area, and this controls thrust. Using MATLAB, one-dimensional simulation has been investigated and the results are compared to those of cold flow tests and computational fluid dynamics for the pintle thruster of Chungnam National University. The prediction based on one-dimensional flow theory shows good agreement with measurements for chamber pressure, but deviates for thrust, partly because of nozzle wall separation. Computational results show that nozzle wall separation occurs at an early stage of nozzle expansion, near the design nozzle throat, for the course of pintle strokes. Empirical thrust prediction incorporates nozzle wall separation, and thus 1-D simulation using empirical thrust prediction showed good results for an early stage of pintle stroke.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.237-240
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• 2011

Numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the effect of pintle inflection point on the performance of the SNECMA modulatable thrust devices. Results show that the effect of inflection points in the pintle is to decrease aerodynamic load while maintaining required thrust level.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.247-255
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate unsteady-state characteristics of a pintle thruster with various pintle speed. Based on steady state experimental results, non-linear pintle stroke equation is obtained and applied to the unsteady state experimental system. For the unsteady state experiments, three different pintle speeds are used: 3.10 mm/s, 5.65 mm/s, 10.83 mm/s, respectively. Results show that backward pintle stroke results in faster convergence time because of high chamber pressure during backward pintle stroke sequence. During the forward and backward process, thrust curve shows singular points. These phenomenons is caused by variation of mass flow rate, which is mainly due to changes of both chamber pressures and nozzle throat area. This behavior becomes distinctive for a faster pintle speed case.

• 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.24 no.6
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• pp.126-142
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• 2020

This study aims to provide basic design data for a pintle injector and its combustion device through case study on the research and development of combustion devices to which a liquid-liquid pintle injector was applied. From data analysis, it was possible to provide the initial dimension of the combustion chamber and pintle injector based on the engine thrust, and the geometric characteristics of the high-efficiency injector. In addition, the pintle tip heat damage prevention mechanism and materials, face-shutoff pintle injector implementation method, and central propellant selection criteria were summarized. Theses results will be used as basic data for the design criteria of an initial pintle injector combustion device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.401-405
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• 2017

Continuous variable thrusters require precise thrust control to change the position or attitude of the aircraft and to control the pressure inside the combustion chamber. For this purpose, the thrust is adjusted by moving the pintle structure near the nozzle neck inside the combustion chamber by moving the pintle structure forward and backward, and the actuator is used to move the pintle structure. In this paper, we developed a actuator system for continuous variable thruster and load test system to simulate the load under operating conditions. Also, the performance test of the actuator was performed using the developed load test system

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.703-709
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• 2020

Pintle injector is known to have been adopted as injector of Lunar Module Descent Engine (LMDE) and contributed to success of the Apollo program and recently used in merlin engine. In this study, 500N Lab-Scale pintle injector thruster was manufactured and the combustion experiment with LOx/GCH4 was conducted. However, the proto-type thruster was showed some problems, such as low combustion efficiency and melting of pintle tip. To solve these problems, the flow guide in pintle tip was suggested through the CFD simulation. After addition of flow guide module, the combustion efficiency increased and pintle tip did not melt until the end of combustion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.60-71
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• 2022

The reusable, low-cost launch vehicle development trend in the recent launch vehicle market is being subdivided into several ways, and the throttleable engine is one of them. Plus, several nations have selected methane as a next-generation propellant due to its cleanness. In this research, a throttleable pintle injector using gas methane and liquid oxygen as propellants was developed, followed by its spray and combustion characteristics analysis, including high pressure cold and hot tests. The designed throttleable pintle injector has a double sleeve structure, and its tightness and functionality are confirmed through repetitive atmospheric, high-pressure cold tests, and hot tests. Though some design errors were discovered and a low throttling level was unable to be achieved in the combustion test.