• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 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
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.311-317
• /
• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
• /
• 2011.04a
• /
• pp.153-156
• /
• 2011

Steady state experiment was carried out for modulatable thruster applications, with four different pintles. Results show that thrust can be modulated by changing nozzle throat area with pintle penetration. However, effect of pintle shape on the thruster performance is yet to be concluded.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.22-31
• /
• 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
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 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 of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 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
• /
• v.43 no.12
• /
• pp.1071-1078
• /
• 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 for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.247-255
• /
• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.262-267
• /
• 2012

For DACS system which controls pintle position to change nozzle throat area, one actuator has been used for each modulatable pintle thruster. This ten actuator system drove to complex system structure and complicated control mechanism. In order to overcome this shortcomings, international patents were reviewed, analysed and presented.