Development of a program for the conceptual design and preliminary sizing of liquid propellant rocket engines used in aerospace vehicles

Paper number

IAC-11,C4,1,12,x9694

Author

Mr. Seyed Ali Nasseri, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Canada

Year

2011

Abstract

In this paper, an algorithm for the design of liquid propellant rocket engines is introduced. Using this algorithm and several information sources, a program was developed for the conceptual design analysis and preliminary sizing of liquid propellant rocket engines for use in both launch vehicles and spacecrafts. Both mono-propellant and bi-propellant engines and both cryogenic and storable propellant systems were analyzed using this program. \\
Several analysis programs have been proposed in the literature for the analysis of liquid propellant rocket engines. The reason for the development of a new code was to include new data and create a usable code for analysis that could easily be incorporated into vehicle design codes. To reach these goals, databases were developed for previous engines, thrust chamber, turbopump and tank material, propellants and pressurization gas properties. The program was initially developed in the FORTRAN programming language. Later on, C++ and MATLAB versions were also developed, due to the need to incorporate this code into other codes for the design of space vehicles. An object oriented approach was used to ease the upgrade of the code to a vehicle design code. \\
The algorithm requires several detailed inputs to start its analysis, some of which are related to numerical calculations while others are design choices. These include the engine cycle, propellant and oxidizer to fuel ratio, type of engine, chamber pressure, safety factors, tank pressures, nozzle type and nozzle exit pressure. Several design constraints were applied including engine thrust to weight ratio, chamber length to diameter ratio and minimum and maximum injectors area. \\
The final results of the algorithm may be summarized as engine weight and dimensions, propulsive properties, combustion chamber and nozzle weight and dimensions , turbopump weight and tank properties and pressurization system. The results of the program showed acceptable error margins for conceptual design purposes.

Abstract document

IAC-11,C4,1,12,x9694.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-11,C4,1,12,x9694.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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