MODELING TECHNIQUES FOR LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET COMBUSTION PROCESSES

A qualitative physical processes description of stable and unstable combustion in rockets is presented to establish the basis for choosing model hardware design criteria. It is concluded that it is not possible to scale rocket combustion processes in the usual sense of the term. The studies conducted at Rocketdyne have shown that model chambers which satisfactorily model the steady state behavior of large engines must be designed to maintain (1) the propellant injection density, and (2) the chamber to throat Contraction ratio (hence chamber pressure). For studies of destructive acoustic modes of combustion instability a third parameter, the frequency, must also be maintained.