The current paper provides an outline and first results of the ESA-EMAP project. This project pursues activities regarding the experimental modeling of alumina particulates in solid boosters (EMAP). The issue regards the particles residing in the atmosphere after the passage of a launch vehicle with solid rocket propulsion, which might contribute to local and overall ozone depletion. The question is to what extent since the particle size distribution left behind is essentially unclear. For this reason, the ESA-EMAP investigations focus on the characterization of the solid exhaust plume properties for well-defined combustion chamber conditions. Thus, details of the rocket motor assembly, of the developed solid propellant grains, and of first measurement results are provided. The paper presents technical findings concerning the rocket motors and reveals aspects to the feasibility of the applied measurement techniques.
For reproducing the so-called E × B communication blackout mitigation scheme inside the L2K arc heated facility of the DLR in weakly ionized argon §ows, a §at plate model has been equipped with a superconducting magnet, electrodes, and a setup comprising microwave plasma transmission spectroscopy (MPTS). A thorough characterization of the weakly ionized argon §ow has been performed including the use of microwave interferometry (MWI), Langmuir probe measurements, Pitot probe pro¦les, and spectroscopic methods like diode laser absorption spectroscopy (DLAS) and emission spectroscopy.
In this study, we developed an analytical model for the flow field in the Huels-type arc-heated wind tunnel (L2K) of the German Aerospace Center. This flow-field model can be used to accurately reproduce the discharge behavior in the heating section and expansion in the nozzle section of L2K. It includes the radiation transport and turbulent flow, as well as thermochemical nonequilibrium models, which are tightly coupled with electric field calculations. In addition, we considered the turbulent diffusion model for the mass conservation of the species and performed numerical simulations for several cases with and without the turbulent diffusion model. Computations were used to obtain the general characteristics of an arc-heated flow containing an arc discharge and supersonic expansion. We verified that radiation and turbulence play important roles in the transfer of heat from the high-temperature core flow to the outer cold gas in the heating section of L2K. In addition, we performed parametric studies that involved varying the degree of turbulent diffusion. The results showed that turbulent diffusion has a large influence on the formation of the arc discharge in the heating section and on the enthalpy distribution at the nozzle exit.
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