Transient thrust behavior of low‐aspect‐ratio rocket propulsion systems**

Abstract

In this work, the transient thrust force of the solid propellant rocket motor is numerically computed to illustrate the shortcomings of the common thrust formula in transient periods of operation. The internal ballistics of the solid rocket motor is simulated using the quasi one‐dimensional governing equations in which the finite volume method and the Roe′s scheme are utilized in calculation procedure. This is demonstrated that in transient operation of the propulsion systems, the common thrust formula may ignore some parts of physical phenomena because it has been derived based on steady state assumption, but there are some moving waves in transient operation in the combustion chamber which induce the fluctuations on the thrust force. So, the thrust‐time history must be computed by pressure force integration over the whole solid boundaries of the motor at any instant. The results show that such transient thrust behavior is more intense in low aspect ratio propulsion systems like small space thrusters.