Thermomechanical Meso-Scale Modeling of Combustion of Heterogeneous Solid Propellants

Abstract

In the final part of this dissertation, the coupled thermomechanical and propellant surface regression solver is further enhanced through addition of fluid-phase equations for transport of chemical species and temperature. A simple three-step kinetics model is used to describe the complex reactions occurring in the fluid phase, and motion of the gases in the fluid phase is modeled through an Oseen assumption. A monolithic scheme is used to couple the chemical species and temperature fields, while an isothermal staggered scheme is used to couple the deformation and temperature solvers, and the propellant surface is again updated explicitly through a level set algorithm. A one-dimensional example of the combustion of AP propellant is used to demonstrate the effect of deformation on regression rates. The framework is then applied to the multiphysics simulation of the combustion of a two-dimensional deformable periodic sandwich propellant.