Thermal-fluid Behavior of Two-phase flows for Propellant Management in Upper Stage Propulsion System

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H04198
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Aerospace engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Himeno Takehiro 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 准教授 (60376506)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ロケット / 極低温 / 気液二相流 / 相変化 / 数値流体解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To establish the technology of the propellant management for liquid rocket, the pressure drop in closed vessels were intensively investigated. In the experiment, heat and mass transfer indicated by the pressure change induced by sloshing in the model-scale tank driven by the mechanical exciter were successfully obtained. Compared with the visualized motion of liquid, the enhancement of hear transfer coupled with the non-linier motion had different order of magnitude from those in the cases with linier response. The magnitude of heat flux between two phases in sloshing was found to have strong correlation with the appearance of droplets and wavy surface.
Finally, non-isothermal sloshing of cryogenic fluid was investigated. Not only the motion of liquid nitrogen, but also the condensation of liquid nitrogen was successfully visualized. It was also confirmed that vapor-liquid coexistence system of single-component under non-isothermal condition was easy to change its pressure.

Free Research Field

航空宇宙推進学