Aerodynamic heating of the student rocket project-5 sounding rocket

Abstract

This thesis deals with the calculation of the flow properties and heat transfer around the rocket nose cone for Student Rocket Project-5 (SRP-5). Governing differential equations are presented for this purpose, giving the fundamental relations between the skin temperature and flight history. The determination of all the required parameters in the equations is discussed, and the Runge-Kutta numerical method of integration is used to obtain the solution. A model to implement the above equations to predict skin temperature for the given trajectory was built in SIMULINK®. Individual sub-systems of the SIMULINK® model are used to calculate local tree-stream values, Reynolds number, heat absorption capacity and skin friction coefficient. The SIMULINK® model was used to predict the variation of the skin temperature for the SRP-5 flight trajectory. The simulation results also show comparisons of the different subsystem outputs with data provided by the contractor for the NASA Sounding Rocket Contract (NSROC).