Cold Gas Flow Simulation in a Rocket Nozzle Using a Density Based Solver

Resumen

Open source softwares to solve different kinds of mathematical problems are becoming very popular research tools, particularly in the field of fluid dynamics. However, these tools are still viewed as unfriendly and the commom lack of detailed documentation and test cases available support this idea. Here, an application using three of these tools was performed, namely, the simulation of the high speed viscous compressible flow inside an optimized thrust rocket nozzle with high pressure rate. A computational mesh, with a prysmatic boundary layer is constructed using Gmsh and Engrid mesh generators and the flow computations were performed using OpenFoam finite volume density solver rhoCentralFoam. The computations were numerically stable and the results obtained were physically consistent, showing the capability of these tools to handle the simulations of the high pressure rate optimized thrust nozzle.