Elements of Propulsion: Gas Turbines and Rockets
With worked examples, numerous homework problems, illustrations and pictures, this book provides a complete introduction to gas turbine and rocket propulsion for aerospace and mechanical engineers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Elements of Propulsion: Gas Turbines and Rockets
Chapter 3: Rocket Propulsion
3.1 Introduction
The types of rocket propulsion and basic parameters used in performance evaluation of rocket propulsion are described in this chapter. First, the concepts of thrust, effective exhaust velocity, and specific impulse are presented for a gaseous continuum leaving a rocket engine. These concepts are covered in more detail than that contained in Chapter 1. To determine the requirements of rocket vehicles, some introductory mechanics of orbital flight are investigated along with rocket mass ratios, rocket acceleration, and multistage rockets. This section on requirements and capabilities is followed by a general discussion of the various sources of rocket propulsion and a summary of their capabilities. Following this general introduction to rocket propulsion and rocket flight is a discussion of rocket nozzle types, a study of the detailed performance parameters for rocket engines expelling a continuum, detailed example problems, and discussion of liquid- and solid-propellant rockets.
3.1.1 Rocket Thrust
The rocket thrust studied here will be applicable to rockets that eject a gaseous continuum material from a nozzle at a constant rate. Chemical and nuclear-H 2 rockets are examples of such rocket propulsion systems. The thrust of an ionic rocket that expels discrete ion particles at high speeds, on the other hand, is not related to properties of a continuum such as pressure and density. The thrust equation to be developed will not apply, therefore, to ionic rockets. The thrust of ion rockets, however, still depends on the same basic principle of operation as chemical or nuclear-H 2
Copyright The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. 2006 under license agreement with Books24x7
