Burn Time Correction of Start-Up Transients for CAMUI Type Hybrid Rocket Engine

Abstract

Burn time errors caused by various start-up transient effects have a significant influence on the regression modelling of hybrid rockets. Their influence is especially pronounced in the simulation model of the Cascaded Multi Impinging Jet (CAMUI) hybrid rocket engine. This paper analyses these transient burn time errors and their effect on the regression simulations for short burn time engines. To address these errors, the equivalent burn time is introduced and is defined as the time the engine would burn if it were burning at its steady-state level throughout the burn time to achieve the measured total impulse. The accuracy of the regression simulation with and without the use of equivalent burn time is then finally compared. Equivalent burn time is shown to address the burn time issue successfully for port regression and, therefore, also for other types of cylindrical port hybrid rocket engines. For the CAMUI-specific impinging jet fore-end and back-end surfaces, though, the results are inconclusive.