A coupled computational framework for the transient heat transfer in the typical pyrotechnic device

Abstract

Propellant combustion in pyrotechnic devices produces high-temperature, high-pressure gas. The component is moved by high-pressure gas, which subsequently impacts the energy absorber and causes it to compress and deform. The temperature difference between the high-temperature gas and the wall causes transient heat transfer. Propellant combustion, transient heat transfer, and structural response are coupled, but previous studies had to independently analyze them. Therefore, a multi-physical field numerical model is developed based on the commercial software ABAQUS in this paper, which couples energetic material combustion, transient heat transfer, and structural response. In the user subroutine VUAMP, a lumped-parameter model is used to predict the parameter distribution of combustion products. This determines the load applied on the thin-walled tube and the boundary conditions of transient heat transfer. In ABAQUS, the transient heat transfer and structural response are investigated by the direct thermo-dynamic coupling method. The coupling effect between multiple physical fields is realized by real-time parameter exchange. The rationality and accuracy of the coupling model are verified by comparison with the experiment. The results show that the coupling model can effectively simulate the complex coupling process after considering the transient heat transfer and the interaction between multiple physical fields. Taking a pyrotechnic device as the research object, the pressure load accuracy obtained by the coupled model is improved by 5.1%, and the structure response obtained is also closer to the experiment result. At the same time, more characteristic parameters of the structure field and temperature field are obtained.