Numerical Simulation of the Flow and Combustion Inside the Reaction Chamber of the AHRES Hybrid Rocket Engine

Within the AHRES program of DLR, the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology is developing a software tool for the design of hybrid rocket engines. Therefore, the Department Spacecraft is operating a lab-scale hybrid rocket engine for ground tests with high test peroxide (87.5 wt.%) as liquid oxidizer and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene with aluminum additives as solid fuel. Within this study, the flow field and the combustion process inside the reaction chamber of the AHRES hybrid rocket engine are computed using numerical simulations. Namely, three characteristic points in burning time are determined within 2D axial symmetric steady-state simulations. These simulations are carried out applying the DLR TAU-Code with the implemented reaction models for chemical equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions.