Aerospace Engineering

AER E 1600
Propulsion II
ROCKET ENGINES

Carolyn Riedel

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Programming Project Available
Follow the Programming Project Description document to write a code
that will launch a 2D rocket from a 2D Earth.

To get full points for this lab you will need to do the following:

1.) Write a code with the parameters in the project description (this
the base code part)

2.) Demonstrate the code to either your instructor or a TA

3.) Using the templates provided, upload your code and a screen shot
of the output to Canvas. Upload your code as a .py file as well

Check Canvas for full details

Base Code Due: November 15th 4pm
Modified Code Due: November 22nd 4pm
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Final Exam Date and Time Released
• Date: Thursday, December 19th
• Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

• Locations: (Students with exam accommodations will be referred to

the Testing Center)
Lab Section (Day and Time) Room
A (Tuesday 8:00 – 9:50am) 0001 Carver
B (Tuesday 10:00 – 11:50am) 0127 Curtiss
C (Tuesday 2:10 – 4:00pm) 0127 Curtiss
D (Monday 2:15 – 4:05 pm) 0101 Carver
E (Wednesday 2:15 – 4:05pm) 0101 Carver
F (Thursday 2:10 – 4:00pm0 0127 Curtiss
G (Thursday 8:00 – 9:50am) 0001 Carver
HA (Thursday 10:00 – 11:50am) 0127 Curtiss

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Final Exam Date and Time Released

• Date: Thursday, December 19th

• Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

• Topics – Propulsion, Structures, Orbital Mechanics,

Programming

• Format TBD

• Student will be allowed to bring one piece of standard

printer paper (front and back) with equations, notes,
diagrams, etc. No worked out problems.

• Students are encouraged to bring a calculator

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Final Exam Date and Time Released

• Date: Thursday, December 19th

• Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This is the last possible time slot.

If you have a conflict, this course will be following the

policies outlined by the university here:
General Information About Final and Night Exams | The
Office of the Registrar | Iowa State University

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Overview

• Rocket Engine Operation

• Rocket Propellants
• The Rocket Equation
• Multistage Rockets vs Single Stage Rockets
• Programming Project Due Date and Help Rooms

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Rocket Engine Overview

• Rockets are the ultimate thrust propulsion mechanism

• Last lecture we focused on air breathing engines
• Depend on air for combustion
• Air is readily found in the atmosphere
• Rockets carry both the fuel and oxidizer with them
• Completely independent of atmosphere for
combustion
• Rockets can operate in space

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Rocket Engine Overview

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Rocket Engine: Thrust Equation

• The rocket thrust equation can be found starting with the

thrust equation for a jet engine

𝑇 = 𝑚ሶ 𝑎𝑖𝑟 + 𝑚ሶ 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑉𝑒 − 𝑚ሶ 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑉∞ + (𝑝𝑒 − 𝑝∞ )𝐴𝑒

• Since the rocket engine carries its own oxidizer, 𝑚ሶ 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 0

𝑇 = 𝑚ሶ 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑉𝑒 + (𝑝𝑒 − 𝑝∞ )𝐴𝑒

• 𝑚ሶ 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 is denoted as simply 𝑚ሶ and accounts for both

𝑚ሶ 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 and 𝑚ሶ 𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑟

𝑇 = 𝑚𝑉
ሶ 𝑒 + (𝑝𝑒 − 𝑝∞ )𝐴𝑒
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Rocket Engine: Exit Velocity Equation --- Version 1

• The exit velocity can be found using the following

equation
1
𝛾−1 2
2𝛾𝑅𝑇0 𝑝𝑒 𝛾
𝑉𝑒 = 1 −
𝛾−1 𝑝0

• In this equation 𝛾 is the specific heat ratio. This is

dependent on the gas used in the engine

• R is the specific gas constant, which is dependent on the

gas mixture used in the engine

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Rocket Engine: Exit Velocity Equation --- Version 2

• Version 1’s equation is a bit complex

1
𝛾−1 2
2𝛾𝑅𝑇0 𝑝𝑒 𝛾
𝑉𝑒 = 1 −
𝛾−1 𝑝0

• There is another way of finding the exit velocity using the

specific heat at constant pressure (𝑐𝑝 )

𝑉𝑒 2
𝑐𝑝 𝑇0 = 𝑐𝑝 𝑇𝑒 +
2
𝛾𝑅
Where 𝑐𝑝 =
𝛾−1
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Rocket Engine: Exit Velocity Equation --- Version 2

• We can now solve this equation to for 𝑉𝑒

𝑉𝑒 2
𝑐𝑝 𝑇0 = 𝑐𝑝 𝑇𝑒 +
2

𝑉𝑒 = 2𝑐𝑝 𝑇0 − 𝑇𝑒

𝛾𝑅
Where 𝑐𝑝 =
𝛾−1

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Rocket Engine: Calculating the Specific Gas Constant

• The specific gas constant (R) will vary based on the fuel
mixture

𝑅ത
𝑅=
𝑀ഥ

• 𝑅ത ---- Molar Gas Constant

• 𝑀ഥ --- Molar Mass

• The 𝑅ത values for Metric and English units are given below

𝐽 𝐽 𝑙𝑏𝑓 𝑓𝑡
𝑅ത = 8.314 = 8314 ; 1545
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐾 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐾 𝑙𝑏𝑚𝑜𝑙 °𝑅
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Rocket Engine: Measuring the Efficiency of Rockets

• In previous lectures we have talked about Thrust Specific

Fuel Consumption (TSFC) also known as Specific Fuel
Consumption (SFC)

• TSFC / SFC – Fuel efficiency of an engine design with

respect to thrust output (think 1 lb of fuel per lb of thrust
per hour)

• Specific Impulse ( 𝐼𝑠𝑝 ) – How efficiently a reaction mass

creates thrust (thrust per unit weight flow at sea level)

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Rocket Engine: TSFC vs 𝑰𝒔𝒑

• TSFC is found by the equation below

𝑚ሶ
𝑇𝑆𝐹𝐶 =
𝑇
In this equation
• 𝑚ሶ --- mass flow rate
• 𝑇 --- Thrust

• 𝐼𝑠𝑝 is found by the equation below

𝑇
𝐼𝑠𝑝 =
𝑔0 𝑚ሶ
In this equation
• 𝑚ሶ --- mass flow rate
• 𝑇 --- Thrust
• 𝑔0 --- Acceleration due to gravity at sea-level
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Rocket Engine: TSFC vs 𝑰𝒔𝒑

• Looking at the equations below we can see a relation

𝑚ሶ 𝑇
𝑇𝑆𝐹𝐶 = ; 𝐼𝑠𝑝 =
𝑇 𝑔0 𝑚ሶ

• Specific Impulse contains TSFC. This means it can be rewritten

as
1
𝐼𝑠𝑝 =
𝑔0 𝑇𝑆𝐹𝐶

• The units of 𝐼𝑠𝑝 is simply seconds

Note: if your TSFC is in hours it will need to be converted to seconds

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Rocket Engine: Exit Velocity and 𝑰𝒔𝒑

• Starting with the equation for 𝐼𝑠𝑝

𝑇
𝐼𝑠𝑝 =
𝑔0 𝑚ሶ

• If we assume the nozzle exit pressure is the same as the

ambient pressure, we have

𝑚𝑉
ሶ 𝑒 𝑉𝑒
𝐼𝑠𝑝 = =
𝑔0 𝑚ሶ 𝑔0

• This can be rearranged to find the exit velocity

𝑉𝑒 = 𝑔0 𝐼𝑠𝑝

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Rocket Engine: Fuel-Oxidizer Combination and 𝑰𝒔𝒑

• Let’s look at the equation below

1
𝛾−1 2
𝑉𝑒 1 2𝛾𝑅𝑇0 𝑝𝑒 𝛾
𝐼𝑠𝑝 = = 1 −
𝑔0 𝑔0 𝛾−1 𝑝0

𝑅ത
Recall 𝑅 = ഥ
and 𝑇0 is the temperature in the combustion
𝑀
chamber

• Our goal is to have the highest 𝐼𝑠𝑝 value possible

• To do this we can
• Increase 𝑇0 (adiabatic flame temperature)
• Decrease 𝑀 ഥ (molecular mass)
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Rocket Engine: Fuel-Oxidizer Combination and 𝑰𝒔𝒑

• Our goal is to have the highest 𝐼𝑠𝑝 value possible

• To do this we can
• Increase 𝑇0 (adiabatic flame temperature)
• Decrease 𝑀 ഥ (molecular mass)

ഥ of common rocket
• The table below shows the 𝐼𝑠𝑝 , 𝑇0 , and 𝑀
propellants

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In Class: 𝑰𝒔𝒑

Consider a rocket engine burning hydrogen and oxygen; the

combustion chamber pressure and temperature are 25 atm and
3517K, respectively. The area of the exit is designed so that the
exit pressure exactly equals ambient pressure at 30.0km. For the
gas mixture, assume that 𝛾 = 1.22 and the molecular mass is
𝑀ഥ = 16 𝑘𝑔 .
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

Calculate the specific gas constant and 𝐼𝑠𝑝 of this engine

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Rocket Propellants

• Fuel and oxidizer together are called rocket propellants

• Since specific impulse is mainly dependent on what

propellants are used in the engine

• There are two categories of rocket propellants

• Liquid Propellants
• Cryogenic Propellants
• Bipropellant and Monopropellants
• Hypergolic Propellants

• Solid Propellants

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Rocket Propellants: Liquid Propellants

• With liquid propellants, both fuel and oxidizer are

carried aboard in their liquid form

• They are then injected under high pressure as a spray in

the combustion chamber

• There are two basic approaches to inject the fuel under

high pressure
• Pressure fed system
• Pump fed system

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Rocket Propellants: Liquid Propellants --- Pressure Fed System

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Rocket Propellants: Liquid Propellants --- Pump Fed System

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Rocket Propellants: Liquid Propellants

• Liquid propellants come in different categories. Some

propellants can exist in multiple categories

• Cryogenic Propellants – Fuel and Oxidizer that must be kept

at incredibly low temperatures
• Example: Hydrogen and Oxygen used in the Space
Shuttle
• Bipropellants and Monopropellants
• Bipropellants – Two chemicals used
• Monopropellants – One chemical used

• Hypergolic Propellants – Propellants combination ignite

simply on contact with each other

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Rocket Propellants: Solid Propellants

• Solid rocket fuels are made up of fuel and oxidizer premixed

and cast into a solid form

• Burning of a solid propellant is initiated by an igniter on the

surface of the propellant grain

• How the fuel burns changes the mass flow of the rocket, and
solid rockets are designed to control the change in mass flow
as it burns. Some variations include
• End burning
• Internal-bore burning surface
• Internal star-shaped burning surface

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 Rocket Propellants: Solid Propellants --- End Burning

• End burning rockets are ignited and burn away at a constant

rate

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 Rocket Propellants: Solid Propellants --- Internal-Bore Burning Surface

• With internal-bore burning surface motors as the burning

surface recedes, the surface area to burn increases,
increasing the mass flow

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 Rocket Propellants: Solid Propellants --- Internal-Star-Shaped Burning
Surface

• After ignition takes place in the internal-star-shaped burning

surface, the surface recedes becoming more circular

• This will lead to a decrease of mass flow over time

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 Rocket Propellants: Liquid vs. Solid Propellant

• Solid rockets are simpler, safer, and more reliable

• Solid propellants are mores storable and stable

• The specific impulse is higher with liquid propellants

• Once a solid rocket is ignited, it cannot be turned off

• Liquid rockets can be easily throttled, and the thrust can be

completely turned off

• Be sure to choose the best fuel for your purpose

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 Rocket Equation

• As a rocket is in motion it is accelerating. This means at each

state of the rocket’s journey it has a change in velocity

• This can be expressed with The Rocket Equation

𝑀𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙
∆𝑉 = − 𝑉𝑒 ln 𝑜𝑟 ∆𝑉 = 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙

In this equation
• ∆𝑉 --- change in velocity
• 𝑉𝑒 --- exhaust (exit velocity)
• 𝑀𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 --- Final mass of the rocket
• 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 --- Initial mass of the rocket
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 Rocket Equation

• The rocket equation can be written to find the mass of

propellant needed

𝑀0 − 𝑀𝑝𝑟 ∆𝑉
−𝑉
∆𝑉 = − 𝑉𝑒 ln 𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑝𝑟 = 𝑀0 1 − 𝑒 𝑒
𝑀0

In this equation
• ∆𝑉 --- change in velocity
• 𝑉𝑒 --- exhaust (exit velocity)
• 𝑀𝑝𝑟 --- Propellant mass of the rocket
• 𝑀0 --- Initial mass of the rocket

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 Rocket Staging

• A multistage rocket is a vehicle

composed of multiple rockets
placed on top of one another

• As each stage of the rocket

burns out it drops off and the
next stage begins

• Each stage is lifting less mass

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 Rocket Staging

• The final velocity

of a multistage
vehicle is the sum
of all the velocities
from each stage

∆𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = ෍ ∆𝑉𝑛

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Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

 Single Stage Rocket

Two Stage Rocket →

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Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• Consider a single stage launch vehicle sitting on the pad,

fully fueled that has the following characteristics

𝑀𝑃𝐿 = Mass of the payload

𝑀𝑃𝑅 = Mass of the propellant
𝑀𝐼𝑁 = Inert mass = Mass of everything else

• We can write the initial mass as the sum of the mass

components

𝑀0 = 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝑃𝑅 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁

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Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• This will give us the following equation for the change in

velocity

𝑀0 − 𝑀𝑃𝑅 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁

∆𝑉 = −𝑉𝑒 ln = − 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀0 𝑀0

• To compare with a two-stage rocket let’s define some

parameters to work this

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• Take the following values

Variable Value
𝑀0 20,000 kg
𝑀𝑃𝐿 1000 kg
𝑀𝑃𝑅 17,000kg
𝑀𝐼𝑁 2000 kg
𝑚
𝑉𝑒 4500
𝑠

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• Plugging in the given values

𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁
∆𝑉 = − 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀0
𝑚 1000𝑘𝑔 + 2000𝑘𝑔
= −4500 ln
𝑠 20,000𝑘𝑔

• This gives us a value of

𝑚
∆𝑉 = 8,540
𝑠

This is for a single stage rocket

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• Compare that value to that one to a two stage rocket of

identical mass, exhaust velocity, and payload

• The two stage rocket has the following parameters

Stage Variable Value
1 𝑀𝑃𝑅1 8500 kg
1 𝑀𝐼𝑁1 1000 kg
2 𝑀𝑃𝑅2 8500kg
2 𝑀𝐼𝑁2 1000kg

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• For a two stage rocket

∆𝑉 = ∆𝑉1 + ∆𝑉2

• For our rocket

𝑀𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 1 𝑀𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 2
∆𝑉 = −𝑉𝑒 ln − 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀0 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 2

• Plug in our variables

𝑀0 − 𝑀𝑃𝑅1 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁2

∆𝑉 = −𝑉𝑒 ln − 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀0 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁2 + 𝑀𝑃𝑅2

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• Taking our equation

𝑀0 − 𝑀𝑃𝑅1 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁2
∆𝑉 = −𝑉𝑒 ln − 𝑉𝑒 ln
𝑀0 𝑀𝑃𝐿 + 𝑀𝐼𝑁2 + 𝑀𝑃𝑅2

• We can plug in values now

∆𝑉
𝑚 20, 000𝑘𝑔 − 8,500𝑘𝑔
= −4500 ln
𝑠 20,000𝑘𝑔
𝑚 1000𝑘𝑔 + 1000𝑘𝑔
− 4500 ln
𝑠 1000𝑘𝑔 + 1000𝑘𝑔 + 8500𝑘𝑔

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 Rocket Staging: Single Vs Multistage Rocket

• This gives us a final value for the two stage rocket of

𝑚
∆𝑉2 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 9950
𝑠

• Compare that to a single stage rocket with an identical mass,

exhaust velocity, and payload

𝑚
∆𝑉𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 8540
𝑠

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 References

• All material from today’s lecture came from your textbook.

• Chapter 9, Sections 9.8 – 9.11.1

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