OVERVIEW OF THE CFD MODELLING ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE BKN COMBUSTION CHAMBER DONE AT DLR LAMPOLDSHAUSEN

Abstract

Within this paper, an overview of the CFD modelling performed in conjunction with the experimental activities conducted with an optically accessible research rocket combustor will be given. The modelling activities started during the chamber design process aiding in the development. Cold gas simulations of the window cooling injection system have been performed to characterize the flow and to determine possible simplifications for future numerical simulations. Further 2D axisymmetric simulations have been performed to determine the influence of the window cooling inflow slot size width and the window cooling mass flow rate on the flame shape. This helped to determine the mass flow rates for the experimental conditions. Furthermore, full 3D simulations have been performed to aid the experimental investigations of the combustion processes within the chamber. The CFD activities so far are culminating in a 30 million-node LES simulation of the combustion process within the chamber which can be used to compare transient optical measurements from the actual combustion experiments with the numerical results.