Chemical Rocket Propulsion

Developed and expanded from the work presented at the New Energetic Materials and Propulsion Techniques for Space Exploration workshop in June 2014, this book contains new scientific results, up-to-date reviews, and inspiring perspectives in a number of areas related to the energetic aspects of chemical rocket propulsion. This collection covers the entire life of energetic materials from their conceptual formulation to practical manufacturing; it includes coverage of theoretical and experimental ballistics, performance properties, as well as laboratory-scale and full system-scale, handling, hazards, environment, ageing, and disposal. Chemical Rocket Propulsion is a unique work, where a selection of accomplished experts from the pioneering era of space propulsion and current technologists from the most advanced international laboratories discuss the future of chemical rocket propulsion for access to, and exploration of, space. It will be of interest to both postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students in aerospace engineering, and practicing aeronautical engineers and designers, especially those with an interest in propulsion, as well as researchers in energetic materials.

Rocket Propulsion has come of age. Although its potentialities and capabilities in many areas have been recognized for centuries, it is only in recent years that scientists have had the materials and the manufacturing techniques at their command so they could control and direct the tremendous forces available. Space exploration and manned flights by astronauts have brought the science of rocketry to the attention of the general public. It has also stimulated the interest of students at all levels of advancement in the technical details of space flight. Rocket Propellant Technologies is written for serious students of astronautics. This volume reviews briefly the history of rocketry and the fundamental principles connected with rocket propulsion. Types of propellants, the chemical reactions involved, and the techniques used in manufacturing are explained. The merits of solid and liquid fuels are enumerated. Exotic propellants of the future are discussed, with reasons why their development is essential. Finally, the safety aspects of manufacturing and testing rocket propellants are given in detail. The Amateur Rocket Association under whose guidance this series has been prepared, serves as a focal point for many related activities, bringing new ideas to the attention of its members and offering suggestions for future lines of research.

The purpose of this book is to discuss, at the graduate level, the methods of performance prediction for chemical rocket propulsion. A pedagogical presentation of such methods has been unavailable thus far and this text, based upon lectures, fills this gap. The first part contains the energy-minimization to calculate the propellant-combustion composition and the subsequent computation of rocket performance. While incremental analysis is for high performance solid motors, equilibrium-pressure analysis is for low performance ones. Both are detailed in the book's second part for the prediction of ignition and tail-off transients, and equilibrium operation. Computer codes, adopting the incremental analysis along with erosive burning effect, are included. The material is encouraged to be used and presented at lectures. Senior undergraduate and graduate students in universities, as well as practicing engineers and scientists in rocket industries, form the readership.

Equips students with an up-to-date practical knowledge of rocket propulsion, numerous homework problems, and online self-study materials.

The definitive text on rocket propulsion—now revised to reflect advancements in the field For sixty years, Sutton's Rocket Propulsion Elements has been regarded as the single most authoritative sourcebook on rocket propulsion technology. As with the previous edition, coauthored with Oscar Biblarz, the Eighth Edition of Rocket Propulsion Elements offers a thorough introduction to basic principles of rocket propulsion for guided missiles, space flight, or satellite flight. It describes the physical mechanisms and designs for various types of rockets' and provides an understanding of how rocket propulsion is applied to flying vehicles. Updated and strengthened throughout, the Eighth Edition explores: The fundamentals of rocket propulsion, its essential technologies, and its key design rationale The various types of rocket propulsion systems, physical phenomena, and essential relationships The latest advances in the field such as changes in materials, systems design, propellants, applications, and manufacturing technologies, with a separate new chapter devoted to turbopumps Liquid propellant rocket engines and solid propellant rocket motors, the two most prevalent of the rocket propulsion systems, with in-depth consideration of advances in hybrid rockets and electrical space propulsion Comprehensive and coherently organized, this seminal text guides readers evenhandedly through the complex factors that shape rocket propulsion, with both theory and practical design considerations. Professional engineers in the aerospace and defense industries as well as students in mechanical and aerospace engineering will find this updated classic indispensable for its scope of coverage and utility.