This is the first major publication on liquid-rocket combustion devices since 1960, and includes 20 chapters prepared by world-renowned experts. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of liquid-propellant combustion and thrust chamber dynamics, and is incorporated into the volume in a well-organized, cohesive manner. There are contributions from nine different countriesChina, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

This book is intended for students and engineers who design and develop liquid-propellant rocket engines, offering them a guide to the theory and practice alike. It first presents the fundamental concepts (the generation of thrust, the gas flow through the combustion chamber and the nozzle, the liquid propellants used, and the combustion process) and then qualitatively and quantitatively describes the principal components involved (the combustion chamber, nozzle, feed systems, control systems, valves, propellant tanks, and interconnecting elements). The book includes extensive data on existing engines, typical values for design parameters, and worked-out examples of how the concepts discussed can be applied, helping readers integrate them in their own work. Detailed bibliographical references (including books, articles, and items from the “gray literature”) are provided at the end of each chapter, together with information on valuable resources that can be found online. Given its scope, the book will be of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students of aerospace engineering.

Liquid Rocket and Propellants

The great engineering achievement required to overcome most of the challenges and obstacles that prevented turning rocket design from art into science took place in Europe and the United States between the 1930s and the 1950s. With the vast majority of the engines currently in operation developed in the “pre-computer” age, there are new opportunities to update the design methodologies using technology that can now handle highly complex calculations fast. The space sector with an intense focus on efficiency is driving the need for updating, adapting or replacing the old modeling practices with new tools capable of reducing the volume of resources and the time required to complete simulations and analysis. This book presents an innovative parametric model applicable to the project of some elements of the liquid rocket thrust chamber with the level of detail and accuracy appropriate to the preliminary design phase. It addresses the operating characteristics and dimensioning of some thrust chamber elements through a set of equations and parameters, which include thrust or propellant characteristics. The model degree of sophistication was adjusted to the requirements of the Project Life Cycle Phase B, while also enabling quick analysis of new configurations from changes in initial project parameters.

Annotation Since the invention of the V-2 rocket during World War II, combustion instabilities have been recognized as one of the most difficult problems in the development of liquid propellant rocket engines. This book is the first published in the United States on the subject since NASA's Liquid Rocket Combustion Instability (NASA SP-194) in 1972. In this book, experts cover four major subject areas: engine phenomenology and case studies, fundamental mechanisms of combustion instability, combustion instability analysis, and engine and component testing. Especially noteworthy is the inclusion of technical information from Russia and China--a first.