CFD Analysis of Two Supersonic Nozzles Designed for a High Test Peroxide Thruster

This study presents a numerical simulation method, for predicting the flow of a turbulent compressible fluid through two forms of propelling nozzles (convergent-divergent) operating in stationary regime. The flow gas is products of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decomposition. The existence and interaction of several physical phenomena such as shock waves and boundary layer separation are very complex phenomena can significantly affect the reliability and performance of the propulsive nozzles. This numerical studies employed different nozzle, conical shape and parabolic shape. The question of which geometry would work best is the major research question that this study will address. Selected profiles are studied with an external domain to observe the behavior of the flow outside the outlet of the nozzles. The analysis was run on ANSYS fluent 15.0.7 - 2014. The problem is solved using Navier-Stokes equations, to simulate the different chosen profiles, leading to the definition of the optimal choice for our application.