Modeling and numerical simulation of internal ballistics with supercritical CO2 phase transition booster
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: To investigate the feasibility of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launch booster powered by supercritical CO2 and establish a theoretical prediction model for the boosting process, the PR equation of state was employed to calculate the thermophysical properties of CO2. Based on thermodynamic formulations, an interior ballistics mathematical model for the supercritical CO2 phase-transition booster was derived and constructed. A two-dimensional numerical simulation model utilizing overset grids was developed to simulate the actuation process of the booster. Comparative validation was conducted against the 0-D mathematical model, with systematic analysis of the differences between the two approaches. The results demonstrate that the booster powered by supercritical CO2 as the energy source is feasible. The constructed mathematical model shows excellent agreement with the two-dimensional numerical simulation model in terms of calculated parameters such as thrust and velocity. This indicates that it can predict the actuation performance of the supercritical CO2 booster to a considerable extent.
Authors: Husheng Shi, Yu Zhang, Kai Zou, Lin Yao, Jiongbiao Lu, Jie Ren
Institution: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4415285608