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Figure 1: A de Laval nozzle, showing approximate flow velocity increasing from green to red in the direction of flow Density flow in a nozzle. A rocket engine nozzle is a propelling nozzle (usually of the de Laval type) used in a rocket engine to expand and accelerate combustion products to high supersonic velocities.
For any chemical rocket engine, the momentum transfer efficiency depends heavily on the effectiveness of the nozzle; the nozzle is the primary means of converting reactant energy (e.g. thermal or pressure energy) into a flow of momentum all directed the same way. Therefore, nozzle shape and effectiveness has a great impact on total momentum ...
Characteristic velocity or , or C-star is a measure of the combustion performance of a rocket engine independent of nozzle performance, and is used to compare different propellants and propulsion systems. c* should not be confused with c, which is the effective exhaust velocity related to the specific impulse by: =. Specific impulse and ...
The bell-shaped or contour nozzle is probably the most commonly used shaped rocket engine nozzle. It has a high angle expansion section (20 to 50 degrees) right behind the nozzle throat; this is followed by a gradual reversal of nozzle contour slope so that at the nozzle exit the divergence angle is small, usually less than a 10 degree half angle.
Rocket engine nozzles are surprisingly efficient heat engines for generating a high speed jet, as a consequence of the high combustion temperature and high compression ratio. Rocket nozzles give an excellent approximation to adiabatic expansion which is a reversible process, and hence they give efficiencies which are very close to that of the ...
Altitude compensating nozzles address this loss of efficiency by changing the shape or volume of the rocket nozzle as the rocket climbs through the atmosphere. There are a wide variety of designs that achieve this goal, with the aerospike being perhaps the most studied among them. Aerospike engine; Plug nozzle; Expanding nozzle
The amount of this air varies significantly across the flight envelope and ejector nozzles are well suited to matching the airflow between the intake system and engine. Efficient use of this air in the nozzle was a prime requirement for aircraft that had to cruise efficiently at high supersonic speeds for prolonged periods, hence its use in the ...
The resulting improvement in nozzle efficiency is large enough that real rocket engines improve their actual exhaust velocity by running rich mixtures with somewhat lower theoretical exhaust velocities. [9] The effect of exhaust molecular weight on nozzle efficiency is most important for nozzles operating near sea level.