Numerical simulation of thermoacoustic phenomena in aft-finocyl solid rocket motors

In this work thermoacoustic phenomena on pressure oscillations occurring in aft-finocyl solid rocket motors are addressed. Numerical multidimensional simulations have been carried out on an aft-finocyl motor configuration once axisymmetric conditions are reached after fins burn-out. The presented solutions show an unstable behaviour due to thermoacoustic phenomena. The analysis of the flowfield evolution permits to obtain precious insight on the stability properties of this kind of motors, showing how these last are actually more prone to develop pressure oscillations with regard to simpler configurations.