A Numerical Model for Supercritical Flow in Rocket Engine Applications

In the regeneratively cooled rocket engines, the knowledge of the coolant behavior inside the coolant passages is of great importance to improve engine design and performance. The modeling of the coolant flow is a challenging task since the characteristic phenomena that occur in this environment are rather complex, such as the high wall temperature gradient, the extremely high Reynolds number, the 3D-geometry of the passages and the supercritical behavior of the coolant. In the present work a CFD code, able to describe the coolant flow inside the rectangular high aspect-ratio cooling channels is developed and validated. Finally, solutions of a typical 3D channel geometry with realistic wall temperature and supercritical air are presented and discussed.