Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling of a Baffled-Tube Ram Accelerator with Inclined Baffles

Abstract

The baffled-tube ram accelerator is a hypervelocity launcher device that accelerates a projectile through a stationary tube filled with a propellant mixture. In this work, to assist ongoing experimental research, a baffled-tube ram accelerator with baffles inclined toward the incoming projectile was simulated using unsteady computational fluid dynamic modeling to examine projectile and baffle drag forces as a function of projectile Mach number. Fourteen Mach numbers ranging from 0.95 to 4.32 were simulated solving both inviscid and turbulent flow equations in alternate cases, all in inert nitrogen. The recorded drag forces were used to calculate drag coefficients for the projectile and baffle walls, and these coefficients will be used to improve thermodynamic models to predict the thrust generated by the baffled-tube ram accelerator.