Progress on Ablation of Nozzle Throat Inserts in Solid Rocket Motors

Abstract

During engine operation, the nozzle throat insert components are subjected to high temperatures, pressures, velocities, and erosive gas flow, leading to changes in the nozzle throat diameter, which in turn affect the engine thrust performance. This paper elaborates on the erosion behavior and the mechanism of solid rocket motor throat inserts from three aspects: theoretical study, experimental study, and numerical simulation. In the field of theoretical research, the main focus is on studying empirical formulas, theoretical ablation models, and improved methods for predicting ablation. These studies involve summarizing the characteristics of ablation and proposing simplified ablation models; in terms of the experimental study, the common ablation experimental methods are summarized and the principles, advantages and disadvantages of several types of typical ablation experimental methods are analyzed. In the numerical simulation, more comprehensive ablation models and improved ablation methods are proposed based on the theoretical and experimental contents. Finally, some suggestions are made for the following ablation researches to provide reference and references for future throat insert ablation researches.