Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T22:19:02.870Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Trends in the Development of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2016

E. G. D. Andrews
Affiliation:
Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited
A. W. T. Mottram
Affiliation:
Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited
Get access

Extract

The authors predict that rocket engines will fall into two categories. In both, combustion pressures will approach 200 atmospheres to attain optimum vehicle performance, balancing increased pumping losses and engine mass against increased expansion efficiency and reduced dissociation. For general purposes, engines will be intrinsically convenient: storable propellants will give specific impulses around 270 lb. sec./lb., and engine specific weights will be between 0·02 and 0·03. For exacting applications, the greatest overall convenience may necessitate using unpleasant propellants so as to obtain the highest performance. Immediate research into the use and handling of these is essential if future engine development is not to be hampered.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society. 1959

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Allen, S. Rocket Engines. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Vol. 61, March 1957.Google Scholar
2. Allen, J. E. From Aviation to Astronautics. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Vol. 62, September 1958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Malina, F. J. Characteristics of the Rocket Motor Unit Based on a Theory of Perfect Gases. Journal of the Franklin Institute. Vol. 230, No. 4, October 1940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Sunley, H. L. G. British Patent Specification No. 702779, 1954.Google Scholar
5. Andrews, E. G. D. High Altitude and Satellite Rockets. A Symposium held at Cranfield, 18th—20th July 1957. Published by the Royal Aeronautical Society and the British Interplanetary Society, pp. 40, 41, 1958.Google Scholar
6. Sutton, G. P. Rocket Propulsion Elements. Second Edition, p. 193. Wiley, New York, and Chapman and Hall, London, 1949.Google Scholar
7. Gordon, J. S. High Temperature Chemistry as Applied to Metal-Based Propellants. Jet Propulsion. Vol. 28, p. 769, November 1958.Google Scholar