Flow Instability of Cryogenic Fluid in the Downstream of Orifices

Flow instability in the rocket turbo pump system can be caused by various reasons such as valve, orifice and venturi, etc. The inception of cavitation, especially in the propellant feeding system, is the primary cause of the mass flow and pressure oscillation due to cyclic formation and depletion of cavitation. Meanwhile, the main propellant in liquid rocket engine is the cryogenic one, which is very sensitive to temperature variation, and the variation of propellant properties caused by thermodynamic effect should be accounted for in the flow analysis. The present study focuses on the formation of cryogenic cavitations by adopting IDM model suggested by Shyy and coworkers. Also, the flow instability was investigated in the downstream of orifice by using a developed numerical code. Calculation results show that cryogenic cavitations can lead to flow instability resulting in mass flow fluctuations due to pressure oscillations. And the prediction of cavitations in cryogenic fluid is of vital importance in designing feeding system of LRE.