Simulations of solid rocket motors using a partitioned fluid-structure interaction algorithm

We describe simulations of solid rocket motors that involve coupling between the core fluid flow, the structural response of the propellant and case and the combustion of the propellant. A predictor-corrector algorithm is employed to treat the fluid-structure interaction. The combustion rate of the propellant is coupled to the fluid flow via an empirical power law relationship. Our algorithm couples the physical processes involved using a partitioned approach, enabling us to use existing codes to perform the bulk of our simulations. We give special consideration to the jump conditions that hold at the fluid-structure-combustion interface. Results are presented that demonstrate the parallel performance of our code on a variety of architectures. A large-scale simulation is also described that demonstrates the capability of our code.