OPTIMIZING CONVERGENT-DIVERGENT ROCKET NOZZLE GEOMETRY (30°/10°) TO ENHANCE THE ALTITUDE PERFORMANCE OF MODEL ROCKETS USING SOLID SUGAR PROPELLANTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21629550Keywords:
rocket nozzle, de Laval geometry, convergence angle, exit angle, solid propellant, KNSU, flight performance, altitude optimization.Abstract
This paper investigates the thermodynamic and gas-dynamic optimization of de Laval nozzle geometry to maximize
the flight altitude of model rockets using sugar-based solid propellants. Standard nozzle configurations may experience internal
flow separation and divergence losses. To address this issue, a specific convergent-divergent profile featuring a 30° inlet
angle and a 10° exit angle was designed and experimentally evaluated. Flight tests were conducted using a standardized 700 g
rocket body loaded with a 400 g KNSU/KNSB propellant grain modified with an eco-friendly, waste-derived tobacco ash catalyst
rich in K₂CO₃ and CaCO₃. While the baseline nozzle configurations consistently achieved peak altitudes of 200 m, the optimized
30°/10° nozzle configuration reached an apogee of 300 m, representing a 50% increase in performance. The findings
suggest that optimizing the exit divergence angle may reduce expansion losses and improve the effective axial exhaust velocity
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