Spectral Analysis of the Acoustic Near Field of a Solid Propellant Rocket

Speaker: Christopher Tam, Florida State University
October 3, 2016

Presentation

Abstract

Recently, Horne, Burnside, Panda, and Brodell, in a paper titled Measurements of Unsteady Pressure Fluctuations in the Near-Field of a Solid Rocket Motor Plume, measured a comprehensive set of acoustic spectra in the near field of a solid propellant rocket. In their experiment, two very different tests were performed; one at high burn and the other at low burn. In this talk, we present results of an analysis of the measured spectrum data. The primary objective is to determine the dominant noise components in the near field of the rocket plume. Such a study has not been done before. Two dominant noise components are found. They are both generated by the turbulence of the jet flow. In addition, a model of the spatial distribution of the sources of the two dominant noise components is proposed. The model is then applied to the measured spectra at high burn. Good agreements between the proposed noise source distribution model and the measured data are found providing some confidence in the model.

Biography

Christopher Tam is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Florida State University. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, the American Physical Society, and the Acoustical Society of America. He's won the AIAA Aeroacoustics award (1987) and the AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award (2006).

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