| The purpose of this thesis was to develop a method for determining rocket exhaust plume effects on launch pad hardware during rocket lift-off and ascent. Plume impingement pressure, convective heat flux, convective heat transfer coefficient, temperature, shear stress, and particle properties are calculated for use by the structural and thermal engineers for pad hardware design.; The undisturbed, steady state rocket exhaust plume flow field is characterized using a parabolized Navier Stokes computer program. The exhaust properties are modified to account for the standing shock wave at the impinged surface using either the oblique shock relations (for an attached shock) or a time dependent shock fitting model (for a detached shock) and to account for heat transfer with the impinged surface.; Heating to the impinged surface is calculated using the semi-empirical Stanton Number relations for laminar or turbulent flow across a flat plate or the Fay and Riddell stagnation heating models for flow over three-dimensional bodies. Pressure to the impinged surface is calculated using the modified Newtonian impact equation (for an attached shock) or the time dependent shock fitting model (for a detached shock). |
