ME 441 Compressible Flow

Problem S4 Supersonic Nozzle Design

Names: Bruno Zonzini Ramos

Calebe Alves Garcia
Rafael Henrique Pinto e Silva
Prof. Dr. Tom Acker

For this project, our objective is to design two different supersonic nozzles (ConvergentDivergent configuration). As our choice, we made the calculations for one isentropic condition with
supersonic velocity at the exit (Nozzle 1) and a normal shock occurring at the exit plane for the other
one (Nozzle 2). Below we present the expected performance for both nozzles, besides the SolidWorks
drawings with the defined dimensions:

Performance Parameters Nozzle 1

Thrust [N]
0.70
Exit Mach Number
2.15
Exit Velocity [m/s]
536.3
Exit Pressure [Pa]
81060
Exit Temperature [K]
154.9
Throat Pressure [Pa]
218400
Throat Temperature [K]
248.3
[kg/s]
1.30E-03
Table 1 Performance Parameters for the
Nozzle 1 Design

Figure 1 Nozzle 1 Drawing with Dimensions

As we have the given values, the tank pressure as our stagnation pressure equals to 4.08atm
and setting the atmospheric pressure and temperature equals to 0.8atm and 298K, respectively.
Due to geometric constraints to fit in our pipe in the lab, we defined an inlet diameter and
using the stagnation pressure as our inlet pressure (inlet velocity approximately 0) we found an area
relation and could define our throat area (and throat diameter, consequently).
For the exit plane calculations, we used the atmospheric pressure equals to our exit pressure
(for an isentropic condition) and found the relation between stagnation pressure and exit pressure to
find, using isentropic tables in the book, our exit Mach number, temperature and area relations (To/Te
and Ae/A*).
Using the atmospheric temperature as our stagnation temperature, we could find the exit
temperature. In addition, using the area relation (Ae/A*) and the throat area we could find the exit
area and finally define all the dimensions.
After all these steps, we could calculate all the performance parameters above. For the thrust
generated, we need to find the mass flow rate (using the maximum mass flow equation, as the nozzle
is chocked) and then multiply by the exit velocity.
For the second design, we fixed the back pressure as the atmospheric pressure (Pb = 0.8 atm)
and had to guess values for Mach before the shock until we found that the Mach number for the

normal shock relations (P2/P1) was the same as the Mach number for isentropic relation (Po/P). After
reaching the desired value, we could determine our design using all the relations from the isentropic
and normal shock relations. For the geometry, we did some iterations with the area ratio (A/A*) until
we reached the diameters we can manufacture and fit in our pipe fitting in the lab. Following are the
performance parameters we had for this second design and the drawing with all geometry
specifications:

Performance Parameters
Thrust [N]
0.2
Exit Mach Number
0.454
Exit Velocity [m/s]
154
Exit Pressure [Pa]
81060
Exit Temperature [K]
286.2
Throat Pressure [Pa]
218400
Throat Temperature [K]
248.3
1.30E-03
[kg/s]
Mach Number Before Shock
3.43
Pressure Before Shock [Pa]
5977.9
Temperature Before Shock [K]
88.9
Table 2 Performance Parameters for the
Nozzle Design 2

Figure 2 Nozzle 2 Drawing with Dimensions

Conclusion
After all the results above, we can conclude that the nozzle designed to have the normal shock
at the end is impossible for the given conditions, as the temperature before the shock is too much low
(88.9K). For this condition happens, we have to change the stagnation pressure (Tank pressure) and
find one that generates a feasible temperature before the shock.