Numerical simulations of water spray on launch pad during rocket launching

Abstract

This paper compares the cooling effect on the launch pad with two different levels of water cooling system used in the Long March 7. The rocket plume model is set up based on the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations solved by the realizable k-ε turbulence model. The Eulerian dispersed phase (EDP) model is employed to describe the injected cooling water. Comparing with test data, the validity of the above models is verified, respectively. On this basis, the temperature distributions on the launch pad with two different levels of water spray system are investigated. The results show that the overall temperature of the launch pad drops significantly with the first-level water spray system. However, because the rocket plume blows most of the injected water away, the temperature of the central area barely decreases. When using the second-level water spray system, the central temperature is reduced obviously, but the cooling area of a single water spray nozzle is limited. Under the influence of plume, the closer to the central zone, the smaller the area that each water spray nozzle can cool.