Thermoelastic analysis of a kick motor nozzle incorporating spatially reinforced composites

Abstract

The mechanical and thermal properties of spatially reinforced composites are predicted using volume average and rules of mixture of the rods and matrix properties for stiffness, thermal conductivity, and coefficient of thermal expansion. The distribution of Young's modulus, thermal conductivity, and coefficient of thermal expansion for three-dimensional/four-dimensionaI spatially. reinforced composites are demonstrated. The study examines the elastic behavior, the temperature distribution, and the thermoelastic behavior of a kick motor nozzle, which includes a carbon/carbon spatially reinforced composite as a throat part. The elastic deformation of the nozzle composed of three-dimensional carbon/carbon spatially reinforced composite shows asymmetry, whereas the elastic deformation of four-dimensional carbon/carbon spatially reinforced composite nozzle shows uniformity in the circumferential, direction. The thermoelastic deformations of both the three- and four-dimensional spatially reinforced composite nozzles are uniform in the circumferential direction. The deformation of the three-dimensional spatially reinforced composite nozzle is slightly smaller than that of the four-dimensional spatially reinforced composite nozzle in the nozzle throat. Circumferential stress is the critical stress component of the kick motor nozzle.