Reactor thrust during boost in a high altitude trajectory

Technical Report · Mon Nov 12 00:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:446034

Moyer, J H

Reactor startup of a submarine based missile must be accomplished during boost., so that at burnout the reactor maximum wall temperature is at or near the design value. Because cooling air must be supplied during this period, there exists the possibility of obtaining some thrust to augment the booster. To find how much reactor thrust might be available, a representative high altitude boost trajectory was selected. This is shown together with an estimated pressure recovery curve for the inlet. It has been assumed that by some appropriate means the flow rate passed by the inlet exactly matches that demanded by the reactor and nozzle. Hot day conditions are assumed. The missile power plant was the Tory II-C reactor with its design point-optimized nozzle throat area of 750 square inches. Nozzle expansion is complete. The reactor maximum wall temperature was assumed to be constant at design (2500 degrees F) from time zero. Thus the thrust computed at any time is the maximum possible within the reactor design temperature limitation, and provides a guide to a desirable startup time. Available thrust and reactor exit conditions were obtained with the digital codes Dash N and Nomac.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 446034
• Report Number(s): UCRL-ID-125505; ON: DE97050857
• Resource Relation: Other Information: DN: Declassified; PBD: 12 Nov 1962
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
SUBMARINES
MISSILES
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
PROPULSION REACTORS
POWER DISTRIBUTION
THRUSTERS
AIR FLOW
FLOW RATE
DESIGN
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
D CODES
N CODES
POWER DENSITY
LAUNCHING
REACTOR START-UP
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
LIMITING VALUES
NOZZLES