Bimodal nuclear thermal rocket systems have been shown to reduce the weight and cost of space vehicles to Mars and beyond by utilizing the reactor for power generation in the relatively long duration between burns in an interplanetary trajectory. No information, however, is available regarding engine and reactor‐level operation of such bimodal systems. The purpose of this project is to generate engine and reactor models with sufficient fidelity and flexibility to accurately study the component‐level effects of operating a propulsion‐designed reactor at power generation levels. Previous development of a 1‐D reactor and tie tube model found that ignoring heat generation inside of the tie tube leads to under‐prediction of the temperature change and over‐prediction of pressure change across the tie tube. This paper will present the development and results of a tie tube model that has been extended to account for heat generation, specifically in the moderator layer. This model is based on a 1‐D distribution of power in the fuel elements and tie tubes, as a precursor to an eventual neutron‐driven reactor model.
Tie Tube Heat Transfer Modeling for Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rockets
SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM-STAIF 2007: 11th Conf Thermophys.Applic.in Micrograv.; 24th Symp Space Nucl.Pwr.Propulsion; 5th Conf Hum/Robotic Techn & Vision Space Explor.; 5th Symp Space Coloniz.; 4th Symp New Frontrs & Future Con ; 2007 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 880 , 1 ; 281-288
2007-01-30
8 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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