Propellant Analysis

Only available in RPA Standard Edition

Using propellant analysis tool, you can evaluate different propellant compositions, with stepwise replacement of one component with another one.

Propellant analysis

Propellant analysis inherits the initial configuration parameters, defined on the screens Engine Definition, Propellant Specification, and Nozzle Flow Model. You can define up to four pairs of component, which replace corresponding components of initial propellant composition, and start the propellant analysis, clicking the button Start at the left-bottom corner of the tab.

Note: since the program performs the thermodynamic analysis for each unique combination of variable parameters, definition of parameters with a small step can lead to very long calculation time.

By default, the program calculates ideal theoretical performance. If you want to calculate estimated delivered performance, switch on the corresponding flas:

The program performs the thermodynamic analysis for each unique combination of variable parameters, stepping it by defined value, and displaying the results in the table at the bottom of the tab. The current status of propellant analysis is shown by progress bar at the bottom of the tab. The running analysis can be stopped by clicking the button Stop.

After finishing the propellant analysis, you can plot the diagram "specific impulse vs. variable parameter", clicking the button Plot at the right side of the corresponding parameter configuration.

Propellant analysis plot

You can print out the results of propellant analysis, clicking the button Print, or save the results as ASCII or HTML file clicking the button Save As... at the right-bottom corner of the screen.

In RPA Standard Edition, you can also save the results in PDF or ODF formats.

The defined parameters of the propellant analysis are stored in the global INI-file and shared between different configurations.

Last modified: February 22, 2011