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Depressurization solutions of vented enclosures during launch

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Abstract

It is often necessary to vent an enclosure to allow a controlled depressurization when it is exposed to a decreasing external pressure. This paper derives analytical expressions that can be used to estimate this depressurization. These analytical expressions allow the design of enclosures intended for space launch and other applications. The analytical solutions are compared to numerical solutions and validated by a series of experiments which demonstrate their accuracy.

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Abbreviations

A :

Vent area (m2)

B :

Constant defined in Eq. 4

k :

Polytropic constant

P :

Pressure (Pa)

R :

Perfect gas constant (J/kgmole/K)

T :

Absolute gas temperature (K)

t :

Time (s)

V :

Enclosure volume (m3)

v :

Gas velocity (m/s)

α:

Time constant defined in Eq. 7 (s)

δ:

Perturbation function defined in Eq. 4 (Pa)

ε:

Time constant defined in Eq. 21 (s)

γ:

Ratio of gas specific heats

ρ:

Gas density (kg/m3)

ξ:

Pressure loss coefficient

References

  1. NASA SP-8060, NASA Space Vehicle Design Criteria: Compartment Venting, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nov. 1970. http://trs.nis.nasa.gov/archive/00000087/01/sp8060.pdf

  2. Mehta, R.C.: Quasi-one-dimensional numerical analysis of payload venting of satellite launch vehicle. J. Spacecr. Rocket. 45(2), 412–414 (2008)

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  4. Scialdone, J.J.: Spacecraft compartment venting. Proc. SPIE, SPIE 3427, 23–27 (1998)

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  5. Scialdone, J.J.: Preventing damaging pressure gradients at the walls of an inflatable space system. Proc. SPIE 4096, 77–81 (2000)

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  6. Vijker, J.J.: Spacecraft structures, p. 448. Springer, Berlin (2008) (ISBN 978-3-540-75552-4)

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Acknowledgments

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermal and Fluid Processes, Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0836, PO Box 5800, 87185, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Ronald C. Dykhuizen

  2. Fire and Aerosol Sciences, Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0826, PO Box 5800, 87185, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Walter Gill & Larry A. Bruskas

Authors
  1. Ronald C. Dykhuizen
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  2. Walter Gill
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  3. Larry A. Bruskas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronald C. Dykhuizen.

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Dykhuizen, R.C., Gill, W. & Bruskas, L.A. Depressurization solutions of vented enclosures during launch. CEAS Space J 3, 7–12 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-011-0022-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-011-0022-x

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