AS301, IITM, Lecture 3 (07/08/2007)

2. ROCKET DYNAMICS

CG

90-

m
Pa
v

Mge
Ae

Figure 1

Consider an accelerating rocket vehicle (figure. 1). Let M be the mass of the
vehicle at time t and V its velocity. Over a short time interval t the rocket
ejects mass m with velocity v and the vehicle acquires velocity V + V .
The change in momentum of rocket: ( M m ) (V + V ) ( M m )V
The change in momentum of mass m : m (v ) m(V )
The change in momentum of the system: MV m(V v )
The net external forces on the system: Ae ( p e p a ) D Mg e sin
MV m(V v ) = [ Ae ( p e p a ) D Mg e sin ]t

M Lt

t 0

V
m
(V v ) + Ae ( pe p a ) D Mg e sin
= Lt

0
t
t

dV
m
= [m& (V v ) + Ae ( p e p a ) D Mg e sin ] where Lt
= m&
t 0 t
dt

Now T = m& (V v ) + Ae ( p e p a ) = m& U e + Ae ( pe p a ) = m& U eq

Rearranging we get general Equation of Motion for a rocket vehicle

Vehicle accleation, a =

dV
T
D
=

g e sin
dt
M M

Typically for a launch vehicle, launched from the earth, the thrust to weight
T
, is between 1.5 to 2 to ensure reasonable acceleration.
ratio,
Mg e
Case I (Neglecting the atmospheric drag and the effect of gravity)
U eq dM
m& [(V v ) + Ae ( p e p a ) m& ]
dV
T
=
=
=
M
M
M dt
dt
dV = U eq

dM
M

Integrating over time 0 to t

VF

V = dV = U eq
V0

M0
dM
=
ln
U
eq
M
M
M0

We get Rocket Equation (Konstantin Tsiolkovskys Rocket Equation)

Videal = U eq ln

M0
M
= I sp g e ln 0
M
M

Here: M 0 = initial mass of the vehicle,

M = instantaneous mass of the vehicle a time t.
Total velocity increment over the acceleration phase lasting for time tb

Vmax = I sp g e ln

M0
where M B is the mass of the vehicle
MB

 V=Isp ge ln(M0/M)
100
I =100s
sp

I =200s

80

sp

I =300s
sp

I =400s
sp

I =500s
sp

M /M

60

40

20

0
0

10

15

20

25

V km/s

Figure 2

V=-Ispgeln(1-fp)
1
I =100s
0.9

I =300s

sp

sp

I =500s

I =200s
sp

sp

I =400s

Propellant Mass Fraction,f =M /M

0.8

sp

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0

6
V km/s

Figure 3

10

12

Notes:
1) If the propellant is burned to exhaustion, the Rocket equation gives the
maximum theoretical obtainable Videal = Vmax from a single stage.
2) We can clearly see (figure 2 and 3) the desirability of high I sp and a large
M0
. This implies that it is desirable to have vehicle consisting,
MB
as much as possible, of payload and propellant only.

mass ratio, =

Interesting Transport Vehicle Weight Comparison

Fuel
88
43
15
3
1

SLV
Jet Aircraft
Ship
Car
Goods Train

Engine
4
7
10
22
3

Payload
2
10
25
25
77

Structure
6
40
50
50
19

Case II (Effect of Earths Gravity but neglecting the atmospheric drag):

t

Vmax, g

b
M
= I sp g e ln 0 g sin dt
MB 0

There is net loss in V due to the component of gravitational field force acting
along the flight path.

Now, g =

GM Earth

(REarth + h )2

g ge
0.99
0.95
0.90

h(km)
32
166
346

0.80

755

REarth
GM Earth
where g e =
, REarth = 6400km
= g e
2
REarth
R Earth + h

The thrust period of chemical rockets usually ends when the distance traveled by
the vehicle is a small fraction of earths radius and the gravitational acceleration
is not altered very much.
Then V can be approximated as:

Vmax, g = I sp g e ln

M0
g e sin t b
MB

Where tb , is the burn period and sin is the integrated average value of sin