Study on the open-air NEPE solid propellant fire characteristics: Effect of altitude upon the flame performance through CFD

Solid propellant fires, characterized by uncontrolled combustion behaviors, are a common occurrence in industries that utilize solid propellants and can lead to significant consequences. However, there has been a lack of comprehensive studies on modeling and simulating the flame characteristics of NEPE solid propellant fires. This research aims to investigate the flame behaviors of large NEPE solid propellants at different altitudes using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The flame's shape and temperature were examined based on experimental data under atmospheric conditions to validate the numerical model. The findings reveal that the simulated flame temperature slightly surpasses the experimental values, while the simulated flame length and width align well with the experimental measurements. Moreover, increasing altitudes result in shorter flame lengths and lower combustion temperatures. Furthermore, the study scrutinizes the influence of turbulence models on the flame behavior of NEPE propellant fires.