Velocity and temperature distribution in the free jet of a rocket engine

A theory was developed and calculations carried out to determine the velocity and temperature distribution of rocket exhaust jets. The exhaust jet is a hot hypersonic jet diverging from the conical nozzle. The nozzle exhaust pressure is generally not adapted to the ambient pressure. These effects lead to an overshoot and an over expansion of the jet after emerging from the nozzle. It is assumed that the initial state of the free jet flow field is given by the cross section in which the overshooting jet has its largest cross section and thus its highest velocity. The comparison of theoretical and calculation values shows this assumption to be correct.