A convergent-divergent nozzle, also known as a de Laval nozzle, is a nozzle design commonly used in rocket engines and supersonic aircraft to accelerate high-speed gases.
The mass flow rate through a convergent-divergent nozzle is the quantity of fluid passing through the nozzle per unit time. This nozzle design is particularly important for achieving supersonic flow, where the nozzle consists of a converging section followed by a diverging section. The converging part accelerates the flow to sonic speed, and the diverging section continues the acceleration to supersonic speeds.
you can express the mass flow rate through a nozzle for a Convergent-Divergent Nozzle in Ideal Gas and Isentropic flow in terms of known parameters like pressures, temperatures, and throat area:
where,
- ṁ is the mass flow rate of the nozzle
- P is the pressure
- R is the gas constant for the working fluid
- T is the Temperature
- A is the throat nozzle area
- M is the Mach Number
- a is the speed of sound in the medium