Applied Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion : A Practical Engineering Guide for Aerospace Students, Technicians, and Practicing Engineers
Overview
Rocket propulsion is not difficult because of one equation. It is difficult because thermodynamics, gas dynamics, combustion, turbomachinery, heat transfer, structures, and flight performance all have to work together.
Applied Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion gives readers a structured way to connect those disciplines. The book develops the governing relations from stated assumptions and first principles, then carries them into worked calculations so you can see what the equations mean, how they are applied, and where engineering trade-offs begin.
Inside, you will:
- connect thrust, effective exhaust velocity, specific impulse, mass ratio, and the rocket equation to quantitative performance analysis;
- move from compressible-flow fundamentals to nozzle sizing, choked flow, shocks, thrust coefficient, real-nozzle losses, and altitude performance;
- examine propellant selection and combustion thermochemistry, including mixture ratio, flame temperature, equilibrium effects, molar mass, and density;
- follow liquid rocket engines through feed systems, pressurization, turbopumps, engine cycles, injectors, combustion stability, heat transfer, and thrust-chamber cooling;
- analyze solid and hybrid motors through burning or regression laws, grain and port geometry, chamber pressure, internal ballistics, structure, ignition, throttling, and restart;
- explore electric and nuclear thermal propulsion, then connect propulsion choices to staging, orbital maneuvers, testing, instrumentation, safety, and system-level selection.
The presentation is designed for active study and later reference. Chapters use learning objectives, clearly defined symbols and units, complete worked examples, practice problems with answers, summaries, original schematics, performance plots, and supporting tables. SI units are primary, with key results also given in US customary units. Appendices collect constants, conversions, representative propellant data, standard-atmosphere data, and orbital information.
This book is intended for upper-level aerospace and mechanical engineering students, graduate students beginning propulsion work, and engineers or technicians entering the field from another discipline. It assumes calculus, introductory thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and basic mechanics, but no previous study of rocket propulsion.
Its scope is analytical and educational rather than procedural: it is not a construction or test manual and does not teach propellant manufacture, weapon design, or unsupervised handling or firing of propulsion hardware.
Open Applied Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion and build a connected engineering foundation that reaches from thrust and nozzle flow to engine systems, mission performance, testing, and propulsion-system trade studies.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9798161030455
- ISBN-10: 9798161030455
- Publisher: Independently Published
- Publish Date: October 2026
- Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.91 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.29 pounds
- Page Count: 452
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