Spatiotemporal Sensitivity in Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine Large Eddy Simulations

High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs) remain a crucial tool in advancing the technology and improving our understanding of these devices. Nonetheless, gaps remain in the fundamental knowledge of the spatial and temporal scales needed to ensure sufficient resolution of RDRE simulations. In this manuscript, we explore the sensitivity to spatiotemporal resolution for large eddy simulations (LES) of non-premixed RDREs. We simulate the same RDRE geometry at three different mesh resolutions: 36, 97, and 481 million grid cells. We investigate the effect of the temporal resolution by incorporating chemical sub-time stepping to address the differences in hydrodynamic and chemical timescales. Results show that chamber pressure, thrust, and specific impulse (ISP) are less sensitive to spatial and temporal resolution than the local dynamics, such as the operating mode, number of detonation waves, wave speed, and secondary wave behavior.