Tungsten and Rocket Motors

Abstract

The study of tungsten in solid propellant rocket motors involves 2 areas of work; the erosion behavior of W under exhaust conditions; and the thermal shock characteristics of W under nozzle heat-up conditions. The plasma jet apparatus was used to determine whether CO2 would erode W at temperatures near the melting point of W. Appreciable erosion occurred and the W weight loss was about 300 to 400 mg compared with a negligible weight loss for the Al2O3 runs reported earlier (AD-266 664). The preliminary runs suggest that mechanical erosion in itself is not likely to be significant and that some chemical reaction with W will probably be required for significant erosion to occur. Work progressed on strain measurement instrumentation for determining (as a function of time) the outside surface strain on the W ring thermal shock specimens. Both electrical and mechanical strain gages are being investigated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 15, 1961
Accession Number
AD0268508

Entities

People

  • Gerald M. Gordon

Organizations

  • SRI International

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Body Weight
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Diameters
  • Electrodes
  • Flow Rate
  • Gages
  • Instrumentation
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Measurement
  • Melting Point
  • Optical Pyrometers
  • Plasma Jets
  • Rocket Engines
  • Shock
  • Solid Propellants
  • Strain Gages
  • Thermal Shock

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Surface Engineering/Surface Coating Technology.