AN EROSION MECHANISM FOR NON-LINEAR INSTABILITY IN THE AXIAL MODES OF SOLID PROPELLANT ROCKET MOTORS,

Abstract

Acoustic instability in a solid fuel rocket engine arises from the interaction of sound waves with the burning propellant. An interesting non-linearity arising from acoustic erosivity is investigated, i.e., the dependence of the burning rate on the magnitude (but not the direction) of the fluctuating gas velocity parallel to the transpiring surface. This non-linearity is of first order in the acoustic amplitude, and so can be significant even when higher-order effects are negligible. A simple calculation of the stability in axial modes is presented to illustrate the phenomenon, and it is shown, for example, that a motor stable at low acoustic amplitudes can be unstable at moderate amplitudes due to the non-linearity of erosion. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1961
Accession Number
AD0626756

Entities

People

  • F. T. Mcclure
  • J. F. Bird
  • R. W. Hart

Organizations

  • Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Amplitude
  • Burning Rate
  • Combustion
  • Engines
  • Instability
  • Linearity
  • Propellants
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Solid Fuels
  • Solid Propellants
  • Sound Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Rocket Propulsion.