RESPONSE OF A BURNING PROPELLANT SURFACE TO EROSIVE TRANSIENTS.
Abstract
The study of the combustion instability of solid propellants has as its ultimate goal the development of a method for predicting whether a new propellant will be susceptible to combustion instability. In the studies done under this present contract, significant progress has been made in correlating finite-amplitude axial-mode instability with a theoretical analysis of the combustion wave. When laboratory derived physical-chemical propellant data are substituted in the appropriate expressions, it has proved possible to predict in a qualitative manner the unstable response of a propellant. The studies this year have been concerned with improving the combustion model, interpreting the fluid dynamic phenomena, and experimentally determining the magnitude of critical ballistic parameters. In order to verify that solid-phase reactions were occurring, differential thermal analysis studies were performed on selected propellants at pressures up to 70 atmospheres. A quadrapole mass spectrometer was used to distinguish between condensed-phase and gas-phase reactions. With ammonium perchlorate propellants, a solid-phase heat release of up to 200 calories per gram was observed. An examination of the wave structure obtained in both tubular and opposed slab rocket motors indicates that the finite amplitude wave is a shock wave (supported by mass and energy addition in the wake). In the continuing development of the analytical model of the combustion wave, the justification of the physical assumptions made in developing a mathematically tractable theory have been critically reviewed and compared with those of other workers. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 31, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0810778
Entities
People
- Charles E. Wooldridge
- Erwin L. Capener
- Gerald A. Marxman
- Lionel A. Dickinson
- Roger J. Kier
Organizations
- SRI International