Unsteady Burning of Solid Propellants
Abstract
A theoretical analysis is presented of unsteady solid propellant combustion, particularly combustion stability and extinction by rapid depressurization. It is assumed that the solid decomposes by a pyrolosis law and the gaseous products react exothermically following an Arrhenius law. For large values of this non-dimensional activation energy the gas-phase combustion, turns out to be quasisteady. The characteristic response time of the solid to gas-phase perturbations turns out to be large compared to the characteristic residence time in the heat-up zone of the solid, their ratio being of the order of the non-dimensional activation energy in the gas-phase. A linear stability criterion has been obtained that gives stable burning for steady burning rates above and below two limiting values; the width of the unstable region increases with the activation energy of the pyrolisis law, and becomes zero for a finite value of that activation energy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA055948
Entities
People
- Antonio Crespo
- M. Kindelan