Exhaust Plume Measurements of 15-Pound BATES (Ballistic Test and Evaluation System) Motors.
Abstract
This is the first AFRPL effort at taking certain rocket diagnosis experiments into the field. The major objectives were: (1) gauging use of laser transmissometer measurements as a plume visibility figure of merit; (2) measuring the ensemble particle size distribution function (PSDF) through application of Mie theory in deconvolving polarization/scattering laser signals from lightly-loaded (and therefore single-scattering) solid rocket motor plumes; (3) retrieving temperature and partial pressure profiles through multispectral infrared emission and absorption measurements; and (4) quantifying exit plan multispectral ultraviolet emission. Success was limited. Laser transmittance as a visibility figure of merit embeds many assumptions and has not been positively and has not been positively correlated with total plume detectability. Nonetheless, different propellants are seen to have characteristic transmittance values and a propellant visibility ranking using this criterion was undertaken using a limited experimental sample. The volume-to-surface effective mean particle diameters through applicable transmissometer/extinction measurements were made rather than PSDFs due to difficulties in size distribution inversion schemes and low experimental signal-to-noise ratios.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA157249
Entities
People
- J. A. Misener
- P. A. Kessel
- T. W. Park
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory