High-Pressure Rig for Assessing Particle Impact Ignition in Extreme Environments
Abstract
The equipment developed under this effort will address this limitation by enabling controlled experiments in which particle size, shape, and chemistry; target chemistry; striking velocity and angle; and environmental variables (e.g., gas temperature, pressure, chemistry) can be independently and systematically varied. It comprises an instrumented pressure vessel inside which individual particles can be launched controllably at targets with striking velocities between 10 m-s and 3 km-s. Complementary high-rate imaging will be used to observe the impact and ignition events with micron-scale spatial resolution and nanosecond temporal resolution. The instrumented pressure vessel is already installed at MIT and can achieve O2 pressures of 10 ksi, in line with the highest turbine inlet O2 pressures in oxygen-rich turbopumps in staged combustion rocket engines, where particle impact ignition can lead to catastrophic metal fires (Figure 1b). Funds are requested only for development of the laser-induced particle impact testing (LIPIT) apparatus and imaging equipment. This equipment will build on a previous experimental design that the PI used to study structural reactive materials while on the faculty at Rice University. In contrast with this earlier design, which could only test in air under ambient pressure and temperature conditions, the proposed apparatus will enable particle impact ignition testing under extremely high O2 pressures, relevant to real-world engineering applications like oxidizer-rich turbopumps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Source ID
- FA95502310225
Entities
People
- Zachary C. Cordero
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- United States Air Force