China's Civil Solid Rocket Motors

China develops solid fuelrocket technology completely de-pending on its own strength.Since the late 1950s,variouskinds of solid rocket engines de-veloped by the 4th Academy ofChina Aerospace Corporation(CASC)have been used intomany positioning and recoveringtests of various satellites and over100 flight tests of various missileswith a 100％ successful rate.InOctober,1982,especially,Chinasuccessfully launched a solid fuelrocket from a submarine underwater,which reflected China’shigh level in this field.China’scivilian solid rocket engines are asfollows:

Solid Rocket Motors for Launch Escape Tower Provide Safety to Astronauts

Compared with other ordinary launch vehicles, the LM-2F launch vehicle has two special systems, the fault detection processing system and launch escape system, because it is used for manned spaceflight missions. During the 10 flight missions carried out by LM-2F, only the

Study on the Multi-Component Test Technology of Solid Rocket Motors

This paper presents a calculation method, and composition of a five-component force test device, to resolve the requirement for solid rocket motor multi-component force test. It compares the difference between two classical algorithms, and summarizes the structure and practical usage of the solid rocket motor multi-component force using soft connection structure measurement. The decoupling method of test data is described, and a reasonable research method for solid rocket motor multi-component force is also given in this paper.

Numerical study on similarity of plume infrared radiation between reduced-scale solid rocket motors

This study seeks to determine the similarities in plume radiation between reduced and full-scale solid rocket models in ground test conditions through investigation of flow and radiation for a series of scale ratios ranging from 0.1 to 1. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) considering gas and particle radiation in a non-uniform plume has been adopted and solved by the finite volume method (FVM) to compute the three dimensional, spectral and directional radiation of a plume in the infrared waveband 2-6 mu m. Conditions at wavelengths 2.7 mu m and 4.3 mu m are discussed in detail, and ratios of plume radiation for reduced-scale through full-scale models are examined. This work shows that, with increasing scale ratio of a computed rocket motor, area of the high-temperature core increases as a 2 power function of the scale ratio, and the radiation intensity of the plume increases with 2-2.5 power of the scale ratio. The infrared radiation of plume gases shows a strong spectral dependency, while that of Al2O3 particles shows spectral continuity of gray media. Spectral radiation intensity of a computed solid rocket plume's high temperature core increases significantly in peak radiation spectra of plume gases CO and CO2 center dot Al2O3 particles are the major radiation component in a rocket plume. There is good similarity between contours of plume spectral radiance from different scale models of computed rockets, and there are two peak spectra of radiation intensity at wavebands 2.7-3.0 lm and 4.2-4.6 lm. Directed radiation intensity of the entire plume volume will rise with increasing elevation angle. (C) 2016 Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd.

Numerical simulation of multi-phase combustion flow in solid rocket motors with metalized propellant

Multi-phase flowfield simulation has been performed on solid rocket motor and effect of multi-phases on the performance prediction of the solid rocket motor(SRM) is investigation.During the combustion of aluminized propellant,the aluminum particles in the propellant melt and formliquid aluminum at the burning propellant surface.So the flow within the rocket motor is multi phase or two phase because it contains droplets and smoke particles of Al2O3.Flowsi mulations have been performed on a large scale motor,to observe the effect of the flowfield onthe chamber and nozzle as well.Uniform particles diameters and Rosin-Rammler diameter distribution method that is based on the assumption that an exponential relationship exists betweenthe droplet diameter,dand mass fraction of droplets with diameter greater thandhave been used for the si mulation of different distribution of Al2O3 droplets present in SRM.Particles sizes in the range of 1-100μm are used,as being the most common droplets.In this approachthe complete range of particle sizes is dividedinto a set of discrete size ranges,eachto be defined by single streamthat is part of the group.Roe scheme-flux differencing splitting based on approxi mate Riemann problem has been used to si mulate the effects of the multi-phase flowfeild.This is second order upwind scheme in which flux differencing splitting method is employed.To cater for the turbulence effect,Spalart-All maras model has been used.The results obtained show the great sensitivity of this diameters distribution and particles concentrations to the SRMflowdynamics,primarily at the motor chamber and nozzle exit.The results are shown with various sizes of the particles concentrations and geometrical configurations including models for SRM and nozzle.The analysis also provides effect of multi-phase on performance prediction of solid rocket motor.

The properties of Sn-Zn-Al-La fusible alloy for mitigation devices of solid propellant rocket motors

The Al and La elements are added to the Sn9Zn alloy to obtain the fusible alloy for the mitigation devices of solid propellant rocket motors. Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), metallographic analysis,scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS), tensile testing and fracture analysis were used to study the effect of Al and La elements on the microstructure, melting characteristics, and mechanical properties of the Sn9Zn alloy. Whether the fusible diaphragm can effectively relieve pressure was investigated by the hydrostatic pressure at high-temperature test. Experimental results show that the melting point of the Sn9Zn-0.8Al0·2La and Sn9Zn-3Al0·2La fusible alloys can meet the predetermined working temperature of ventilation. The mechanical properties of those are more than 35% higher than that of the Sn9Zn alloy at-50°C-70°C, and the mechanical strength is reduced by 80% at 175°C. It is proven by the hydrostatic pressure at high-temperature test that the fusible diaphragm can relieve pressure effectively and can be used for the design of the mitigation devices of solid propellant rocket motors.

Effect of the head cavity on pressure oscillation suppression characteristics in large solid rocket motors

In order to discover the effect of head cavity on resonance damping characteristics in solid rocket motors, large-eddy simulations with wall-adapting-local-eddy-viscosity subgrid scale turbulent model are implemented to study the oscillation flow field induced by vortex shedding based on the VKI （yon Karman Institute） experimental motor. Firstly, mesh sensitivity analysis and grid-independent analysis are carried out for the computer code validation. Then, the numerical method is further validated by comparing the calculated results and experimental data. Thirdly, the effects of head-end cavity on the pressure oscillation am-plitudes are studied in this paper. The results indicate that cavity volume, location and configuration have a cooperative ef- fect on the oscillation amplitude. It is proved that Rayleigh criterion can be used as a guiding principle for the design of reso- nance damping cavity. The change of the head-end cavity breaks the balance between the mass flux and acoustic energy. Therefore, the pressure oscillation characteristics change accordingly. It is concluded that a large mass flux added at the pres- sure antinode could attribute to significant amplitude. Meanwhile, the damping effect of the cavity is stronger when the dis- tance between cavity and pressure antinode becomes shorter. Finally, this method is applied to the modification of an engi- neering solid rocket motor. The static test of solid rocket motor reflects that the oscillations can be effectively suppressed by a head-end cavity.

Study on Instable Combustion of Solid Rocket Motor with Finocyl Grain

The instable combustion or oscillation combustion which occurs in three high capacity solid rocket motors using high energy composite propellant with finocyl grain is studied. The reasons of the acoustic combustion instability are also discussed. Three engineering methods that can eliminate combustion instability are proposed and discussed. The study shows that the combustion instability mainly depends on the propellant grain shape and nozzle structure. Some measures to reduce the acoustic energy and mass generation rate of combustion gas can be adopted. The test results indicate that the modified rocket motors can significantly eliminate the instable combustion and improve the motor internal ballistic performance.

Research on the Initial Ignition of the Underwater Launching Solid Rocket Motor

The aim of this investigation is to research the initial ignition of the underwater-launching solid rocket motor.The MIXTURE multiple-phase model was set to simulate the initial ignition.The water vaporization was researched and the energy transfer was added to the energy equations.The flow field and the vaporization were calculated coupled.The initial ignition process of the underwater solid rocket motor is obtained and the vaporization influence to the underwater launching is analyzed.The ＂neck＂,＂inverted jet＂ and ＂eruption＂ phenomenon of the bubble are observed.The bubble increases more rapidly because the steam mass added to the fuel.The temperature is lower considering the vaporization because the steam enthalpy is lower than the fuel enthalpy and the flow field of the initial ignition of the underwater-launching solid rocket motor is accordant well to the reference.

Influence of Solid Rocket Motor Slag on the Space Debris Environment

The resulting slag particles from solid rocket motor( SRM) firings are an important component of space debris environment. Slag sizes as large as 1 cm have been witnessed in ground tests,and comparable sizes have been also estimated via observations of sub-orbital tail-off events. We achieve slag initial data based on MASTER slag model and SRM historical launch data,and propagate slag long-term orbital evolution taking into account the zonal harmonics J2,atmospheric drag,solar radiation pressure and luni-solar attraction to discuss the slag size distribution and orbital characteristics. Finally,future slag debris environment is evaluated based on two different launch rate assumptions. The result shows that current launch frequency will make the slag population sustain growth and the population will not decrease at once even if there are no more launches in the future.

Laminar and Turbulent Characteristics of the Acoustic/Fluid Dynamics Interactions in a Slender Simulated Solid Rocket Motor Chamber

In this paper,analytical,computational,and experimental studies are integrated to examine unsteady acoustic/vorticity transport phenomena in a solid rocket motor chamber with end-wall disturbance and side-wall injection.Acoustic-fluid dynamic interactions across the chamber may generate intense unsteady vorticity with associated shear stresses.These stresses may cause scouring and,in turn,enhance the heat rate and erosional burning of solid propellant in a real rocket chamber.In this modelling,the unsteady propellant gasification is mimicked by steady-state flow disturbed by end-wall oscillations.The analytical approach is formulated using an asymptotic technique to reduce the full governing equations.The equations that arise from the analysis possess wave properties are solved in an initial-boundary value sense.The numerical study is performed by solving the parabolized Navier–Stokes equations for the DNS simulation and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations along with the energy equation using the control volume approach based on a staggered grid system with the turbulence modelling.The v2-f turbulence model has been implemented.The results show that an unexpectedly large amplitude of unsteady vorticity is generated at the injection side-wall of the chamber and is then penetrated downstream by the bulk motion of the internal flow.These stresses may cause a scouring effect and large transient heat transfer on the combustion surface.A comparison between the analytical,computational,and experimental results is performed.

Measurement of alumina film induced ablation of internal insulator in solid rocket environment

This study investigates the ablation of internal insulation induced by the deposition of an alumina film with different lateral film speeds.A sub-scale test solid rocket motor(SRM)was designed in an impinging jet configuration to form an alumina film on the sample and to encourage the lateral movement of the film by a high-speed wall jet.Fifteen static fire tests of the test SRM were conducted with six different jet velocities(V_(jet)=100 m/s,150 m/s,200 m/s,268 m/s,330 m/s,and 450 m/s)that indirectly affected the velocity of the wall jet and the deposition rate of alumina droplets.The ablation velocity was deduced from the difference in the sample thickness after a test using a coordinate measuring machine.The droplet deposition mass flux and wall jet velocity were obtained via two-phase flow simulation with the same jet velocity and effective pressure.As a result,the characteristics of alumina-induced ablation and the changes in ablation with jet velocities were obtained.The area within0.8×jet diameter was focused upon,where the ratio of ablation velocity to incoming alumina mass was constant for each jet velocity,and showed a similarity in jet structure.When the ablation velocity was increased from 2.05 to 9.98 mm/s with increasing jet velocity,the ratio of the ablation velocity and alumina mass flux decreased from 1.07×10^(-4)to 0.49×10^(-4)m^(3)/kg as Al_(2)O_(3)-C reactions became less efficient with a reduced residence time of the film.Because the decrease in residence time by the wall jet is more pronounced for slow reactions involved in Al_(2)O_(3)-C reactions,fast reactions in Al_(2)O_(3)-C reactions are less affected and result in a convergence of the volumetric rate of ablation per unit mass of alumina.

On the Transient Numerical Simulation of Solid Rocket Motor by Coupling Quasi One⁃Dimension Internal Flow with Three⁃Dimension Propellant Grain Burnback

The quasi one⁃dimension compressible flowfield coupled to the three⁃dimension propellant grain regression solved by the level⁃set method was used to simulate the transient internal ballistics of solid rocket motor.One⁃dimension flowfield instead of three⁃dimension can save computational cost on the premise of calculation accuracy because the radial and azimuthal variations parameters have little contribution to the internal flowfield.The grain regression in real⁃time could provide accurate geometrical information for simulation.A combination of flowfluid solver and grain regression can reappear in a relatively real internal ballistic flowfield,so it is good for further studying the instability of solid rocket motor.For level⁃set equations,the total variation⁃diminishing second⁃order Runge⁃Kutta method for temporal derivatives and a fifth⁃order weighted⁃essentially⁃non⁃oscillatory scheme for spatial derivatives were used.The total variation⁃diminishing MacCormack method was used to discrete the Euler equations in flowfield solver.Two modules of this code were tested in this study:one is the burning rate module and the other is the nozzle erosion module.Results show that the burning rate influenced the solid rocket motor efficiency,and the velocity profile in the chamber was affected by the nozzle shape,and the nozzle erosion could influence the head⁃end pressure spike.

Study on the Effect of Solid Particles on Jet Flow and Base Thermal Environment for Solid-Liquid Bundled Rocket

Compared with using liquid rocket engines,there are a lot of high-temperature solid particles in the solid-liquid bundled rocket,which make the rocket base thermal environment worse.In order to study the influence of high-temperature solid particles on the base thermal environment,firstly,the effect of particle diameter on the jet distribution and the thermal environment in a single solid motor jet was analyzed using a numerical simulation method,and the results were compared with those of a ground test.Further,the effects of high-temperature solid particles on the jet and the thermal environment of the solid-liquid bundled rocket were analyzed and compared with flight data.The results show that high-temperature solid particles can increase the jet temperature and reduce the jet velocity.The larger the particle diameter,the greater the impact on the jet core temperature.The role of high-temperature solid particles cannot be ignored in the study of the base thermal environment.

Development of Solid Rocket Motor for Manned Launch Vehicle Escape System

The solid rocket motors for the escape system of China’s LM-2 F manned launch vehicle are described,the key technologies and technical innovations utilized are summarized.The technical features and development of foreign manned launch abort systems are also presented.The development trends of the solid rocket motor for future Chinese manned launch vehicle escape systems are proposed,which can provide a reference for the future development of manned launch vehicle escape systems.

Experimental Investigation on Basic Prototype of Solid Propellant Impulsive Microthrusters

A new type of impulsive microthruster and its measurement system were designed for the aim of testing the performance of a basic prototype of solid propellant impulsive microthruster. Two sets of tests were conducted. The tests show that the ignitor and the main charge of the microthruster match well, the dynamic and static capability of the test and measurement meets the test requirement and the result is creditable. The measured technical characteristics of the microthruster are that the ignition delay time is shorter than 0 3?ms, the total impulse is over 3?N·s, the operational time is shorter than 16?ms and the mass ratio of the thruster is 0 216.

Modeling and Validation of Thrust Prediction of Underwater Solid Rocket Motor

The solid rocket motor driven system is one of the common ways for submarines to launch underwater missiles. It has significant advantages in improving the missile’s water exit speed, anti-interference capability, and enemy striking power. The prediction of the underwater loading is a preliminary factor for the power system design of the underwater vehicle. This paper presents a rapid prediction method and validated by the experimental study for the underwater thrust of the solid rocket motor. Based on the potential flow assumption of the water field, a model of the bubble and a one-dimensional quasi-steady model of the nozzle are established to directly solve the flow status of the nozzle. The aerodynamic thrust and hydrodynamic thrust have been calculated and analyzed. The calculation results are within 5% error of the experimental results. Moreover, a design platform to predict the underwater thrust of the solid rocket motor has been developed based on Python and the PyQt library, which shows excellent system adaptability and computational efficiency.

Numerical study on ignition start-up process of an underwater solid rocket motor across a wide depth range

Solid rocket motors have important applications in the propulsion of trans-media vehicles and underwater launched rockets.In this paper,the ignition start-up process of an underwater solid rocket motor across a wide depth range has been numerically studied.A novel multi-domain integrated model has been developed by combining the solid propellant ignition and combustion model with the volume of fluid multiphase model.This integrated model enables the coupled simulation of the propellant combustion and gas flow inside the motor,along with the gas jet evolution in the external water environment.The detailed flow field developments in the combustion chamber,nozzle,and wake field are carefully analyzed.The variation rules of the internal ballistics and thrust performance are also obtained.The effects of environmental medium and operating depth on the ignition start-up process are systematically discussed.The results show that the influence of the operating environment on the internal ballistic characteristics is primarily reflected in the initial period after the nozzle closure opens.The development of the gas jet in water lags significantly compared with that in air.As the water depth increases,the ignition delay time of the motor is shortened,and the morphology evolution of the gas jet is significantly compressed and accelerated.Furthermore,the necking and bulging of the jet boundary near the nozzle outlet and the consequent shock oscillations are intensified,resulting in stronger fluctuations in the wake pressure field and motor thrust.

Solid rocket motor propellant grain burnback simulation based on fast minimum distance function calculation and improved marching tetrahedron method

To efficiently compute arbitrary propellant grain evolution of the burning surface with uniform and non-uniform burning rate for solid rocket motor,a unified framework of burning surface regression simulation has been developed based on minimum distance function.In order to speed up the computation of the mini-mum distance between grid nodes of grain and the triangular mesh of burning surface,a fast distance querying method based on the equal size cube voxel structure was employed.An improved marching tetrahedron method based on piecewise linear approximation was carried out on second-order tetrahedral elements,achieved high-efficiency and adequate accuracy of burning surface extraction simultaneously.The cases of star grain,finocyl grain,and non-uniform tube grain were studied to verify the proposed method.The observed result indicates that the grain burnback computation method could realize the accurate simulation on unstructured tetrahedral mesh with a desirable performance on computational time.

Radiative properties of alumina/aluminum particles and influence on radiative heat transfer in solid rocket motor

The thermal radiation of micron-sized condensed phase particles plays a dominant role during the heat transfer process in aluminized Solid Rocket Motors(SRMs).Open research mainly focuses on the radiative properties of alumina particles while the study considering the presence of aluminum is lacking.In addition,the thermal radiation inside the SRM with consideration of the participating particles is seldom studied.In this work,the multiscale method of predicting the thermal environment inside SRMs is established from the particle radiation at microscale to the twophase flow and heat transfer at macroscale.The effective gray radiative properties of individual particles(alumina,aluminum,and hybrid alumina/aluminum)and particles cloud are investigated with the Mie theory and approximate method.Then a numerical method for predicting the thermal environment inside SRMs with considering particle radiation is established and applied in a subscale motor.The convective and radiative heat flux distributions along inner wall of motor are obtained,and it is found that the heat transfer in the combustion chamber is dominated by thermal radiation and the radiative heat flux is essentially a constant of 5.6–6.8 MW/m^(2).The convective heat transfer plays a dominant role in the nozzle and the heat flux reaches the maximum value of 11.2 MW/m^(2) near the throat.As the combustion efficiency of aluminum drops,the radiative heat flux remains unchanged in most regions and increases slightly along the diverging section wall of the nozzle.