Current Search: Solid propellants (x)
View All Items
- Title
- HIGH PRESSURE TESTING OF COMPOSITE SOLID ROCKET PROPELLANT MIXTURES: BURNER FACILITY CHARACTERIZATION.
- Creator
-
Carro, Rodolphe, Petersen, Eric, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Much Research on composite solid propellants has been performed over the past few decades and much progress has been made, yet many of the fundamental processes are still unknown, and the development of new propellants remains highly empirical. Ways to enhance the performance of solid propellants for rocket and other applications continue to be explored experimentally, including the effects of various additives and the impact of fuel and oxidizer particle sizes on burning behavior. One...
Show moreMuch Research on composite solid propellants has been performed over the past few decades and much progress has been made, yet many of the fundamental processes are still unknown, and the development of new propellants remains highly empirical. Ways to enhance the performance of solid propellants for rocket and other applications continue to be explored experimentally, including the effects of various additives and the impact of fuel and oxidizer particle sizes on burning behavior. One established method to measure the burning rate of composite propellant mixtures in a controlled laboratory setting is to use a constant-volume pressure vessel, or strand burner. To provide high-pressure burn rate data at pressures up to 360 atm, the authors have installed, characterized and improved a strand burner facility at the University of Central Florida. Details on the facility and its improvements, the measurement procedures, and the data reduction and interpretation are presented. Two common HTPB/AP propellant mixtures were tested in the original strand burner. The resulting burn rates were compared to data from the literature with good agreement, thus validating the facility and related test techniques, the data acquisition, data reduction and interpretation. After more than 380 successful recordings, an upgraded version of the strand burner, was added to the facility. The details of Strand Burner II, its improvements over Strand Burner I, and its characterization study are presented.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001979, ucf:47427
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001979
- Title
- Novel Nanostructures and Processes for Enhanced Catalysis of Composite Solid Propellants.
- Creator
-
Draper, Robert, Seal, Sudipta, Heinrich, Helge, Zhai, Lei, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The purpose of this study is to examine the burning behaviour of composite solid propellants (CSP)in the presence of nanoscale, heterogenous catalysts. The study targets the decomposition of am-monium perchlorate (AP) as a key component in the burning profile of these propellants, and seeksto identify parameters of AP decomposition reaction that can be affected by catalytic additives.The decomposition behavior of AP was studied in the presence of titanium dioxide nanoparticlesin varying...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to examine the burning behaviour of composite solid propellants (CSP)in the presence of nanoscale, heterogenous catalysts. The study targets the decomposition of am-monium perchlorate (AP) as a key component in the burning profile of these propellants, and seeksto identify parameters of AP decomposition reaction that can be affected by catalytic additives.The decomposition behavior of AP was studied in the presence of titanium dioxide nanoparticlesin varying configurations, surface conditions, dopants, morphology, and synthesis parameters withthe AP crystals. The catalytic nanoparticles were found to enhance the decomposition rate of theammonium perchlorate, and promote an accelerated burning rate of CSP propellants containingthe additives. Furthermore, different configurations were shown to have varying degrees of effec-tiveness in promoting the decomposition behaviour.To study the effect of the catalyst's configuration in the bulk propellant, controlled dispersion con-ditions of the nanoparticle catalysts were created and studied using differential scanning calorime-try, as well as model propellant strand burning. The catalysts were shown to promote the greatestenthalpy of reaction, as well as the highest burn rate, when the AP crystals were recrystalizedaround the nanoparticle additives. This is in contrast to the lowest enthalpy condition, which cor-responded to catalysts being dispersed upon the AP crystal surface using bio-molecule templates.Additionally, a method of facile, visible light nanoparticle tracking was developed to study theeffect of mixing and settling parameters on the nano-catalysts. To accomplish this, the titaniananoparticles were doped with fluorescent europium molecules to track the dispersion of the cat-alysts in the propellant binder. This method was shown to succesfully allow for dispersion andagglomeration monitoring without affecting the catalytic effect of the TiO2 nanoparticles.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004991, ucf:49559
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004991
- Title
- Comparative Histology of the Respiratory Tract of Normal Persmyscus Floridanus and P. Gossypinus and Effects of Exposure to Solid Rocket Motor Fuel Exhaust on P. Gossypinus.
- Creator
-
Bitner, Terry L., Stout, I. Jack, Natural Sciences
- Abstract / Description
-
Florida Technological University College of Natural Sciences Thesis; Microscopic examination of the tracheal dimensions of normal Florida mice (Peromyscus floridanus) and cotton mice (P. gossypinus) showed no significant differences between the two species, but external examination showed the tracheal length of the Florida mouse to be longer than that of the cotton mouse. Microscopic examination of the intrapulmonary apparatus (bronchioles, alveolar ducts, atria, and alveoli) of normal...
Show moreFlorida Technological University College of Natural Sciences Thesis; Microscopic examination of the tracheal dimensions of normal Florida mice (Peromyscus floridanus) and cotton mice (P. gossypinus) showed no significant differences between the two species, but external examination showed the tracheal length of the Florida mouse to be longer than that of the cotton mouse. Microscopic examination of the intrapulmonary apparatus (bronchioles, alveolar ducts, atria, and alveoli) of normal Florida and cotton mice showed no significant differences in measurements between the two species. Cotton mice were exposed to exhaust gases produced by the burning of solid rocket motor (SRM) fuel. Mice exposed once for a duration of 10 min demonstrated an LD50 of 52 to 56 ppm HCl/g body weight and an LD50 of 169 to 173 mg Al2O3/m3/g body weight. These LD50 values suggested that SRM exhaust components may have a synergistic lethal effect when compared to the effects of individual components of the exhaust. Cotton mice exposed to the exhaust exhibited external signs of respiratory distress and dyspnea. Those mice that received lethal exposures showed internal signs of early inflammatory reactions. However, the most likely cause of death was a sudden shift in blood pH.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1977
- Identifier
- CFR0011601, ucf:53040
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0011601
- Title
- DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY DIAGNOSTIC IN A HIGH-PRESSURE STRAND BURNER FOR THE STUDY OF SOLID PROPELLANT COMBUSTION.
- Creator
-
Arvanetes, Jason, Petersen, Eric, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The application of emission spectroscopy to monitor combustion products of solid rocket propellant combustion can potentially yield valuable data about reactions occurring within the volatile environment of a strand burner. This information can be applied in the solid rocket propellant industry. The current study details the implementation of a compact spectrometer and fiber optic cable to investigate the visible emission generated from three variations of solid propellants. The grating was...
Show moreThe application of emission spectroscopy to monitor combustion products of solid rocket propellant combustion can potentially yield valuable data about reactions occurring within the volatile environment of a strand burner. This information can be applied in the solid rocket propellant industry. The current study details the implementation of a compact spectrometer and fiber optic cable to investigate the visible emission generated from three variations of solid propellants. The grating was blazed for a wavelength range from 200 to 800 nm, and the spectrometer system provides time resolutions on the order of 1 millisecond. One propellant formula contained a fine aluminum powder, acting as a fuel, mixed with ammonium perchlorate (AP), an oxidizer. The powders were held together with Hydroxyl-Terminated-Polybutadiene (HTPB), a hydrocarbon polymer that is solidified using a curative after all components are homogeneously mixed. The other two propellants did not contain aluminum, but rather relied on the HTPB as a fuel source. The propellants without aluminum differed in that one contained a bimodal mix of AP. Utilizing smaller particle sizes within solid propellants yields greater surface area contact between oxidizer and fuel, which ultimately promotes faster burning. Each propellant was combusted in a controlled, non-reactive environment at a range of pressures between 250 and 2000 psi. The data allow for accurate burning rate calculations as well as an opportunity to analyze the combustion region through the emission spectroscopy diagnostic. It is shown that the new diagnostic identifies the differences between the aluminized and non-aluminized propellants through the appearance of aluminum oxide emission bands. Anomalies during a burn are also verified through the optical emission spectral data collected.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0000971, ucf:46694
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000971
- Title
- DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF SOLID ROCKET MOTOR GRAINS FOR INTERNAL BALLISTIC PERFORMANCE.
- Creator
-
Hainline, Roger, Nayfeh, Jamal, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The work presented in this thesis deals with the application of optimization tools to the design of solid rocket motor grains per internal ballistic requirements. Research concentrated on the development of an optimization strategy capable of efficiently and consistently optimizing virtually an unlimited range of radial burning solid rocket motor grain geometries. Optimization tools were applied to the design process of solid rocket motor grains through an optimization framework developed to...
Show moreThe work presented in this thesis deals with the application of optimization tools to the design of solid rocket motor grains per internal ballistic requirements. Research concentrated on the development of an optimization strategy capable of efficiently and consistently optimizing virtually an unlimited range of radial burning solid rocket motor grain geometries. Optimization tools were applied to the design process of solid rocket motor grains through an optimization framework developed to interface optimization tools with the solid rocket motor design system. This was done within a programming architecture common to the grain design system, AML. This commonality in conjunction with the object-oriented dependency-tracking features of this programming architecture were used to reduce the computational time of the design optimization process. The optimization strategy developed for optimizing solid rocket motor grain geometries was called the internal ballistic optimization strategy. This strategy consists of a three stage optimization process; approximation, global optimization, and highfidelity optimization, and optimization methodologies employed include DOE, genetic algorithms, and the BFGS first-order gradient-based algorithm. This strategy was successfully applied to the design of three solid rocket motor grains of varying complexity. The contributions of this work was the development and application of an optimization strategy to the design process of solid rocket motor grains per internal ballistic requirements.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001236, ucf:46929
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001236