Analysis of the mechanical response of solid rocket engine propellant under acceleration shock

Abstract

The increased-range solid rocket engine of new ammunition often needs to withstand extremely high acceleration overload, leading to damage to the propellant’s structural integrity. To address this issue, this paper constructs a nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model for the CMDB propellant by using low- and high-strain rate mechanical property tests. Combined with the secondary development of explicit dynamics and numerical simulation technology, the mechanical response of a certain type of solid rocket propellant under different acceleration impacts is analyzed. The results show that under acceleration impact loads, the propellant will compress, rebound, and recover over time, continuously cycling. Its axial displacement, maximum equivalent stress, and maximum equivalent strain exhibit irregular sinusoidal wave-like periodic cycles. Looking at the time when the peaks appear, the time when the maximum equivalent stress appears always lags behind the time when the maximum axial displacement peak appears. Due to the viscous effect of the viscoelastic material of the propellant, the time when the equivalent strain peak appears will lag behind the equivalent stress. Because of the material’s damping effect, both the peak values of the maximum equivalent stress and equivalent strain decrease over time. Under continuous high acceleration impact loads, this viscous damping phenomenon continuously diminishes, and the peak value of the propellant’s axial displacement gradually increases.