Analysis of the possibility of steady-state operation of a small-size solid-propellant thruster

Abstract

The possibility of steady-state operation of small-size thrusters is discussed. A more detailed study of the known frequency equation makes it possible to compose a more detailed “chart of instability” for the physical formulation considered. It turns out that combustion in a certain range of parameters v and r (characterizing the dependence of the steady-state burning rate on pressure and the dependence of the surface temperature on initial temperature) is stable in a small-size thruster and unstable in a large-size motor.