Erosive Burning of Composite Solid Propellants: Mechanism, Correlation, and Grain Design Applications

Abstract

With increasing interest evidenced in the developrrient of nozzleless and high-performance solid rocket motors, an understanding of Ifie errrsivz-bsrning charwrter:;iics of sollid propellants in high-velocity cross flows is important in establishment of grain design procedures. A theo~etical model based on a turbulent reacting boundary-layer analysis, validated with experimentnl data, was used to conduct parametric studies under broad ranges of Mach number, pressure, surface roughness, pressure gradient, port diameter, and propellant initial temperature. Using nonlinear regression analysis, an erosive-burning rate correlation was developed in terms of the cited parameters. The results for two motor grain contours were used to demonstrate the applicability of this correlation to grain design.