INTERNAL BALLISTICS OF WEAPON LA UNCHING SYSTEMS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe management of hot rocket exhaust has been of particular concern in the development of the new canister type launching systems. Special materials have been required to protect the launchers and ships from the rocket exhaust. The design of the Vertical Launching System (VLS) for STANDARD missile has been particularly critical due to the tremendous temperatures and quantity of exhaust from the missile and the additional fact that the exhaust must be safely managed within the ship.The analysis of the internal gas flows through the new missile launching systems has been a challenging problem in transient internal ballistics in which many complicating factors have played significant roles. For example, strong pressure waves traveling through the system govern the mechanical strength of the design. Turbulent convective heat transfer from the hot exhaust stream provides the largest thermal input to the launching system and requires the design of protective material for the interior surfaces of the canisters and launchers. Complicated and ill‐understood chemical reactions occur in the exhaust stream as it passes through the system, causing the chemical composition of the exhaust, and, therefore its material properties, to be different at every point.