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Performance Optimization of Metallized Solid Propellants
Author(s) -
Swaminathan V.,
Rajagopalan S.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/prep.19780030505
Subject(s) - propellant , specific impulse , impulse (physics) , computation , optimization problem , computer science , process engineering , materials science , mechanics , algorithm , aerospace engineering , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
The object of this paper is to present a method for determining, for a typical metallized solid propellant system, the optimum combination of the reactants so as to arrive at a composition which can yield the maximum specific impulse. A direct approach of this kind for optimization of propellants does not appear to have been attempted so far. The optimization is sought to be carried out by expressing the theoretical specific impulse of the propellant under frozen flow conditions as a function of the different variables involved and maximizing the same, subject to the usual linear and non‐linear constraints of mass balance, mass action, pressure balance, energy conservation and entropy conservation. The gradient projection technique due to Rosen has been adopted for carrying out this optimization. The method was programmed on the IBM 360/Model 44 Computer in FORTRAN IV language and the results of the computations for a typical metallized solid propellant system are presented in the paper. The investigations reveal that the gradient projection technique can be a useful computational device for determining the optimum composition and the corresponding performance parameters of propellant systems containing a large number of reactants and products with or without condensed phases.