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Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Solid Propellants in Rocket Motors by Indentation Technique
Author(s) -
Rao Nettula Pandarinath,
Solanke Chetan,
Bihari Bipin Kumar,
Singh Praveen Prakash,
Bhattacharya Bikash
Publication year - 2016
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.201500224
Subject(s) - propellant , indentation , solid fuel rocket , penetrometer , materials science , aerospace engineering , rocket (weapon) , composite material , mechanical engineering , engineering , environmental science , soil science , soil water
It is essential to evaluate the mechanical properties of propellants in a solid propellant rocket motor (SPRM) for structural integrity and its performance evaluation before the flight test. Conventionally, uni‐axial tensile testing on an universal testing machine (UTM) is used to evaluate the mechanical properties of solid propellant carton which is cast along with SPRM. Propellants in rocket motors experience various types of loading during storage, transportation, and environmental conditions over the period of time before actual flight whereas the propellant carton doesn’t experience the same as it is stored in magazine. At present, the mechanical properties of propellant cast in a carton are considered to be the mechanical properties of propellant in a rocket motor, which is not truly representative. Therefore, a non‐destructive indentation technique has been used to establish a method for evaluating the mechanical properties of solid propellants in rocket motors based on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene. The test results obtained using the penetrometer indentation technique was analyzed comprehensively and compared with UTM results. The mathematical correlations were also developed using least square method and established by conducting the penetrometer indentation test on similar propellant composition. Further, the developed correlation was used to evaluate the mechanical properties of propellant in flight SPRM by penetrometer indentation technique.