This paper presents the history of the Ballistic Test and Evaluation System (BATES) at what was then the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (AFRPL) over the past 40 years. The system maintains the highest accuracy possible (0.2% on thrust) and has become the equivalent of Bureau of Standards for measuring and comparing solid propellant performance. The BATES database covers several thousand firings with several hundred parameters reported per firing. The paper also discusses methodologies developed with the system, scientific discoveries made with the system, and the key role it has played in shaping the entire ballistic testing and analysis efforts in this and other countries.
History of the BATES Motors at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
1998
12 pages
Report
No indication
English