A series of subscale tests are shown to suggest that a lower-cost ablative material than the rayon-based carbon ablative currently used in the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) may be used as a substitute. Six such ablatives with outstanding performance characteristics, using spun PAN and continuous pitch and PAN fibers instead of the present, continuous rayon, were identified in the course of tests with HTPB/AL/AP solid propellant grains with a burn time of 12 sec. The test nozzle features an initial throat diameter of 2.2 in. and a 6.1 expansion ratio. In addition to nozzle structural feature drawings, extensive test data tables and propellant formulation and properties tables are provided.
Shuttle solid rocket motor nozzle alternate ablative evaluation
Joint Propulsion Conference ; 1981 ; Colorado Springs, CO, US
1981-07-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Shuttle subscale ablative nozzle tests
NTRS | 1980
|Shuttle Subscale Ablative Nozzle Tests
AIAA | 1982
|Shuttle subscale ablative nozzle tests
AIAA | 1980
|