The Space Shuttle Challenger (STS 51-L) accident led to an intense investigation of the structural behavior of the solid rocket booster (SRB) tang and clevis field joints. The presence of structural deformations between the clevis inner leg and the tang, substantial enough to prevent the O-ring seals from eliminating hot gas flow through the joints, has emerged as a likely cause of the vehicle failure. This paper presents results of axisymmetric shell analyses that parametrically assess the structural behavior of SRB field joints subjected to quasi-steady-state internal pressure loading for both the original joint flown on mission STS 51-L and the redesigned joint recently flown on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Discussion of axisymmetric shell modeling issues and details is presented and a generic method for simulating contact between adjacent shells of revolution is described. Results are presented that identify the performance trends of the joints for a wide range of joint parameters.


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    Title :

    Axisymmetric shell analysis of the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster field joint


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    AIAA, ASME, ASCE, AHS, and ASC, Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference ; 1989 ; Mobile, AL, United States


    Publication date :

    1989-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English







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