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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorJay S. Lilley
Estimating the term…
A method for determining the burning rate of a propellant. The method involves the single firing of a subscale, propellant motor that has been modified so that the propellant motor has a tapered cylindrical port that produces a non-neutral pressure-time trace when burned. The pressure-time trace is initially progressive (pressure increases with time), and then regressive (pressure decreases with time). Unlike conventional motors, this motor operates over a range of burning rates; therefore, the burning rate behavior of the propellant can be characterized with a single motor firing. The burning rate of the propellant is extracted from the motor pressure-time history by a computer analysis package. The analysis package employs an optimization program which uses an internal ballistics model of the motor. The ballistics model is used to generate a theoretical pressure-time trace which can be compared with the digitized output signal from the actual motor. The optimization routine of the computer determines the propellant burning rate behavior by selecting the burning rate law which, when employed in the internal ballistics model of the motor, produces the best match between the computer generated and the actual motor pressure-time traces. Thus by using the tapered port motor and by reducing the data, the burning rate of a propellant can be characterized with a single motor firing.
A system for providing characterization of burning rate of solid propellant motors from a single motor firing, comprising:
A method of characterizing the burning rate of a solid propellant motor, comprising the steps of:
A method of characterizing the burning rate of a solid propellant motor, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.