Experimental study on aluminum-oxidized particle distribution in solid rocket motor plume

The addition of new chemical ingredients has significant effect on propellant properties (including burning rate, combustion efficiency, combustion stability, and slag formation, et al.), therefore the detailed study of the influence of different chemical ingredients on the propellant combustion products size distribution has become one of the hotspots. It is noted that, particles collisions near the walls of the converging nozzle, and the boom chamber is without nozzle so the quenching experiment cannot reflect the collision process of the combustion products, especially in the throat. Hence the particle size distribution which is gained by quenching test cannot reflect the realistic information of plume particles. Based on our previous work, an optical test system was designed to obtain the size distribution of the plume particles under the solid rocket motor conditions. The experiment data show that the test system provides an effective method for studying the plume particles size distribution of solid propellants v. combustion time under the solid rocket motor conditions. Moreover, the test technique is also a useful tool to help optimize the propellant formulations and determine the detailed influence of new chemical ingredients on the propellant.