Theoretical and experimental study on combustion response of aluminized solid propellant under acceleration effects

The combustion performance of solid propellants is significantly affected by the external operating parameters of rocket motors. In this paper, the combustion response characteristics of aluminized solid propellant under acceleration conditions have been studied theoretically and experimentally. A theoretical model of unsteady burning for aluminized solid propellant, considering transient heat transfer and acceleration effects, is developed based on the Zel'dovich-Novozhilov solid-phase energy conservation. The pressure-coupled responses of the solid propellant are also measured experimentally under different normal accelerations using the T-burner and centrifuge. The model is well validated by comparison with literature and experimental results. The unsteady burning of propellants is analyzed in detail, and the effects of acceleration and propellant properties on combustion response are investigated. The results show that there is a significant difference between the transient and quasi-steady burning rate under dynamic environments. As normal acceleration increases from 0 g to 1000 g, the fluctuation amplitude of the net heat flux on the burning surface continues to decrease, the magnitude of the pressure-coupled response peak decreases significantly by 69 %, and the frequency of the response peak shifts from 140 Hz to 230 Hz. Moreover, the pressure exponent and thermal conductivity plays a positive role in the pressure-coupled response. The model presented in this paper can be helpful for predicting the differences between flight and ground test performance and evaluating the combustion stability of solid rocket motors.