Development of Numerical Modeling Methods and Experimental Capabilities for Carbon and EPDM Erosion Prediction for Solid Rocket Motors

摘要

A Thermal Protection System (TPS) in a Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) is designed to protect the motor structure from the violent environment of the combustion chamber during the motor operation time. The TPS undergoes both internal pyrolysis and external ablation caused by hot combustion gases, while protecting the outer case of the motor. In this work, we focus on simulations of (1) pyrolysis of EPDM rubber and (2) ablation of carbon by combustion gases. We discuss the development of codes for pyrolysis of EPDM and ablation of carbon; compare numerical simulation results of carbon ablation in SRM nozzles to experimental results obtained from static fire tests; validate the pyrolysis code with respect to a case study from the literature; compare results from numerical simulations of pyrolysis of EPDM, both during oxyacetylenc torch tests and during static fire tests, to experimental results and describe the extraction of Arrhenius coefficients from measurements.