The Effects of Electrostatic Fields on Flame Spread Rates of Solid Propellant.

摘要

This research effort deals with the effect of electric fields on the flame spread rate of igniting solid propellant. Previous investigators had postulated that the flame spread rate could be modified by the use of electric fields to direct ionic winds over the surface of the unignited propellant, thereby changing the unassisted flame spread rate. This postulate was supported by a limited number of tests. The current research was conducted to investigate the above postulate more fully and to develop a mathematical model representative of flame spread rates under the influence of electric fields. The experimental effort was directed toward the determination of three specific characteristics for each of four different formulations of solid propellant. The specific characteristics obtained were (1) charged particle (positive ion, negative ion, and electron) concentrations of the solid propellant flames, (2) electrostatic field plots of the flame zone and environs during flame spread tests and (3) flame spread rate variations over a wide range of applied voltage conditions for each of the four propellant formulations. (Author)