Analysis of a Servo System for Continuous Measurement of the Burning Rate of a Solid Propellant

摘要

The project is concerned with the development of a servo system for the continuous measurement of the burning rate of a solid propellant under actual rocket motor conditions. By controlling the position of the burn ing surface of the solid propellant within the rocket motor, the burning rate can be measured. The object of this project was to determine the servo system dynamics. Stability, time response and optimization of the servo system were investigated. A theoretical analysis was made to determine component transfer functions. From the component transfer functions the overall system transfer function was derived. The Bode diagram was then used to determine system stability. The system transfer function was programmed on an analog computer, and the time response of the system was characterized. The servo system was built, and experimental results were obtained to verify the theoretical system transfer function. The system transfer function was optimized using two different criteria: optimum phase margin, and minimum ITAE. The system transfer function was again programmed on the analog computer, and the time responses for these two criteria were characterized. (Author)