Solid Rocket Motor Manufacturer's View of Sensors and Aging Surveillance.

摘要

The solid rocket motor (SRM) industry currently relies on destructive testing for determining long-term aging behavior. Cost associated with destructive testing bas caused some programs to decrease or, in some cases, eliminate aging surveillance activities entirely. These reductions can, and have, resulted in increased risk of unpredicted failure. The development and use of sensors, capable of reducing or eliminating the need for destructive testing, is of prime interest to the SRM community. Historical attempts at using sensors for monitoring critical parameters, as materials age, have proven to be very difficult. Commercial sensor development companies have made some very impressive progress in recent years, but have little or no knowledge of the SRM industry requirements. Communication between SRM manufacturers and commercial sensor development companies is necessary to potentially reduce destructive testing. This paper addresses issues concerning implementation of sensors into SRMs, introduces a model for sensor evaluation and presents preliminary sensor test results.