An affordable elastomeric insulation material for solid rocket motors with improved ablation resistance

The KAI team proposes to develop a comprehensive experimental and numerical research program to characterize the ablation, thermal, and mechanical response of new solid rocket motor (SRM) internal insulation material to facilitate ARMY's new advanced missiles. The principal aim of the project is to introduce an innovative elastomeric ablative material with superior ablation resistance and lower density than the state-of-the-art (SOTA) ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)/Aramid currently used as internal insulation for SRMs. The objective is to develop and demonstrate an innovative and mature solution for SRM internal insulation. The proposed SRM internal insulation material system is based on a combination of a low density elastomeric polymer, density reducer fillers, advanced organic fibers, adhesion and char promoter fillers. The combination of these components enables the design of an elastomeric insulating material with improved char retention, ablation resistance, insulation capability, superior adhesion performance with modern SRM propellants based on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) binders, and at the same time, lower density compared to the SOTA formulations such as EPDM/Aramid. Success of the project will lead to a scalable thermal insulation material to improve the operating lifespan of structures that undergo extreme environments for ARMY missile systems.