Shelf Life Prediction of Rocket Motors

The US Army is responsible for the full life cycle of large numbers of composite rocket motors in various weapon systems. More effective techniques for estimating the deterioration and readiness of composite rocket motors will further reduce costs and increase safety. CogniTech is addressing these needs by developing a comprehensive software suite that combines the ATK Thiokol FEM Builder graphical interface, cumulative mechanical damage models, chemical aging models, and databases. The Generalized Failure Criterion model will be extended and integrated into the software environment to provide a modern deterministic cumulative damage model. Monte Carlo analysis will also be available. In its final form, this product will process decades worth of environmental temperature data, utilize cumulative damage and chemical aging models based on these data, and present graphical and tabulated results. When faster response time is needed, the product will also enable incremental updates to the cumulative damage calculations and probabilistic estimates from fused data.