EMBEDDED LASER IGNITION DEVICE FOR ROCKET MOTORS

THIS EFFORT WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION OF AN ARM-FIRE DEVICE (AFD) USING A ZR WOOL PUMPED LASER AS THE IGNITION SOURCE. THE AFD WILL CONTAIN A ND:YAG OR ND:GLASS LASER ELEMENT, A SAFE/ARM (S/A) OPTICAL SHUTTER, FOCUSING OPTICS, OPTICAL FIBER INTERFACE, AND A SINGLE OPTICAL FIBER TRANSFER LINE LEADING TO AN IGNITION ELEMENT. AN ALTERNATE SAFING METHOD WILL BE CONSIDERED WHICH DEPRIVES THE ZR OR O(2) UNTIL ARMING OCCURS. THE IGNITION ELEMENT WILL CONTAIN EITHER AN ENERGETIC MATERIAL LISTED IN MIL-STD-1316C OR CONVENTIONAL ROCKET MOTOR IGNITER OUTPUT CHARGES SUCH AS BKNO(3) OR ZRKC10(4)-C. AT LEAST ONE MIL-STD-1316C MATERIAL HAS A HISTORY OF LASER INITIATION FROM SOURCES OF THE SAME FLUENCE AS THE PROPOSED LASER. THE OUTPUT OF THE PROPOSED LASER SOURCE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SIMULTANEOUSLY INITIATE APPROXIMATELY TEN SUCH IGNITION ELEMENTS. RELIABILITY AND SAFETY FAILURE PREDICTIONS WILL BE MADE USING CURRENTLY AVAILABLE MODELS.