RADIATION FROM ADVANCED SOLID ROCKET MOTOR PLUMES

THERMAL LOADS CREATED BY THE PLUMES OF ADVANCED SOLID ROCKETMOTORS ARE NOT PREDICTABLE; SUCH LOADS ARE CURRENTLY OBTAINED FROM EXPERIMENT. TEST DATA ARE CORRELATED BY POSTULATING PLUME TEMPERATURE, SHAPE, AND EMISSIVITY; AND HEATING RATES ARE CALCULATED WITH APPROPRIATE VIEW FACTORS FROM THIS SIMPLISTIC PLUME MODEL. ALTHOUGH OTHER EXTENSIVE RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO DESCRIBE INFRARED SIGNATURES AND TO CALCULATE PLUME FLOWFIELDS AND NON-GREY, SCATTERING RADIATION, SUCH TECHNOLOGY CANNOT YET PROVIDE ACCURATE BASE-HEATING ESTIMATES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A PREDICTION METHOD FOR QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATING THE THERMAL RADIATION FROM SOLID ROCKET MOTORS THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SUBSIDIARY TEST DATA. VERIFICATION WOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH EXISTING DATA, SO THAT THE METHOD COULD BE USED AS A DESIGN TOOL FOR EVALUATING RADIATION BASE HEATING FOR ADVANCED, SOLID ROCKET MOTOR CONFIGURATIONS. THERMAL LOADS CREATED BY THE PLUMES OF ADVANCED SOLID ROCKETMOTORS ARE NOT PREDICTABLE; SUCH LOADS ARE CURRENTLY OBTAINED FROM EXPERIMENT. TEST DATA ARE CORRELATED BY POSTULATING PLUME TEMPERATURE, SHAPE, AND EMISSIVITY; AND HEATING RATES ARE CALCULATED WITH APPROPRIATE VIEW FACTORS FROM THIS SIMPLISTIC PLUME MODEL. ALTHOUGH OTHER EXTENSIVE RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO DESCRIBE INFRARED SIGNATURES AND TO CALCULATE PLUME FLOWFIELDS AND NON-GREY, SCATTERING RADIATION, SUCH TECHNOLOGY CANNOT YET PROVIDE ACCURATE BASE-HEATING ESTIMATES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A PREDICTION METHOD FOR QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATING THE THERMAL RADIATION FROM SOLID ROCKET MOTORS THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SUBSIDIARY TEST DATA. VERIFICATION WOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH EXISTING DATA, SO THAT THE METHOD COULD BE USED AS A DESIGN TOOL FOR EVALUATING RADIATION BASE HEATING FOR ADVANCED, SOLID ROCKET MOTOR CONFIGURATIONS.