A HIGH-SPEED MULTISPECTRA INFRARED VIDEO SYSTEM TO MEASURE THE REACTION FRONT OF SOLID PROPELLANTS

IT IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP A NEW HIGH-SPEED MULTISPECTRA INFRARED (MS-IR) VIDEO SYSTEM EQUIPPED WITH MULTIPLE FOCAL PLANE DETECTOR ARRAYS (FPDA) SUPPORTED BY NEW HIGH-PERFORMANCE ELECTRONIC DRIVING CIRCUITS AND OUR SOFTWARE IN ORDER TO MEASURE THE REACTION FRONT OF SOLID PROPELLANTS. THE NEW MS-IR SYSTEM WILL MEASURE THE IR EMISSION IMAGE OF THE REACTION FRONT THROUGH FOUR WAVEBANDS TO DETERMINE THE INSTANTANEOUS DISTRIBUTIONS OF SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND GASEOUS SPECIES GENERATED DURING IGNITION DELAY AND REACTION PERIODS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW MS-IR SYSTEM WILL BE ACHIEVED BY EXTENDING WHAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED BY OUR TEAM OF SPECIALISTS, NAMELY A COMBUSTION ENGINEER, A CAMERA HEAD DESIGNER, TWO ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS AND A CRYOGENIC SYSTEM DESIGN ENGINEER. THE NEW HIGH-SPEED MS-IR SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED TO HAVE SEVERAL TARGET FEATURES INCLUDING, A VARIABLE FRAME RATE (FOR A RATE UP TO SEVERAL THOUSAND FRAMES/SEC); A VARIABLE ELECTRONIC-SHUTTER (FOR AN EXPOSURE TIME OF ABOUT 250 NANOSECONDS); AND THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION (OF SEVERAL MICROMETERS) FOR THE REACTION FRONT TO BE INVESTIGATED, WHICH ARE ACHIEVED AS MUCH AS ALLOWED BY THE LIMITS OF MODERN ELECTRO-OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY.