Morphing Rocket Throat

Using modern additive manufacturing technology, GTL proposes to develop a geometry based thermal management system to enable the development of a Morphing Rocket Throat. With this capability, rocket motors will be able to achieve the same type of throttling provided by pintle nozzles, but without the complexity and mass of a pintle. In the Phase I effort, GTL and UTK will develop a conceptual design of a solid rocket motor with a Morphing Rocket Throat. Modeling and simulations will be used to evaluate geometry based thermal management options and predict the behavior of the morphing component. GTL and UTK will fabricate a proof-of-concept component of the morphing throat design. A technology development roadmap for the geometry based thermal management technology and the Morphing Rocket Throat technology will be created along with a Phase II plan. It is envisioned that the Phase II effort would include the design and fabrication of a full-scale Morphing Rocket Throat. After verifying mechanical functionality with cold flow tests, the Phase II effort will culminate in hot fire testing of the Morphing Rocket Throat. Approved for Public Release | 21-MDA-11013 (19 Nov 21)