Solid Rocket Propellant Research

1. Solid Rocket Propellant Research Linda Kelly John Marshall HS-Northside ISD Faculty Mentor- Eric Petersen, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering Dept. Texas A&M University

2. Solid Propellant ResearchApplications Rocket Fuel Offshore Drilling Deploy Air Bags

3. NH4ClO4 = oxidizer Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene hydrocabon chain = binder and fuel Isophorone Diisocyanate = curing agent additives Solid Propellant ResearchRocket Power = Combustion Rx

4. Solid Propellant ResearchSummary of methods The substances are mixed under vacuum to remove gaseous contaminants.

5. The mixed substances are extruded under vacuum into Teflon tubing, cured, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Solid Propellant ResearchSummary of methods

6. Solid Propellant ResearchTesting Samples are mounted in the high-pressure strand burner

7. Solid Propellant ResearchTesting Ignition and data collection are done remotely

8. Propellant Testing Video Stills from a Propellant Test

9. Analysis Determining Burning Rate Burning Rate DX r = Dt Dt DX

10. Motivation Tailor Burning Rate to Application Objective n n r= aP r= aP Baseline Baseline Develop Baseline Propellant of AP and Binder Utilize Additives to Modify Combustion

11. Solid Propellant ResearchOverview of procedure AP crystals + HC fuel… made into propellant samples ignited data collected & analyzed Where do I fit?

12. Solid Propellant ResearchBackground data Variety of crystal sizes in AP

13. Solid Propellant ResearchBackground data Different types of burning achieved with various sizes of particles

14. Solid Rocket PropellantMy project • Attain crystal images with microscopy and digital photography • Enhance images with Photoshop • Size crystals with IQMaterials software • Analyze data with Excel • Standardize the procedure for the size distribution in a sample of NH4ClO4 started by Matthew Janish

15. Solid Propellant ResearchMy project--the beginning

16. Solid Propellant ResearchBurning questions How is AP synthesized? What is the crystalline structure—it’s not cubic, monoclinic, orthorhombic… that other crystals are? How does this supply of AP compare with previous data?

17. Solid Propellant ResearchClassroom activity Task: determine the mathematical attributes and size distribution of a sample of rocket propellant Given samples, students determine mass, volume, density, surface area, perimeter, size distribution Use appropriate units, show sample calculations, graph distribution of particles TEKS: Chemistry 1,2,3 Physics 1,2,3ACD

18. Solid Propellant ResearchSpecial Thanks Dr. Eric Petersen Kevin Kreitz Tom Sammet Tyler Allen Nicole, Will, Jonas, Nolan, Madeleine, Sean NSF A&M partners

19. Solid Propellant ResearchResources • Graph of burn rate and diameters from Jeppson, M.B., Beckstead M.W., Jing, Q., “A Kinetic model for the Premixed Combustion of a Fine AP/HTPB Composite Propellant,” 36th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 1998, AIAA Paper 98-0447. • Images and information from Kevin Kreitz presentation, May 27, 2009 • Images from Microsoft Office clipart • Image of crystals by Matthew Janish; Ammonium Perchlorate Particle Sizing, August, 2007

20. That’s rocket science.