Manufacturing methods for a solid rocket motor propelling a small, fast flight vehicle
Name
1119731383-MIT.pdf
Size
16.81 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
3ef3581869ba81ae03096de534dc39ff
Author(s)
Mathesius, Kelly J.
Advisor(s)
R. John Hansman.
Date Issued
2019
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
A gap exists in the design space for aircraft mass and speed: no flight vehicles with a mass of less than 10 kg and speed greater than 100 m/s are available. The small, fast "Firefly" flight vehicle is being developed to explore the capabilities and challenges for aircraft in this gap. The compact Firefly aircraft is configured around a long-endurance, end-burning solid rocket motor that provides 2-3 minutes of powered flight. Challenges exist for manufacturing solid rocket motors for small, fast aircraft such as Firefly. Achieving desired motor performance requires a void-free propellant grain and thermal liner and a strong propellant-to-liner bond. However, observations and tests following several motor manufacturing attempts have revealed voids in the propellant and liner and delamination at the propellant-to-liner interface. Manufacturing defects such as these have led to large increases in chamber pressure and thrust during a static fire test of a motor. This thesis describes the development and implementation of manufacturing methods for slow-burning, long-endurance motors used in small, fast aircraft. Innovative tooling and rigorous procedures have been developed to help ensure the consistent production of a long-endurance solid rocket motor. Successful static firings of a test motor validate the effectiveness of many of the developed manufacturing methods.
Description
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2019
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-100).
Subjects
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terms of Use
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
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