Title: Study of aluminum particle combustion in solid propellant plumes using digital in-line holography and imaging pyrometry

Abstract

The combustion of molten metals is an important area of study with applications ranging from solid aluminized rocket propellants to fireworks displays. Our work uses digital in-line holography (DIH) to experimentally quantify the three-dimensional position, size, and velocity of aluminum particles during combustion of ammonium perchlorate (AP) based solid-rocket propellants. Additionally, spatially resolved particle temperatures are simultaneously measured using two-color imaging pyrometry. To allow for fast characterization of the properties of tens of thousands of particles, automated data processing routines are proposed. In using these methods, statistics from aluminum particles with diameters ranging from 15 to 900 µm are collected at an ambient pressure of 83 kPa. In the first set of DIH experiments, increasing initial propellant temperature is shown to enhance the agglomeration of nascent aluminum at the burning surface, resulting in ejection of large molten aluminum particles into the exhaust plume. The resulting particle number and volume distributions are quantified. In the second set of simultaneous DIH and pyrometry experiments, particle size and velocity relationships as well as temperature statistics are explored. The average measured temperatures are found to be 2640 ± 282 K, which compares well with previous estimates of the range of particle and gas-phase temperatures.more » The novel methods proposed here represent new capabilities for simultaneous quantification of the joint size, velocity, and temperature statistics during the combustion of molten metal particles. The proposed techniques are expected to be useful for detailed performance assessment of metalized solid-rocket propellants.« less

Authors:

Chen, Yi  ^[1];

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Guildenbecher, Daniel R. ^[1]; Hoffmeister, Kathryn N. G. ^[1]; Cooper, Marcia A. ^[1]; Stauffacher, Howard L. ^[1]; Oliver, Michael S. ^[1]; Washburn, Ephraim B. ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, CA (United States)

Publication Date:

2017-05-05

Research Org.:

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); California Inst. of Technology

OSTI Identifier:

1356857

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1413352

Report Number(s):

SAND2017-4477J
Journal ID: ISSN 0010-2180; PII: S0010218017301505

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC04-94AL85000

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Combustion and Flame

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 182; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0010-2180

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Aluminum particle combustion; Ammonium perchlorate; Metalized solid propellant; Digital in-line holography; Imaging pyrometer