Final Scientific/Technical Report

Technical Report · Mon Jun 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1159228· OSTI ID:1159228

Chang, Yale ^[1]; Thomas, Michael E. ^[1]; Siegrist, Karen M. ^[1]; Lennon, Andrew M. ^[1]; Hunter, Lawrence W. ^[1]; Oguz, Hasan O. ^[1]

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1. Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD (United States). Applied Physics Laboratory

JHU/APL conducted solid propellant fire characterization tests in warm, humid, ambient conditions near sea level. Yttria and ceria surrogate materials were placed in the fires. The substrates simulating ground surfaces were concrete from a Kennedy Space Center launch pad, and steel covered with a protective ablative material representing a launch platform. In-situ instrumentation consisted of witness materials, thermocouples, air handlers, filters, and cascade impactors; remote instrumentation consisted of optical cameras and spectrometers. Test and analysis team members included the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Alliant Techsystems, and the Johns Hopkins University. Test data were analyzed, reported, and delivered, including plume rise and transport captured on video. Derivation of the alumina particle size distributions formed the basis for condensing vapor and agglomeration estimates. Assessment of alumina mass in the plume, along with the surrogate fraction from filter forensics, provided an estimate of airborne surrogate mass. Technical interchange meetings were held with SNL and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Specifications for the fire environment were developed and delivered. A thermochemistry model that simultaneously provides the maximum temperature and heat flux was developed and delivered. An SPIE paper on 3D pyrometry of the fire was written and presented.

• Research Organization: Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD (United States). Applied Physics Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Space and Defense Power Systems (NE-75)
• DOE Contract Number: NE0000466
• OSTI ID: 1159228
• Report Number(s): DOE-JHUAPL-00466-1 & 2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
42 ENGINEERING
Solid propellant fire characterization
materials forensics
optics measurements
environmental specification
test and evaluation
substrates concrete steel ablative
particle size distribution
surrogates
thermochemistry analysis
Doppler lidar
micro pulse lidar
plume rise
pyrometry
GPU
microbolometer