The ability to predict with some accuracy a given solid rocket motor’s performance before undertaking one or several costly experimental test firings is important. On the numerical prediction side, as various component models evolve, their incorporation into an overall internal ballistics simulation program allows for new motor firing simulations to take place, which in turn allows for updated ...

The thrust vector control problem for an upper-stage rocket with propellant slosh dynamics is considered. The control inputs are defined by the gimbal deflection angle of a main engine and a pitchingmoment about the center of mass of the spacecraft. The rocket acceleration due to themain engine thrust is assumed to be large enough so that surface tension forces do not significantly affect the p...

This paper describes the design of a power supply and actuation system appropriate for position or force controlled human-scale robots. The proposed approach utilizes a liquid monopropellant to generate hot gas, which is utilized to power a pneumatic-type actuation system. A prototype of the actuation system is described, and closed-loop tracking data are shown, which demonstrate good motion co...

We introduce a decentralized attitude control strategy that can dramatically reduce the usage of propellant, by taking full advantage of the physical coupling of the tether. Motivated by a controllability analysis, indicating that both spin-up and relative attitudes are fully controllable by the reaction wheels, we report the first propellant-free underactuated linear and nonlinear control resu...

When an explosive detonates or a propellant or flare burns, consumption of the energetic filler should be complete but rarely is, especially in the presence of large amounts of non-combustible materials. Herein we examine three types of perchlorate-containing devices to estimate their potential as sources of contamination in their normal mode of functioning. Road flares, rocket propellants and ...

Imbibition of liquids into porous media has significant importance to many processes. For example one application is the propellant management device (PMD), or liquid acquisition device (LAD), located within spacecraft tanks [1, 7]. The PMDs are designed to ensure gas free delivery of propellant during all mission accelerations. This is done by using a porous medium, a metallic mesh, which prev...

Experiments conducted at the Surrey Space Centre on a breadboard pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) have led to greater insights in to the underlying principles of electrode erosion during plasma formation. It has been shown that during a PPT discharge a significant proportion of the plasma that is produced is from direct erosion of the electrodes to the extent that traditional Teflon propellant bars...

A numerical code that simulates combustion phenomena occurring in a solid rocket motor is developed in this study using a preconditioning algorithm. A quasi-steady-combustion process was analyzed for a composite material in a submerged nozzle. The governing equations were solved using a dual-time stepping method combined with a finite volumemethod. Themass flux and pressure in the cell face wer...

The UAH-78AM is a low-power Hall effect thruster developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville with channel walls and a propellant distributor manufactured using 3D printing. The goal of this project is to assess the feasibility of using unconventional materials to produce a low-cost functioning Hall effect thruster and consider how additive manufacturing can expand the design space and ...