Experimental study of solid-propellant ignition transient and flame spreading under convective flows

A project on unsteady three-dimensional numerical simulation of solid-propellant rocket motors is being developed by this research group. In this general approach, ignition and flame spreading are critical points. Experimental investigations were performed to support the modeling approach. The paper describes the first step of this experimental investigation. Attention is focused on the ignition delay and flame-propagation velocity for a flat sample of a solid propellant containing ammonium perchlorate and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene. Different measuring techniques are implemented, which can be extended to more complex geometries and to different operating conditions, according to the needs of the numerical-simulation approach.