Effect of variable solid phase thermal properties on propellant combustion

Mathematical models derived for describing the combustion of solid rocket propellants have in the past assumed that the thermal properties, specific heat, and thermal conductivity are constant throughout the solid phase portion of the combustion zone. The values for specific heat and thermal conductivity can vary as much as 50–100 percent for the temperatures in the solid phase combustion wave, values from about 250 to 1100 K. Thus, the variation in solid phase properties due to the temperature variation in the solid phase have significant effects on the burning rate, the temperature sensitivity and the pressure coupled response. The paper is concerned with predicting the effect of the variable solid phase properties on the combustion properties. Parametric calculations were made to illustrate the effect of the magnitude of the variation of solid phase properties with temperature. The results indicate that significant differences exist between the values for the combustion parameters calculated using variable thermal properties as compared to those calculated using constant thermal properties.