AbstractsPsychology

Development of a microprocessor-based instrument for static testing small rocket engines.

by Arthur Houghton Barber




Institution: Naval Postgraduate School
Department:
Year: 1979
Record ID: 1543907
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/18681


Abstract

A microprocessor-based instrument was developed for static testing solid-fuel rocket engines having peak thrusts of 130 Newtons or less and total impulses of up to 100 Newton-seconds.It measured peak thrust, total impulse, delay time, and maximum casing external temperature, all to relative accuracies of two percent of the smallest expected values. This corresponds to better than 0.1 percent of full scale. The instrument was designed for minimum parts cost and for portable operation from two twelve-volt batteries. It may be easily modified to test engines with five to ten times greater thrusts and total impulses.