Holographic investigation of solid propellant particles

Abstract

This investigation completed the development process to establish a technique to obtain holographic recordings of particulate behavior during the combustion process of solid propellants in a two-dimensional rocket motor. Holographic and photographic recordings were taken in a cross-flow environment using various compositions of metallized propellants. The reconstructed holograms are used to provide data on the behavior of aluminum/aluminum oxide particulates in a steady state combustion environment as a function of the initial aluminum size cast into the propellant. High speed, high resolution motion pictures were taken to compare the cinematic data with that available from the holograms.